First off, I am a huge fan of electric cars. I believe that its the future in one way or another, and today I got a chance to drive the Tesla Model 3 for a full day and get to test it in real life conditions, speed, range, charging, etc.
So first and foremost, Its an amazing car from an engine & speed perspective. Its one of the fastest engines I have ever seen in my life exceeding the fastest super-sport cars I have ever driven in my life including the 700 HP McLaren supersports, which are light and optimised for only fast acceleration. Compared to this 2 ton Tesla beast, the drive engine is by far the best. Tesla gets a clear 10/10, and Audi and Mercedez only wish their engines were this far… To this point, if Tesla would actually license its battery & drive engines — I think this would be a very smart move to make it be the platform, as its highly uncapable of other things.
Interrior — Tesla Peugeot style interrior got a lot better, its more practical, finally got some practical elements, but its still a bit too basic, lacks some of the comfort settings of some of the advanced cars.
Handling — I don’t love the “all in one” screen. I think it distracts the driver for some basic functionalities you have to click too many buttons to get to otherwise basic functionality like rain swiping speed when you get into some massive rain. This is a real problem, and a safety problem for that matter. It takes 3–4 clicks to adjust this. Very unsafe in fast, sudden rain.
Battery & Real life range — lets talk about battery. Its just small, at this size, the range of the car is just too small for a normal “gas” car driver. I made it only 120 km (74 miles) from 85% to 27% (52% of battery) on fairly aggressive driving. So the 322 miles range is a nice “wish”, but mine would have been 240 km / 148 miles — just small of a range.
About this “self-driving” BS
The Tesla “self-driving” currently embedded in this 2020 Tesla 3 series model is one of the worst I have seen on the market so far. After testing the Mercedes EQC and some of the G-series BMW assisted self-driving, it far exceeds Tesla’s capabilities. I was AMAZED this year about Mercedes self-driving features, which are really closest to self-driving I have seen in my life. Tesla’s latest updates are not close to the things I have seen in the Mercedez EQC.
Few reasons:
- Sudden no warning full-stop — the warnings on Tesla are subtle, not clear, and lacking indicators and heads up display really do not inform you of a full-stop coming. So a full-stop at 130 km/h on a highway is not the most “fun” thing
- Speed ceiling at 150 km/h — even my 2018 BMW 5 series could do a much better cruise control. Come on, these cars are built for speed, can do 200+ km/h. BMW removes lane managing capabilities at 210 km/h. Wise move. Tesla 150 km/h is just lame for Europe/German highway network.
- EU limitations — I know this is not Tesla’s fault, but it also handles this poorly. You actually have to change direction of the wheel to make it recognize the confirmation of the self-driving, this is not amazing. Most importantly though, I wouldn’t trust a Tesla self-driving me around on any highway at any speed with its current technology… It makes a huge amount of very signifficant errors — maybe this is built for simple US 90 degree roads and traffic, not for complex European cities and structures.
- If you make an issue with self-driving (go over the limit while using it), etc. — you have to actually physically not restart the self-driving, but re-start the car. Yes, turn it off, get out, lock it, unlock it, get back in
I think allowing the car to have constant software updates is amazing and possibly allows them to fix this. And I hope they can really fix this.
Things I loved about the Tesla:
- Locking / unlocking
- Rollercoaster like 0–100km/h — this is FAST
To be clear — I am not some gas-car supporter. I am really on the market for an electric car right now, but I can’t simply choose due to lack of the product I am looking for.
My short-list are:
- BMW i4 car — but might have the same issue with range
- Tesla model S — The self-driving is not that big of an argument, so could be the car for me
I am really looking for the car to transport bikes on the back or inside, but its OK on the back. So I do need a towing ball in the back.
I have declined these electric cars so far:
- Audi eTron — interrior / technology / range — its just a Volkswagen, looks cheap on the inside, the drive engine is really poor, and compared to the Mercedez at the same price, it makes it look cheap in every way…
- Mercedez EQC — fits all my requirements but the range is not there. Drive engine would be just enough, but at high-speed / high-performance the Tesla outperforms it in range.
- BMW i3 — too small (wheel drive), lacking 4 wheel drive, range is pathetic — I actually love the design. Also Mini-cooper all-electric is in the same category, silly range.
