First Tesla Model 3 impressions
I’ve been driving petrol & diesel cars since I got my driving license at 18 years old. I’ll be fair saying I had been a little sceptical about electric cars since they came out. You know what I’m talking about – the engine rumble, gear shifts and other combustion engine related experiences. Until I decided to finally try an electric the Tesla Model 3.
My waiting time was up and I was next to Tesla Superchargers where the Tesla Model 3 is ready waiting for the drive. I touched in with the card, it unlocked, I got in. First thought: mmm… the driver’s seat is quite comfy. Then I hesitated with confusion before pulling away, no engine noise, no start-like action, it’s just pushing the right lever down and driving away. Very quiet indeed. Especially while still trying to find the way out of the multi-store car park. Then first roundabout – wow, immediate speed and no engine noise, no struggle, no clutch, also if you’re not too aggressive with your driving style, low regenerative breaking is most of the time enough to slow you down. Heading for some bigger road and in the end will try some highway.
Driving electric car for the first time
We always tend to form some sort of unconscious bias towards anything in life, some of these are driven by stereotypes formed by others. So I was expecting it to be less smooth, more binary, with that electric motor noise you would hear in a tram or similar. Funny indeed. It was nothing like that. It subtly sounded more like a spaceship as she said. I’d like to hear more of that sound. Some manufacturers are making their cars to emit audio noise to add to electric car driving experience.
Tesla Model 3 test drive
The positive things
I drove small circle around the area before I headed for the motorway where I could test the acceleration a bit more. While driving around 80kph in a sports mode I quickly pressed accelerator and wow, it delivered! Of course this is not a performance version which would have quite different capability, but it sill did a very good job leaving many similar sized cars behind (the ones I could think of to compare). 120kph was reached so easily, so fast & quiet, or in other words it’s never enough for someone like me and you want more of it. That’s why Tesla guys suggested to me that Model 3 Performance is a totally different animal and some customers said that it’s steering feels even too direct. Well I cannot speak for them until I’ve tried it myself.
The other things I liked about the Tesla Model 3 – it does not feel heavy in most of the situations, unless you start manoeuvring more aggressively (which I haven’t, but tried to turn left and right while driving and that is where the mass can be noticed). It sits pretty well as a car on the tarmac due to its low centre of gravity, it overall handles pretty well too. And my thoughts were “if this wasn’t something you need to charge so often, it would be an ideal daily all-rounder”. It also does not bring you guilt while pressing pedal to the metal as there is no gas involved, you don’t pollute or consume oil in addition you can bring back electricity to your battery by using regenerative braking which is another bonus of this car. I was using “low regenerative braking” option and if you’re a smooth driver it does not require real brakes often! I haven’t tried but can imagine that standard regenerative braking mode reduces the need for actual brakes even further. Knowing there is no fuel, no oil, no gearbox or clutch involved, adding up the regenerative braking which reduces the brakes wear significantly – this car should be nearly no cost for maintenance! And talking about Model 3 particularly it is quite an affordable car too, starting just from £40,490 at the time of writing.
The concerns
As I’ve been enjoying the drive not all things seemed unarguably positive. While the big display was quite useful for navigating and seeing cars in other lanes on the road, it felt like I couldn’t operate it without giving a steering wheel to the autopilot. It is a complete opposite compared to i.e. Porsche, where you’ve got entire centre console dedicated for car controls within a reach of a single button (I know some people may find it overwhelming). Touchscreen truly enables Tesla to pop in any updates over the air and add new features, that can not be argued, however from distraction point of view I would have to spend a lot of time getting used to.
Noise insulation is another thing that I’ve noticed – tyre noise is quite noticeable in the cabin. It isn’t too bad though. And I believe this is quite all the things I’ve been not so confident about this car after my first drive.
Conclusion
I got back into my internal combustion car, drove it, listened to sports exhaust while shifting, saw the range of a 800-1000km with a single fill-up that can be done again and again within a matter of few minutes and concluded to myself. Electric cars are awesome inventions, however if you’re used to drive long distances fast – electric car does not feel the most convenient option to me just yet. Charging takes quite a lot of time if you aim to cover long distance within the same day. However I that had to be a daily driver for home/work commuting, shopping and not too distant local trips it is a perfect car. Just with one condition – you must have a convenient place where to charge it once you’re back home.
