Think of it as the Corolla of the EV space. Simple, practical and does what a car should do.
BHPian sandeepmohan recently shared this with other enthusiasts.
I had the opportunity to drive one a few days ago. A Model 3 with about 65,000 clicks on the odometer. If Musk and the Team could build a car like this almost 7 years ago, I wonder what else they might have up their sleeves, as far as technology and innovation go. The Model 3 drive was brilliant. It was easy to see why the brand is right at the top for those considering their move to an EV.
The interiors are as basic and simple as they can get. Think of it as the Corolla of the EV space. Simple, practical, and does what a car should do. Takes you from point A to B reliably. There aren’t acres of room at the back. It’s a tiny bit roomier than my F30 3 Series.
As with an EV, the drive is silent. I was driving a Standard Range version. Acceleration was not neck-snapping but it could have to do with the “Chill” drive mode that was selected. It moved off the line reasonably fast. The steering was pinpoint accurate, though lacking in direct feel to the wheel. Much has been said about the weight of the battery. I couldn’t feel it at all and I did hustle the car. It changed direction like a go-kart with some body roll. Suspension does have a hard edge when the road is rough. At motorway speeds and road surface, it is pliant.
Two things stood out for me.
- The excellent Throttle and Regen modulation
- The stereo
I can’t comment on the brakes cause I hardly touched them. The regen was so good. My references are the Polestar and BYD Atto3 and both are seasoned EV cars as well. This was by far the easiest for me to modulate. You had absolute control of the vehicle speed by simply accelerating or lifting off the gas pedal.
The Stereo literally blew me away. I’ve heard Harmans, Burmesters, Bose, JBL’s, and whatever else. This Tesla has nothing written on it. However, the sound was superb. It felt as though the singer’s voice was bouncing off the windscreen. Almost like positioning your speaker tweeter at ear level. There is a lot of DSP trickery going on for sure and it is well executed. It was a perfect, balanced audio reproduction with adequate bass. It was difficult to place where the sound was coming from. I’ll go as far as to say that this “no name” stereo is now my reference as far as car audio goes. An enjoyable system and sound.
A few things I didn’t like.
- I’m done with the looks of the Model 3. It has aged and even the new upgraded front end isn’t appealing to me anymore. I’d rather have a Polestar or a BYD Seal when it comes to looks.
- I hated the external door opening mechanism.
- I am in support of driver aids but when a car slows down out of the blue at motorway speeds, it is outright scary. This happened twice and I could not place any reason as to why it did. In the first instance, all I could think of was the Ambulance that had its lights on, coming from the opposite direction. The car slowed down rapidly. The second was totally random. In both these instances, I was more worried about getting rear-ended. Something weird going on.
I could never quite work out why people go ga-ga about Teslas. The name has reached the kind of level where it has toppled saying something like “I have a Mercedes”. The strange part is that it isn’t remotely close to what you get in a Mercedes. There is no comparison, yet people love them. Such is the appeal.
If a large chunk of manufacturing can be done in India, I think they will price it well. Our EV Infrastructure is only improving so range anxiety should be the least of issues.
Up on a twisty hill road, where I usually take my motorcycle for a quick run.
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