Tesla: Model 3 News
#321
Moderator
It's definitely a bit too minimalistic for me, but would have to see it in person to know for sure.
If it otherwise looks good in the flesh & drives well, I could possibly give a pass on the sparseness of the interior.
If it otherwise looks good in the flesh & drives well, I could possibly give a pass on the sparseness of the interior.
#322
Azine Jabroni
Everyone: Why is there no instrument cluster?
Musk: Well, it's meant to drive itself.
Everyone: What standard and when is this going to happen?
Musk: ...
The reality is this car is a decade early. Cars aren't driving themselves yet and for many of these owners, Teslas won't drive themselves until their next model.
#323
Moderator
^ And then, I likely wouldn't want one. I'm happy to drive myself until the overlords command that all manually driven cars are no longer allowed on the road.
#324
Azine Jabroni
#325
I never thought I would say, "there aren't enough buttons"
#327
Azine Jabroni
#329
Azine Jabroni
Tech bloggers have already decided car ownership is dead. They annoy me.
#330
https://www.wsj.com/articles/tesla-m...als-1506976496
Tesla Misses Model 3 Production Goals
Electric-car maker built 260 Model 3s in latest period, missing out on goal of building 1,500
Oct. 2, 2017
Tesla Inc. badly missed its goal of building 1,500 Model 3 cars in the third quarter, the first sign that the production ramp-up for the new sedan isn’t going as smoothly as planned.
The Silicon Valley electric-car maker built 260 of the Model 3s between July and September, the company said Monday in a statement. In August, the auto maker predicted it would build more than 1,500 Model 3s before cranking up production to 5,000 a week by the end of the fourth quarter.
The Model 3, which starts at about $35,000, represents Chief Executive Elon Musk’s bet that he can transform the luxury auto maker into a more mainstream player around the world. Tesla blamed “production bottlenecks” for the weaker production.
“It is important to emphasize that there are no fundamental issues with the Model 3 production or supply chain,” Tesla said in a statement. “We understand what needs to be fixed and we are confident of addressing the manufacturing bottleneck issues in the near-term.”
When Mr. Musk touted the new cars in a July celebration, he warned the first six months of production could be “manufacturing hell” as its Fremont, Calif., factory learns how to build the new vehicle.
Tesla on Monday said its total global deliveries — including Model S sedans and Model X sport-utility vehicles—rose 4.5% to 26,150 compared with a year earlier. That beat the average estimate of 25,900 deliveries by five analysts surveyed by FactSet.
Tesla’s third-quarter results were helped by a 36% rise in Model X sales to 11,865 compared with a year ago, while Model S sales fell about 11% to 14,065.
Tesla delivered only 220 Model 3s during the quarter, well below the 1,300 that analysts surveyed by FactSet expected on average. Tesla sold these first Model 3 vehicles in the quarter to employees and investors, and expects to begin delivering them to nonemployees in the final three months of the year.
Some analysts weren’t confident in Tesla’s ability to meet Model 3 expectations in the quarter. Ben Kallo, an analyst for R.W. Baird, said in a Sept. 29 note to investors that Tesla was likely behind, estimating the company had delivered only about 300 to 400 Model 3s. “We believe Q3 will be the most challenging part of the Model 3 production ramp,” he wrote.
Tesla in August said it expected combined sales of the Model S and Model X to increase during the second half of the year, up from the 47,100 units reported in the first six months. On Monday, Tesla said it expects sales to exceed that first-half total “by several thousand,” reaching about 100,000 vehicles delivered for the year.
Unlike major auto makers, Tesla doesn’t report monthly sales results.
The company said 4,820 vehicles were in transit at the end of the quarter, which will be counted as sales in the fourth quarter. That is a 38% increase from the roughly 3,500 vehicles in transit at the end of the second quarter.
Electric-car maker built 260 Model 3s in latest period, missing out on goal of building 1,500
Oct. 2, 2017
Tesla Inc. badly missed its goal of building 1,500 Model 3 cars in the third quarter, the first sign that the production ramp-up for the new sedan isn’t going as smoothly as planned.
The Silicon Valley electric-car maker built 260 of the Model 3s between July and September, the company said Monday in a statement. In August, the auto maker predicted it would build more than 1,500 Model 3s before cranking up production to 5,000 a week by the end of the fourth quarter.
The Model 3, which starts at about $35,000, represents Chief Executive Elon Musk’s bet that he can transform the luxury auto maker into a more mainstream player around the world. Tesla blamed “production bottlenecks” for the weaker production.
“It is important to emphasize that there are no fundamental issues with the Model 3 production or supply chain,” Tesla said in a statement. “We understand what needs to be fixed and we are confident of addressing the manufacturing bottleneck issues in the near-term.”
When Mr. Musk touted the new cars in a July celebration, he warned the first six months of production could be “manufacturing hell” as its Fremont, Calif., factory learns how to build the new vehicle.
Tesla on Monday said its total global deliveries — including Model S sedans and Model X sport-utility vehicles—rose 4.5% to 26,150 compared with a year earlier. That beat the average estimate of 25,900 deliveries by five analysts surveyed by FactSet.
Tesla’s third-quarter results were helped by a 36% rise in Model X sales to 11,865 compared with a year ago, while Model S sales fell about 11% to 14,065.
Tesla delivered only 220 Model 3s during the quarter, well below the 1,300 that analysts surveyed by FactSet expected on average. Tesla sold these first Model 3 vehicles in the quarter to employees and investors, and expects to begin delivering them to nonemployees in the final three months of the year.
Some analysts weren’t confident in Tesla’s ability to meet Model 3 expectations in the quarter. Ben Kallo, an analyst for R.W. Baird, said in a Sept. 29 note to investors that Tesla was likely behind, estimating the company had delivered only about 300 to 400 Model 3s. “We believe Q3 will be the most challenging part of the Model 3 production ramp,” he wrote.
Tesla in August said it expected combined sales of the Model S and Model X to increase during the second half of the year, up from the 47,100 units reported in the first six months. On Monday, Tesla said it expects sales to exceed that first-half total “by several thousand,” reaching about 100,000 vehicles delivered for the year.
Unlike major auto makers, Tesla doesn’t report monthly sales results.
The company said 4,820 vehicles were in transit at the end of the quarter, which will be counted as sales in the fourth quarter. That is a 38% increase from the roughly 3,500 vehicles in transit at the end of the second quarter.
#331
Azine Jabroni
Has Tesla ever made a deadline they set? I have never seen a company so open with their stretch goals.
Can't tell if it's brilliant or foolhardy.
Can't tell if it's brilliant or foolhardy.
#332
Azine Jabroni
Tesla Model 3 Volume Production Target Pushed Back Again
In other news, the sky is blue
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Tesla Inc (TSLA.O) delayed a production target for its new Model 3 sedan for the second time on Wednesday, disappointing investors even as it claimed “major progress” overcoming manufacturing challenges that have hampered the vehicle’s rollout.
The delay sent shares of the Palo Alto, California-based company down 1.8 percent in after-market trading.
The Model 3 is critical to Tesla’s long-term success, as it is the most affordable of its cars to date and is the only one capable of transforming the niche automaker to a mass producer amid a sea of rivals entering the nascent electric vehicle market.
Building the car efficiently and delivering it without delays to customers is also critical, as the money-losing company faces high cash burn. Delays increase the risk that reservation-holders will cancel orders.
In delivering 1,550 of its new Model 3 electric vehicles in the fourth quarter, Tesla fell short of Wall Street expectations. Analysts had expected 4,100 Model 3 sedans to be delivered in the fourth quarter, according to financial data and analytics firm FactSet.
The estimates for Model 3 deliveries by different brokerages varied widely. While Evercore analysts estimated 5,800 deliveries, Cowen analysts expected just 2,250.
Tesla said 860 Model 3 vehicles were in transit to customers at the end of the fourth quarter.
Tesla Inc317.25
TSLA.ONASDAQ
-3.28(-1.02%)
![](https://www.reuters.wallst.com/reuters/next/chart/chartsgen2?symbols=TSLA.O&numberOfDays=90&width=286&height=178&realtime=0&scaleFactor=2&ChartsGen2=true)
Tesla had initially predicted to reach the milestone of 5,000 vehicles per week in December, but in November deferred the target to the end of the first quarter.
“In the last seven working days of the quarter, we made 793 Model 3s, and in the last few days, we hit a production rate on each of our manufacturing lines that extrapolates to over 1,000 Model 3s per week,” Tesla said in a statement.
The Model 3 starts at $35,000 or about half the price of its flagship Model S and over 500,000 customers have put down a refundable deposit for the car.
The delay sent shares of the Palo Alto, California-based company down 1.8 percent in after-market trading.
The Model 3 is critical to Tesla’s long-term success, as it is the most affordable of its cars to date and is the only one capable of transforming the niche automaker to a mass producer amid a sea of rivals entering the nascent electric vehicle market.
Building the car efficiently and delivering it without delays to customers is also critical, as the money-losing company faces high cash burn. Delays increase the risk that reservation-holders will cancel orders.
In delivering 1,550 of its new Model 3 electric vehicles in the fourth quarter, Tesla fell short of Wall Street expectations. Analysts had expected 4,100 Model 3 sedans to be delivered in the fourth quarter, according to financial data and analytics firm FactSet.
The estimates for Model 3 deliveries by different brokerages varied widely. While Evercore analysts estimated 5,800 deliveries, Cowen analysts expected just 2,250.
Tesla said 860 Model 3 vehicles were in transit to customers at the end of the fourth quarter.
Tesla Inc317.25
TSLA.ONASDAQ
-3.28(-1.02%)
- TSLA.O
Tesla had initially predicted to reach the milestone of 5,000 vehicles per week in December, but in November deferred the target to the end of the first quarter.
“In the last seven working days of the quarter, we made 793 Model 3s, and in the last few days, we hit a production rate on each of our manufacturing lines that extrapolates to over 1,000 Model 3s per week,” Tesla said in a statement.
The Model 3 starts at $35,000 or about half the price of its flagship Model S and over 500,000 customers have put down a refundable deposit for the car.
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kurtatx (01-04-2018)
#334
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#335
Azine Jabroni
Meanwhile, some 500,000 people gave $1000 to Tesla for what could be no reason.
#336
Ex-OEM King
#337
Azine Jabroni
#338
Race Director
Thread Starter
Slow production of Tesla's Model 3 sedan leaves customers at the bottom of the 455,000- person reservation list facing a three-year wait for their new cars.
That leaves an opening for other EV makers, such as Chevy, to woo away Tesla customers. But it's not an opening Chevy plans on openly exploiting, the company said.
"It's not in the cards," Steve Majoros, marketing director of Chevrolet cars and crossovers, told Automotive News last week.
On paper, the Bolt EV and Model 3 are similar in terms of performance and price. However, Tesla has created a cult following that had customers making down payments on the car even before its unveiling.
And it would be nearly impossible for a competitor to identify those wait-list customers without offering a broad incentive for those who prove they were on the list. Tesla, for privacy and competitive reasons, wouldn't share that list.
Like all first adopters, most Tesla reservation holders know what they're getting into when they drop a $1,000 deposit on a car sight unseen.
When Tesla unveiled the Model 3, 180,000 people paid a deposit to reserve their spot in line, according to Tesla CEO Elon Musk, though the car wouldn't be delivered for more than a year — and, in most cases, has yet to be delivered.
However, with the sleek exterior characteristic of the Model S and Model X and a spartan interior consisting of just a center console touch screen, the Model 3 is somewhat prevented from requiring any major redesigns in the near future, said Mike Ramsey, an analyst at consultancy Gartner Research.
"This model is very simple," Ramsey said. "It will stick around for quite a while with the way it looks. It has an exterior design that ages well."
Last week, Tesla said it increased the delivery rate of the Model 3 by more than seven times. On Wednesday, Jan. 3, Tesla said it delivered 1,550 Model 3 sedans in the fourth quarter, up from 220 in the third quarter.
Tesla said it is in the process of relieving bottlenecks that have slowed initial production rates. But the automaker will need a major production breakthrough to make sure customers don't end up receiving a car with a 3- to 4-year-old design at a new-car price.
"We're very appreciative of our Model 3 customers, who continue to stick by us while patiently waiting for their cars," Tesla said in a statement.
When Musk launched the Model 3 in July, he projected the company would produce 5,000 vehicles a week by the end of 2017. During the company's third-quarter earnings call, Musk pushed back the production target to the first quarter of 2018. On Wednesday, it was delayed again to the second quarter.
Reports suggest the initial delay may have been due to an unfinished assembly line at Tesla's Fremont, Calif., plant. In November, Musk said a supplier to Tesla's battery gigafactory had "dropped the ball," forcing the company to rewrite code to get the production line back on track.
No matter the cause, Tesla customers are still stuck waiting for a car with no sure timeline as other automakers begin to roll out their competitors and as Tesla's $7,500 federal tax credits disappear, which will happen after the company hits 200,000 EV sales.
The predicament for Silicon Valley's darling automaker is a stark contrast from its largest Detroit rival, General Motors, which just completed its first limited full year of sales of the Chevy Bolt EV.
GM sold 23,297 Bolt EVs in 2017 — making it the best-selling, all-electric mainstream EV in America. That made for an average of about 2,750 vehicles a month since sales expanded nationally in August.
In December, the car topped 3,000 in sales — a small milestone but enough to have it outsell the Chevrolet Volt to become GM's top-selling plug-in for the year.
This year will be an early indication as to whether automakers, including GM and Tesla, can produce mass-market EVs that will attract owners who aren't early adopters of the technology.
Barclays analyst Brian Johnson said 2018 is shaping up to be the "Year of the Model 3, Part 2"— referring to how "production bottlenecks" and delays stifled sales in 2017. Problems, he says, that may continue this year.
"While one would assume the ramp to steadily increase, in reality the ramp is likely to be lumpy, with weeks of downtime/low production as Tesla addresses bottlenecks — only raising production once bottlenecks are solved," he said in a note to investors last week.
Easy conquests
Majoros last year said Chevy did some cross-market research in an early Bolt EV buyer study about whether people who purchase the car were interested in or waiting for the Model 3. He said the results were "a pretty healthy number."
Chevy, Majoros said, is naturally attracting some Tesla buyers, though he declined to provide details.
Conquesting battery-electric vehicle, or BEV, buyers is easier than those of traditional powertrains, according to IHS Markit.
According to a report released last week by IHS, BEV buyers' loyalty to a brand is generally "below make loyalty for the remaining models in the BEV's brand."
Make loyalty is the percent of BEV households that return to market and acquire another vehicle from the same make.
Helping the conquest is the rate at which buyers are switching vehicles. Currently, more than four of every 10 battery-electric vehicles are leased, substantially above the lease penetration rate for both hybrids and all vehicles, according to IHS.
Stephanie Brinley, senior automotive analyst for IHS Markit, says the real battle between the Model 3 and Bolt EV will come once Tesla's production is at a "more robust level," and even then, measuring the cars based on traditional metrics such as sales may not be the best way to evaluate success.
"GM is rolling it out the way that they want to," Brinley said. "GM's strategy for Bolt is much broader than immediate sales in the coming months."
Read more: Tesla Model 3 Update: Chevy isn't planning to woo the wait-list away | Autoweek
That leaves an opening for other EV makers, such as Chevy, to woo away Tesla customers. But it's not an opening Chevy plans on openly exploiting, the company said.
"It's not in the cards," Steve Majoros, marketing director of Chevrolet cars and crossovers, told Automotive News last week.
On paper, the Bolt EV and Model 3 are similar in terms of performance and price. However, Tesla has created a cult following that had customers making down payments on the car even before its unveiling.
And it would be nearly impossible for a competitor to identify those wait-list customers without offering a broad incentive for those who prove they were on the list. Tesla, for privacy and competitive reasons, wouldn't share that list.
Like all first adopters, most Tesla reservation holders know what they're getting into when they drop a $1,000 deposit on a car sight unseen.
When Tesla unveiled the Model 3, 180,000 people paid a deposit to reserve their spot in line, according to Tesla CEO Elon Musk, though the car wouldn't be delivered for more than a year — and, in most cases, has yet to be delivered.
However, with the sleek exterior characteristic of the Model S and Model X and a spartan interior consisting of just a center console touch screen, the Model 3 is somewhat prevented from requiring any major redesigns in the near future, said Mike Ramsey, an analyst at consultancy Gartner Research.
"This model is very simple," Ramsey said. "It will stick around for quite a while with the way it looks. It has an exterior design that ages well."
Delivery rate
Last week, Tesla said it increased the delivery rate of the Model 3 by more than seven times. On Wednesday, Jan. 3, Tesla said it delivered 1,550 Model 3 sedans in the fourth quarter, up from 220 in the third quarter.
Tesla said it is in the process of relieving bottlenecks that have slowed initial production rates. But the automaker will need a major production breakthrough to make sure customers don't end up receiving a car with a 3- to 4-year-old design at a new-car price.
"We're very appreciative of our Model 3 customers, who continue to stick by us while patiently waiting for their cars," Tesla said in a statement.
When Musk launched the Model 3 in July, he projected the company would produce 5,000 vehicles a week by the end of 2017. During the company's third-quarter earnings call, Musk pushed back the production target to the first quarter of 2018. On Wednesday, it was delayed again to the second quarter.
Reports suggest the initial delay may have been due to an unfinished assembly line at Tesla's Fremont, Calif., plant. In November, Musk said a supplier to Tesla's battery gigafactory had "dropped the ball," forcing the company to rewrite code to get the production line back on track.
No matter the cause, Tesla customers are still stuck waiting for a car with no sure timeline as other automakers begin to roll out their competitors and as Tesla's $7,500 federal tax credits disappear, which will happen after the company hits 200,000 EV sales.
Mass market
The predicament for Silicon Valley's darling automaker is a stark contrast from its largest Detroit rival, General Motors, which just completed its first limited full year of sales of the Chevy Bolt EV.
GM sold 23,297 Bolt EVs in 2017 — making it the best-selling, all-electric mainstream EV in America. That made for an average of about 2,750 vehicles a month since sales expanded nationally in August.
In December, the car topped 3,000 in sales — a small milestone but enough to have it outsell the Chevrolet Volt to become GM's top-selling plug-in for the year.
This year will be an early indication as to whether automakers, including GM and Tesla, can produce mass-market EVs that will attract owners who aren't early adopters of the technology.
Barclays analyst Brian Johnson said 2018 is shaping up to be the "Year of the Model 3, Part 2"— referring to how "production bottlenecks" and delays stifled sales in 2017. Problems, he says, that may continue this year.
"While one would assume the ramp to steadily increase, in reality the ramp is likely to be lumpy, with weeks of downtime/low production as Tesla addresses bottlenecks — only raising production once bottlenecks are solved," he said in a note to investors last week.
Easy conquests
Majoros last year said Chevy did some cross-market research in an early Bolt EV buyer study about whether people who purchase the car were interested in or waiting for the Model 3. He said the results were "a pretty healthy number."
Chevy, Majoros said, is naturally attracting some Tesla buyers, though he declined to provide details.
Conquesting battery-electric vehicle, or BEV, buyers is easier than those of traditional powertrains, according to IHS Markit.
According to a report released last week by IHS, BEV buyers' loyalty to a brand is generally "below make loyalty for the remaining models in the BEV's brand."
Make loyalty is the percent of BEV households that return to market and acquire another vehicle from the same make.
Helping the conquest is the rate at which buyers are switching vehicles. Currently, more than four of every 10 battery-electric vehicles are leased, substantially above the lease penetration rate for both hybrids and all vehicles, according to IHS.
Stephanie Brinley, senior automotive analyst for IHS Markit, says the real battle between the Model 3 and Bolt EV will come once Tesla's production is at a "more robust level," and even then, measuring the cars based on traditional metrics such as sales may not be the best way to evaluate success.
"GM is rolling it out the way that they want to," Brinley said. "GM's strategy for Bolt is much broader than immediate sales in the coming months."
Read more: Tesla Model 3 Update: Chevy isn't planning to woo the wait-list away | Autoweek
#339
Senior Moderator
#340
Team Owner
These delays should not be any surprise given its track record.
#341
Race Director
Thread Starter
The Tesla Model 3, the car that is going to bring Tesla technology to the masses, is finally here. It is not here as in “in press fleets across America,” but it is sitting in the driveways of real customers who don’t work for Tesla, and that, my friends, is what counts for progress in the Willy Wonka world of Elon Musk.
So, not knowing when a real, regular loaner Model 3 would actually become available, I, uh, “borrowed” one. Where’d I get it? As they say in New Jersey, “Don’ worry ‘bout it.”
The point is that for a couple of hours yesterday I drove a fully loaded Model 3 in city and suburban traffic, around freeway on-ramps as fast as I dared go with the owner riding shotgun, and I fiddled with that 15-inch touchscreen that controls everything in the car.
And? Yes? Well? Was it what you would call a “good” car? Yes. More than good? In many, if not most ways, yes.
There are advances available in the Model 3 that it will take some more timid mainstream automakers several years and a few model cycles to put into regular cars. Those range from the obvious, like autonomous driving in the form of Tesla’s Enhanced Autopilot, to simple things like auto-dimming outside rearview mirrors on an “entry-level” car and a steering wheel that electrically adjusts while in your hands for a better fit, instead of requiring that you reach down and under it and guess where it might fit best.
But as far as the basic car-ness of the Model 3, it is a success. At least it felt pretty good after a two-hour tour of suburbia. What follows, then, is a brief introduction to Tesla’s latest and probably most important new car.![](https://hanabi.autoweek.com/sites/default/files/styles/gen-738-415/public/P1140050.JPG?itok=p4ZHRwEn)
Tesla Model 3 prioritizes efficiency in its design.I had seen a few Model 3s before, but this was the first time I was able to linger about one, open the doors, adjust the seats and close the "frunk" -- that's front trunk -- by gently pressing two palms on either side of the Tesla logo and waiting for the click -- anything else might bend the aluminum hood. There is a lot of steel that makes up this car, but some parts are aluminum.
First, the styling. The stuff is so subjective. Some people love the look, others don’t. It’s your personal taste. For my personal taste it looks too much like a jelly bean. Just because an electric car doesn’t require a front grille doesn’t mean the front end has to be a flat slab of beef. This one looks a little like the automotive equivalent of a brick wall. The roofline, which makes all that interior space possible, looks bulbous from the outside. And the rear roofline sloping down to the decklid, important for aerodynamics and cargo space, is a little too hunchbacked for my tastes. I do like the sculpted sides, and the wheels are nice, but you decide what you like. It’s not like the Nissan Leaf or the Chevy Bolt are going to appear as aspirational poster icons on the bedroom walls of any adolescents. Electric car styling in general, apart from the Model S, seems to be aimed at efficiency over style.
The $1,000 optional “Red Multi-Coat” paint looked flawless. The fit and finish was as good as any modern production car, as far as I could tell. All the panel gaps lined up perfectly. Early worries about this on some prototypes seem to be unfounded on this “production” car. The doors opened with mechanical ease. You can get the door handle to present itself using your smartphone, but you can also just push on the back of the handle to make the front of the handle pop out. Yank on that and the door opens. This is a much better solution than the magical proximity sensor door handles on the Model S.![](https://hanabi.autoweek.com/sites/default/files/styles/gen-738-415/public/P1140037.JPG?itok=w3c5QbFJ)
Tesla Model 3's all-powerful 15-inch touchscreen
Inside, the Model 3 is big. The rear trunk is surprisingly large. Fold down those rear seats and you can carry a SpaceX rocket booster. The frunk is made to carry a roll-on suitcase -- the kind that fits in an overhead storage bin on a plane. There are clever little flip-out hooks on which you can hang plastic bags -– or, in the case of Tesla owners, the more sturdy reusable grocery bags.
The passenger compartment is comfortable enough, about what you’d expect, but the dash is what you’d have to call revolutionary. Instead of the usual phalanx of dials, gauges and vents, there’s just a long slab of wood. But not cheap wood like you’d find at Home Depot. No, this is a nice slab. You wouldn’t burn this in the fireplace. You’d mount it on the mantle. The only thing poking up from the dash’s sheer design minimalism is a 15-inch touchscreen. Remember seeing this on the Volkswagen Bulli concept car at Geneva in 2011? I’m not saying that’s where Tesla got this idea. The screen controls almost everything, which may seem like a massive headache for anyone with an older iPad, but on first impression, it seemed to be a workable solution. On second impression, you have to go down many levels deep to change from Bluetooth iPhone music to FM. On the other hand, you save a lot of money on switches and vents. And when something better comes along you can just get one of those OTAs -- over-the-air updates.
On the left side of the screen is an outline of the car, showing which doors are open or allowing you to pop the frunk. You also get: which gear you’re in, the range left in the battery and the local speed limit. The right side of the screen, taking up more than half of it, is where everything else is. By touching one of the icons on the bottom edge of the screen you can bring up the main menu, defrost, seat controls, dual climate control, fan speed, music, phone and volume. From there are those submenus to go into as much detail as you want. I didn’t spend too much time playing with the touchscreen since I’d only be driving this car for a couple hours. But if you buy one, get the full tutorial.![](https://hanabi.autoweek.com/sites/default/files/styles/gen-738-415/public/P1140038.JPG?itok=O51YdQej)
Tesla Model 3 front seats are fully functional but fairly ordinary
A couple really cool things: Rather than have more complex vents and flaps, the Model 3’s climate control changes fan speed at each outlet. Want more air in your face? Just drag the touchscreen icon up. The navigation screen reacted surprisingly fast -- pinch-zoom your way over to Kansas City and you’re there, no waiting. Likewise go from map to satellite view almost instantly. Hit the music icon and tell it what you want to hear and it plays it. I said, “Mott The Hoople” and by golly it played Mott The Hoople. Spend more time on this and you’ll discover more cool features.
Many functions on the screen operate through a free 4G connection. How long the 4G will be free is not clear, but it’s free now so take advantage of it.
Now for the drive. The car I had, as with all the cars being sold now, was pretty much fully loaded. While the theoretical base Model 3 will get a 50-kWh battery and sell for $36,000, my car had everything on it and sold for $60,500. That included: the Long Range Battery ($9,000), good for 310 mile range; Premium Upgrades ($5,000); Red Multi-Coat paint ($1,000); 19-inch wheels ($1,500); Enhanced Autopilot ($5,000); and Full Self-Driving Capability ($3,000). About that Full Self-Driving Capability: It has the capability but not the ability yet. Tesla says, “In the future, Model 3 will be capable of conducting trips with no action required by the person in the driver’s seat. This feature is dependent upon extensive software validation and regulatory approval, which may vary by jurisdiction.”
My car, with the Long Range battery, makes 258 hp, according to the EPA. Tesla doesn’t list those figures. Tesla says its rear-drive Model 3 will get to 60 mph in 5.1 seconds. I brought the VBox with me for the drive, but the car’s owner was understandably hesitant to do drag strip launches on crowded public streets. Can’t say I blame him, but I have no doubt this would get into the four-second range to 60 mph with our NHRA-sanctioned 1-foot rollout.
The Model 3 is ready to go when you enter it with your registered phone in your pocket. There’s nothing so droll as a key here, (though we wonder what happens when some street urchin steals your phone). Put your foot on the brake and flip the right stalk sticking out of the steering wheel down, and the screen indicates you’re in D. Off you go.![](https://hanabi.autoweek.com/sites/default/files/styles/gen-738-415/public/P1140027.JPG?itok=METlkXSF)
Tesla Model 3 at the beach
First thing you notice is that the car is remarkably quiet. For a while I thought I heard a slight booming inside, but that was only because I’d flipped the rear seat down. Flipped up it was serenely silent. There’s very little noise coming from the tires or from wind wafting over that bulbous exterior. On some electric cars, you can hear the motor whining a little intrusively, but not on the Model 3.
Acceleration is what I’d call brisk. First time I hit the gas -- or, rather, the accelerator -- was in mid-range, about 30 mph to 50 mph. It launched impressively. There’s a lot of torque here, reportedly 307 lb-ft of it, though again, Tesla doesn’t say. Before I knew it, I was up to 70 mph. Top speed of the Long Range Model 3 is a claimed 140 mph. I didn’t try that out.
Next I tried out a few freeway on-ramps, which was as close as I was going to get to a road course on this drive. With a curb weight for the Model 3 with the big battery listed at 3,814 pounds, and even though 52 percent of that is on the rear wheels, you might think it’d wallow around a little in a turn. But the Model 3 showed very little body roll. The feel through the wheel is not exactly that of a sports sedan, but compared to any other electric vehicle on the market, it’s communicative. I never really pushed it into understeer or oversteer, despite its rear-wheel drive, but maybe, if a test car materializes, I could fling it a little faster through some more proper turns. At first blush, though, the handling is promising.
Next up was Tesla’s $5,000 Enhanced Autopilot. I’ve generally enjoyed this feature on other Teslas, minus the wiggle of the steering wheel it requires every two minutes. I would love to try out the new Cadillac Super Cruise system so I’d have something to compare this one to. But as it is it’s either the most advanced or the second-most-advanced system on the market. Tesla says it’ll match speed to traffic conditions, keep within a lane, automatically change lanes, transition from one freeway to another, exit the freeway and park at your destination. I tried out all but the last two, and it performed as advertised. It’s particularly helpful in stop-and-go traffic.
For another $3,000, you get that “Full Self-Driving Capability,” which at this point is theoretical, “…dependent upon extensive software validation and regulatory approval.” Looking forward to that.![](https://hanabi.autoweek.com/sites/default/files/styles/gen-738-415/public/P1140042.JPG?itok=WQw4Eps0)
Tesla Model 3 has 15 cubit feet of cargo space, including this spacious trunk.
So is the Model 3 best in class? Well, it’s bigger than the Nissan Leaf, Chevy Bolt and most of the rest of the competition, so it might be in a class of its own. Should you buy this instead of a Leaf? If you have the cash –- because all they’re delivering now are full-zoot models -- and if you don’t mind waiting. Tesla’s website says deliveries will take “one to three months.” Is that optimistic? I don’t know. Are there really hundreds of thousands of buyers in line? If so, it would be longer than a three-month wait, wouldn’t it? Check with Tesla to see where your spot in line would be. As for the styling, there really isn’t an attractively styled electric car anywhere, is there?
The room inside, the surprise-and-delight features, the acceleration all fall into the plus category. At this point, I’ll say so far so good, Tesla. I would like to spend more time in one of these. Tesla?
Read more: Tesla Model 3 first drive: Will it be worth the wait (if you're on the list)?
So, not knowing when a real, regular loaner Model 3 would actually become available, I, uh, “borrowed” one. Where’d I get it? As they say in New Jersey, “Don’ worry ‘bout it.”
The point is that for a couple of hours yesterday I drove a fully loaded Model 3 in city and suburban traffic, around freeway on-ramps as fast as I dared go with the owner riding shotgun, and I fiddled with that 15-inch touchscreen that controls everything in the car.
And? Yes? Well? Was it what you would call a “good” car? Yes. More than good? In many, if not most ways, yes.
There are advances available in the Model 3 that it will take some more timid mainstream automakers several years and a few model cycles to put into regular cars. Those range from the obvious, like autonomous driving in the form of Tesla’s Enhanced Autopilot, to simple things like auto-dimming outside rearview mirrors on an “entry-level” car and a steering wheel that electrically adjusts while in your hands for a better fit, instead of requiring that you reach down and under it and guess where it might fit best.
But as far as the basic car-ness of the Model 3, it is a success. At least it felt pretty good after a two-hour tour of suburbia. What follows, then, is a brief introduction to Tesla’s latest and probably most important new car.
Tesla Model 3 prioritizes efficiency in its design.I had seen a few Model 3s before, but this was the first time I was able to linger about one, open the doors, adjust the seats and close the "frunk" -- that's front trunk -- by gently pressing two palms on either side of the Tesla logo and waiting for the click -- anything else might bend the aluminum hood. There is a lot of steel that makes up this car, but some parts are aluminum.
First, the styling. The stuff is so subjective. Some people love the look, others don’t. It’s your personal taste. For my personal taste it looks too much like a jelly bean. Just because an electric car doesn’t require a front grille doesn’t mean the front end has to be a flat slab of beef. This one looks a little like the automotive equivalent of a brick wall. The roofline, which makes all that interior space possible, looks bulbous from the outside. And the rear roofline sloping down to the decklid, important for aerodynamics and cargo space, is a little too hunchbacked for my tastes. I do like the sculpted sides, and the wheels are nice, but you decide what you like. It’s not like the Nissan Leaf or the Chevy Bolt are going to appear as aspirational poster icons on the bedroom walls of any adolescents. Electric car styling in general, apart from the Model S, seems to be aimed at efficiency over style.
The $1,000 optional “Red Multi-Coat” paint looked flawless. The fit and finish was as good as any modern production car, as far as I could tell. All the panel gaps lined up perfectly. Early worries about this on some prototypes seem to be unfounded on this “production” car. The doors opened with mechanical ease. You can get the door handle to present itself using your smartphone, but you can also just push on the back of the handle to make the front of the handle pop out. Yank on that and the door opens. This is a much better solution than the magical proximity sensor door handles on the Model S.
Tesla Model 3's all-powerful 15-inch touchscreen
Inside, the Model 3 is big. The rear trunk is surprisingly large. Fold down those rear seats and you can carry a SpaceX rocket booster. The frunk is made to carry a roll-on suitcase -- the kind that fits in an overhead storage bin on a plane. There are clever little flip-out hooks on which you can hang plastic bags -– or, in the case of Tesla owners, the more sturdy reusable grocery bags.
The passenger compartment is comfortable enough, about what you’d expect, but the dash is what you’d have to call revolutionary. Instead of the usual phalanx of dials, gauges and vents, there’s just a long slab of wood. But not cheap wood like you’d find at Home Depot. No, this is a nice slab. You wouldn’t burn this in the fireplace. You’d mount it on the mantle. The only thing poking up from the dash’s sheer design minimalism is a 15-inch touchscreen. Remember seeing this on the Volkswagen Bulli concept car at Geneva in 2011? I’m not saying that’s where Tesla got this idea. The screen controls almost everything, which may seem like a massive headache for anyone with an older iPad, but on first impression, it seemed to be a workable solution. On second impression, you have to go down many levels deep to change from Bluetooth iPhone music to FM. On the other hand, you save a lot of money on switches and vents. And when something better comes along you can just get one of those OTAs -- over-the-air updates.
On the left side of the screen is an outline of the car, showing which doors are open or allowing you to pop the frunk. You also get: which gear you’re in, the range left in the battery and the local speed limit. The right side of the screen, taking up more than half of it, is where everything else is. By touching one of the icons on the bottom edge of the screen you can bring up the main menu, defrost, seat controls, dual climate control, fan speed, music, phone and volume. From there are those submenus to go into as much detail as you want. I didn’t spend too much time playing with the touchscreen since I’d only be driving this car for a couple hours. But if you buy one, get the full tutorial.
Tesla Model 3 front seats are fully functional but fairly ordinary
A couple really cool things: Rather than have more complex vents and flaps, the Model 3’s climate control changes fan speed at each outlet. Want more air in your face? Just drag the touchscreen icon up. The navigation screen reacted surprisingly fast -- pinch-zoom your way over to Kansas City and you’re there, no waiting. Likewise go from map to satellite view almost instantly. Hit the music icon and tell it what you want to hear and it plays it. I said, “Mott The Hoople” and by golly it played Mott The Hoople. Spend more time on this and you’ll discover more cool features.
Many functions on the screen operate through a free 4G connection. How long the 4G will be free is not clear, but it’s free now so take advantage of it.
Now for the drive. The car I had, as with all the cars being sold now, was pretty much fully loaded. While the theoretical base Model 3 will get a 50-kWh battery and sell for $36,000, my car had everything on it and sold for $60,500. That included: the Long Range Battery ($9,000), good for 310 mile range; Premium Upgrades ($5,000); Red Multi-Coat paint ($1,000); 19-inch wheels ($1,500); Enhanced Autopilot ($5,000); and Full Self-Driving Capability ($3,000). About that Full Self-Driving Capability: It has the capability but not the ability yet. Tesla says, “In the future, Model 3 will be capable of conducting trips with no action required by the person in the driver’s seat. This feature is dependent upon extensive software validation and regulatory approval, which may vary by jurisdiction.”
My car, with the Long Range battery, makes 258 hp, according to the EPA. Tesla doesn’t list those figures. Tesla says its rear-drive Model 3 will get to 60 mph in 5.1 seconds. I brought the VBox with me for the drive, but the car’s owner was understandably hesitant to do drag strip launches on crowded public streets. Can’t say I blame him, but I have no doubt this would get into the four-second range to 60 mph with our NHRA-sanctioned 1-foot rollout.
The Model 3 is ready to go when you enter it with your registered phone in your pocket. There’s nothing so droll as a key here, (though we wonder what happens when some street urchin steals your phone). Put your foot on the brake and flip the right stalk sticking out of the steering wheel down, and the screen indicates you’re in D. Off you go.
Tesla Model 3 at the beach
First thing you notice is that the car is remarkably quiet. For a while I thought I heard a slight booming inside, but that was only because I’d flipped the rear seat down. Flipped up it was serenely silent. There’s very little noise coming from the tires or from wind wafting over that bulbous exterior. On some electric cars, you can hear the motor whining a little intrusively, but not on the Model 3.
Acceleration is what I’d call brisk. First time I hit the gas -- or, rather, the accelerator -- was in mid-range, about 30 mph to 50 mph. It launched impressively. There’s a lot of torque here, reportedly 307 lb-ft of it, though again, Tesla doesn’t say. Before I knew it, I was up to 70 mph. Top speed of the Long Range Model 3 is a claimed 140 mph. I didn’t try that out.
Next I tried out a few freeway on-ramps, which was as close as I was going to get to a road course on this drive. With a curb weight for the Model 3 with the big battery listed at 3,814 pounds, and even though 52 percent of that is on the rear wheels, you might think it’d wallow around a little in a turn. But the Model 3 showed very little body roll. The feel through the wheel is not exactly that of a sports sedan, but compared to any other electric vehicle on the market, it’s communicative. I never really pushed it into understeer or oversteer, despite its rear-wheel drive, but maybe, if a test car materializes, I could fling it a little faster through some more proper turns. At first blush, though, the handling is promising.
Next up was Tesla’s $5,000 Enhanced Autopilot. I’ve generally enjoyed this feature on other Teslas, minus the wiggle of the steering wheel it requires every two minutes. I would love to try out the new Cadillac Super Cruise system so I’d have something to compare this one to. But as it is it’s either the most advanced or the second-most-advanced system on the market. Tesla says it’ll match speed to traffic conditions, keep within a lane, automatically change lanes, transition from one freeway to another, exit the freeway and park at your destination. I tried out all but the last two, and it performed as advertised. It’s particularly helpful in stop-and-go traffic.
For another $3,000, you get that “Full Self-Driving Capability,” which at this point is theoretical, “…dependent upon extensive software validation and regulatory approval.” Looking forward to that.
Tesla Model 3 has 15 cubit feet of cargo space, including this spacious trunk.
So is the Model 3 best in class? Well, it’s bigger than the Nissan Leaf, Chevy Bolt and most of the rest of the competition, so it might be in a class of its own. Should you buy this instead of a Leaf? If you have the cash –- because all they’re delivering now are full-zoot models -- and if you don’t mind waiting. Tesla’s website says deliveries will take “one to three months.” Is that optimistic? I don’t know. Are there really hundreds of thousands of buyers in line? If so, it would be longer than a three-month wait, wouldn’t it? Check with Tesla to see where your spot in line would be. As for the styling, there really isn’t an attractively styled electric car anywhere, is there?
The room inside, the surprise-and-delight features, the acceleration all fall into the plus category. At this point, I’ll say so far so good, Tesla. I would like to spend more time in one of these. Tesla?
Read more: Tesla Model 3 first drive: Will it be worth the wait (if you're on the list)?
#343
Team Owner
If this car was offered by Acura, it would be DOA..... the exterior looks so bloated and the interior has nothing but a monitor. paying $50k for it is fucking nuts.
#344
AZ Community Team
Pretty good review, my sister in law recently drove a fellow doctor's S and she was extremely impressed. She's not a car person but said the overall UX was extremely good.
A friend also drove a "S" (his daily drive is a 2014 Accord EX) and he also was very impressed.
Tesla definitely needs to put in a front driver display, the one display in the center won't work for me.
My daughter will graduate as a S/W engineer in 2019 and if she gets a car, a "3" is at the top of her list.
As long as Tesla can stay solvent and produce "3"' in production quantity this vehicle will be a success. But that's also a big if, there's alot of financial issues at Tesla in short and long term.
A friend also drove a "S" (his daily drive is a 2014 Accord EX) and he also was very impressed.
Tesla definitely needs to put in a front driver display, the one display in the center won't work for me.
My daughter will graduate as a S/W engineer in 2019 and if she gets a car, a "3" is at the top of her list.
As long as Tesla can stay solvent and produce "3"' in production quantity this vehicle will be a success. But that's also a big if, there's alot of financial issues at Tesla in short and long term.
#345
Race Director
Thread Starter
Munro & Associates, Inc. is not a company you've probably heard of unless you work in the engineering department of a major automaker, but this Detroit-based specialty engineering consultancy has a very specific niche: tearing down new cars to find out how -- and how well -- they're made. And when we say tearing down, we really mean it. Munro slices and drills into parts to see what's inside, inspecting the materials, engineering and build processes. Their clients are the automakers themselves, who pay Munro to figure out just how their competitors are building the latest models and what lurks beneath the bodywork.
Even though the Tesla Model 3 is a bit of tough car to get your hands on these days, Munro secured an example to see how it's built.
It's tempting to answer the question of how it's built with "by hand," if the various reports leaking out of Tesla are to be believed, but despite the electric automaker spending an extravagant amount of time completing each car, it doesn't appear the handmade process is necessarily translating into quality on some vehicles.Autoline’s John McElroy got a chance to go over the Model 3 in question with Sandy Munro, the CEO of the company, just before it was taken apart, and let's just say Munro has a new nitpicks about the engineering choices made by Tesla. But he saves the most brutal zingers for the panel gaps -- an issue that we've heard about ever since the first examples of the electric sedan started rolling out of the factory.
"If we look over here I can barely get my fingernail in," Munro says. "And then we look over here, I can almost put my thumb in. This is, this is very unusual; the stackups, the tolerance stackups on this car are just like nothing we've ever seen before. Not since, like I say, the '70s or something. I don't, I don't understand how it got to this point. I mean, these are, these are flaws that we would see on a Kia in the '90s or something."
Munro is clearly not among those who overpaid an eBay scalper for one of the butane torches rebranded as The Boring Company Flamethrowers; his clients are mostly automakers of the gasoline and diesel persuasion who have been around a little longer than Tesla.
The biggest question now (aside from whether Tesla will hit the delayed production targets by the end of Q2 2018) is whether the widely-reported quality control issues affecting some Model 3s will dampen buyer enthusiasm. So far they haven't, but then again Tesla is only about a few thousand cars into production after seven months, so a wider consensus will take time to develop.
Read more: Tesla Model 3 assembly quality is like 'something from the Seventies" says benchmarking firm
Even though the Tesla Model 3 is a bit of tough car to get your hands on these days, Munro secured an example to see how it's built.
It's tempting to answer the question of how it's built with "by hand," if the various reports leaking out of Tesla are to be believed, but despite the electric automaker spending an extravagant amount of time completing each car, it doesn't appear the handmade process is necessarily translating into quality on some vehicles.Autoline’s John McElroy got a chance to go over the Model 3 in question with Sandy Munro, the CEO of the company, just before it was taken apart, and let's just say Munro has a new nitpicks about the engineering choices made by Tesla. But he saves the most brutal zingers for the panel gaps -- an issue that we've heard about ever since the first examples of the electric sedan started rolling out of the factory.
"If we look over here I can barely get my fingernail in," Munro says. "And then we look over here, I can almost put my thumb in. This is, this is very unusual; the stackups, the tolerance stackups on this car are just like nothing we've ever seen before. Not since, like I say, the '70s or something. I don't, I don't understand how it got to this point. I mean, these are, these are flaws that we would see on a Kia in the '90s or something."
Munro is clearly not among those who overpaid an eBay scalper for one of the butane torches rebranded as The Boring Company Flamethrowers; his clients are mostly automakers of the gasoline and diesel persuasion who have been around a little longer than Tesla.
Opinions on Munro's take will surely be split down partisan lines as the Teslarati point out that Model 3s are still early examples while EV skeptics might point to the fact that each Model 3 spends quite a lot of time at the factory, which should theoretically allow Tesla to fix some fit and finish issues in these early cars. We should also note that our own Mark Vaughn spent time in an early Model 3 and found his example to be both a delightful driver and reasonably well screwed together.
The biggest question now (aside from whether Tesla will hit the delayed production targets by the end of Q2 2018) is whether the widely-reported quality control issues affecting some Model 3s will dampen buyer enthusiasm. So far they haven't, but then again Tesla is only about a few thousand cars into production after seven months, so a wider consensus will take time to develop.
Read more: Tesla Model 3 assembly quality is like 'something from the Seventies" says benchmarking firm
#347
Team Owner
those wheels....
#349
Azine Jabroni
The fire department's worst enemy
#350
The Third Ball
Join Date: Sep 2002
Location: Los Angeles, Ca
Age: 45
Posts: 49,317
Received 4,967 Likes
on
2,645 Posts
Seen a few of these in the wild now. There is one that parks on the street the next block over.
#351
Azine Jabroni
Flaws like Kia in the 90s. Ouch.
#352
AZ Community Team
Munro & Associates, Inc. is not a company you've probably heard of unless you work in the engineering department of a major automaker, but this Detroit-based specialty engineering consultancy has a very specific niche: tearing down new cars to find out how -- and how well -- they're made. And when we say tearing down, we really mean it. Munro slices and drills into parts to see what's inside, inspecting the materials, engineering and build processes. Their clients are the automakers themselves, who pay Munro to figure out just how their competitors are building the latest models and what lurks beneath the bodywork.
Even though the Tesla Model 3 is a bit of tough car to get your hands on these days, Munro secured an example to see how it's built.
It's tempting to answer the question of how it's built with "by hand," if the various reports leaking out of Tesla are to be believed, but despite the electric automaker spending an extravagant amount of time completing each car, it doesn't appear the handmade process is necessarily translating into quality on some vehicles.Autoline’s John McElroy got a chance to go over the Model 3 in question with Sandy Munro, the CEO of the company, just before it was taken apart, and let's just say Munro has a new nitpicks about the engineering choices made by Tesla. But he saves the most brutal zingers for the panel gaps -- an issue that we've heard about ever since the first examples of the electric sedan started rolling out of the factory.
"If we look over here I can barely get my fingernail in," Munro says. "And then we look over here, I can almost put my thumb in. This is, this is very unusual; the stackups, the tolerance stackups on this car are just like nothing we've ever seen before. Not since, like I say, the '70s or something. I don't, I don't understand how it got to this point. I mean, these are, these are flaws that we would see on a Kia in the '90s or something."
Munro is clearly not among those who overpaid an eBay scalper for one of the butane torches rebranded as The Boring Company Flamethrowers; his clients are mostly automakers of the gasoline and diesel persuasion who have been around a little longer than Tesla.
The biggest question now (aside from whether Tesla will hit the delayed production targets by the end of Q2 2018) is whether the widely-reported quality control issues affecting some Model 3s will dampen buyer enthusiasm. So far they haven't, but then again Tesla is only about a few thousand cars into production after seven months, so a wider consensus will take time to develop.
Read more: Tesla Model 3 assembly quality is like 'something from the Seventies" says benchmarking firm
Even though the Tesla Model 3 is a bit of tough car to get your hands on these days, Munro secured an example to see how it's built.
It's tempting to answer the question of how it's built with "by hand," if the various reports leaking out of Tesla are to be believed, but despite the electric automaker spending an extravagant amount of time completing each car, it doesn't appear the handmade process is necessarily translating into quality on some vehicles.Autoline’s John McElroy got a chance to go over the Model 3 in question with Sandy Munro, the CEO of the company, just before it was taken apart, and let's just say Munro has a new nitpicks about the engineering choices made by Tesla. But he saves the most brutal zingers for the panel gaps -- an issue that we've heard about ever since the first examples of the electric sedan started rolling out of the factory.
"If we look over here I can barely get my fingernail in," Munro says. "And then we look over here, I can almost put my thumb in. This is, this is very unusual; the stackups, the tolerance stackups on this car are just like nothing we've ever seen before. Not since, like I say, the '70s or something. I don't, I don't understand how it got to this point. I mean, these are, these are flaws that we would see on a Kia in the '90s or something."
Munro is clearly not among those who overpaid an eBay scalper for one of the butane torches rebranded as The Boring Company Flamethrowers; his clients are mostly automakers of the gasoline and diesel persuasion who have been around a little longer than Tesla.
Opinions on Munro's take will surely be split down partisan lines as the Teslarati point out that Model 3s are still early examples while EV skeptics might point to the fact that each Model 3 spends quite a lot of time at the factory, which should theoretically allow Tesla to fix some fit and finish issues in these early cars. We should also note that our own Mark Vaughn spent time in an early Model 3 and found his example to be both a delightful driver and reasonably well screwed together.
The biggest question now (aside from whether Tesla will hit the delayed production targets by the end of Q2 2018) is whether the widely-reported quality control issues affecting some Model 3s will dampen buyer enthusiasm. So far they haven't, but then again Tesla is only about a few thousand cars into production after seven months, so a wider consensus will take time to develop.
Read more: Tesla Model 3 assembly quality is like 'something from the Seventies" says benchmarking firm
![Shrug](https://acurazine.com/forums/images/smilies/shrug.gif)
#353
Azine Jabroni
Bad ergonomics are bad ergonomics. The gaps in and of themselves don't bother me, but those types of shortcomings are signs of NVH issues down the line.
#354
AZ Community Team
The head of that company obviously didn't like Tesla's so it's kinda hard to say much of his review is worth anything.
It's one thing to be subjective it's another to show extreme exaggeration.
#355
The video did make me question if he's got some sort of bias. He is a CEO so it would be expected for him to be very critical and have high expectations, especially when his company which carries his namesake focuses on design, tooling and QC for manufacturing. But the "whole thumb in there" is hyperbole and I doubt I would ever notice unless it were pointed out.
I do recall "panel gaps" as something that luxury car owners sometimes complained about. Considering this car will easily get into the $50k range, the extra scrutiny is justified in a way. The safety aspects and redundant systems seem almost lacking. I don't know if it's true or not, but in a video about the Model 3 I saw that the mechanical interior door handle was recommended by Tesla to be used only in case of emergency, otherwise damage can result![Huh](https://acurazine.com/forums/images/smilies/huh.gif)
I'm sure there are plenty of systems in place in case of catastrophic failure, but are they all guaranteed to work perfectly? Would you be confident in a full brake-by-wire system, no mechanical connection between the pedal and the master cylinder? I wouldn't.
The lack of a mechanical door handle in the rear is baffling. Reminds me a bit of the Neon SRT-4 which had power front windows but manual rear windows.
I do recall "panel gaps" as something that luxury car owners sometimes complained about. Considering this car will easily get into the $50k range, the extra scrutiny is justified in a way. The safety aspects and redundant systems seem almost lacking. I don't know if it's true or not, but in a video about the Model 3 I saw that the mechanical interior door handle was recommended by Tesla to be used only in case of emergency, otherwise damage can result
![Huh](https://acurazine.com/forums/images/smilies/huh.gif)
I'm sure there are plenty of systems in place in case of catastrophic failure, but are they all guaranteed to work perfectly? Would you be confident in a full brake-by-wire system, no mechanical connection between the pedal and the master cylinder? I wouldn't.
The lack of a mechanical door handle in the rear is baffling. Reminds me a bit of the Neon SRT-4 which had power front windows but manual rear windows.
#356
Originally Posted by Sandy Munro
Then we've got, umm,... the way they did the gaps on this car are like you can see them from Mars.
. . . .
The tolerance stack ups on this car are just like nothing we've ever seen before. Not since like I say the '70s or something. I don't understand how it got to this point. I mean, these are flaws we would see on a Kia in the '90s or something. This is very unusual for a car that, you know, is used to producing luxury vehicles. I can't imagine how they released this. It's just a surprise. A really big surprise.
. . . .
The tolerance stack ups on this car are just like nothing we've ever seen before. Not since like I say the '70s or something. I don't understand how it got to this point. I mean, these are flaws we would see on a Kia in the '90s or something. This is very unusual for a car that, you know, is used to producing luxury vehicles. I can't imagine how they released this. It's just a surprise. A really big surprise.
![Why Me](https://acurazine.com/forums/images/smilies/whyme.gif)
Silly to be comparing quality or gap tolerance of a $35K-$40K vehicle (and an early production build at that) to luxury vehicles costing $80K+ .
You can find big / uneven gaps on a 9th gen Accord.
![](https://www.netcarshow.com/Honda-Accord-2013-1600-9f.jpg)
![](https://www.netcarshow.com/Honda-Accord-2013-1600-a5.jpg)
And 2018 Accord. Look at the gaps on that hood.
![](https://www.netcarshow.com/Honda-Accord-2018-1600-d5.jpg)
![](https://www.netcarshow.com/Honda-Accord-2018-1600-d4.jpg)
#357
There's one thing I can say with confidence... my guess is Tesla isn't a Munro & Associates customer
don't think he would have went off like that if they were.
![Snicker](https://acurazine.com/forums/images/smilies/emot-laugh.gif)
#358
Azine Jabroni
Can anyone find a Model 3 that is in the $35-$30K range? They're almost all more expensive than that.
#359
Team Owner
I am sure you can build 1 and wait for 2 years if you want one.... but seriously at that price range, i dont see the point. I would rather go lease a i3 with range extender for 250 a month... if EV is what you going for. If not, there are much much better cars than a $35k model 3 with nothing in it.
#360
Azine Jabroni
I am sure you can build 1 and wait for 2 years if you want one.... but seriously at that price range, i dont see the point. I would rather go lease a i3 with range extender for 250 a month... if EV is what you going for. If not, there are much much better cars than a $35k model 3 with nothing in it.