Welcome to my full video review of the Tesla Model 3. Sit back and enjoy the ride.
Just so you know, I’m not a car enthusiast by any means. I’m more of a tech enthusiast and I’ve never owned a Tesla or an electric vehicle up to this point. I’ve actually driven a 2007 Pontiac G6 for the majority of my car driving life so it’s not like I’m coming from another premium vehicle. But with that said, the Tesla Model 3 is by far the most fun and absolute best car I’ve ever driven.
The Model 3 is Tesla’s most affordable car in their current lineup and it’s the best-selling all-electric car in the US and it’s also the best selling mid-size premium sedan in the US period, electric or not. And for good reasons, which I’ll go over in this review.
Delivery
What if I told you that I ordered this car online with the touch of a button? If you’ve ever ordered anything on Amazon, then that’s kind of how it’s like ordering a Tesla.
In March 2016 I stood in line and put down $1,000 to reserve my Model 3. Two years later, in March 2018, I ordered my Model 3 on my smartphone and paid the $2,500 deposit with my fingerprint using Apple Pay which was a seamless experience.
5 weeks later I took delivery of my Model 3 in Cincinnati. The delivery was super quick and easy, literally in and out in less than 30 minutes.
In order for me to have gotten my Model 3 as soon as possible I had to order the first production configuration which is $50,000 at it’s cheapest and includes:
- $35,000 base Model 3 with the single RWD motor & standard 18″ Aero Wheels
- $9,000 Long Range Battery upgrade which gives 310 miles of driving range on a full charge
- $5,000 Premium Upgrade Package
- $1,000 Delivery Fee
My Model 3 cost a total of $56,000 because I added:
- $5,000 Enhanced AutoPilot
- $1,000 for Multi-coat Red paint
So at around $50,000 this first production Model 3 is not the “affordable mass-market” electric car that Tesla promised. Tesla says that is coming later. When exactly? Nobody knows yet. We’ll have to wait and see.
Key Card & App
The Model 3 does not come with a key or even a key fob. Instead it comes with a key card that is the size of a normal credit card and easily fits into your pocket or wallet. But the key card is actually the backup method. The main key is your smartphone, using Bluetooth and the Tesla app. I’ve been a huge Tesla fan for a long time but the moment when my smartphone became my car key, that is when it all started to change for me and I truly realized how far ahead Tesla is, technologically speaking, and I’d be surprised if this doesn’t become the standard for all new cars.
The way it works is I can use the Tesla app to manage many different things on my Model 3 from anywhere – I can see its exact location and interior temperature, check if it’s charging and how long it has left, see how much battery range it has, I can turn on the heat or AC, remotely unlock or lock the doors, open the frunk or trunk, honk the horn and flash the lights.
But I don’t have to use the app or even pull my smartphone out of my pocket when I’m going to get in it to drive. As long as I have my smartphone with Bluetooth enabled, the Model 3 senses when I’m near the car and it will automatically unlock when I press to open the door, and it’s ready to drive when I sit down. It works the same way when I park, just exit the car and as I walk away with my smartphone in my pocket, the Model 3 will automatically lock itself. So no more fumbling with car keys or key fobs anymore. It’s a complete game changer for me because with Apple Pay and things like smart home door locks, 99% of the time all I need is my smartphone for what I need to do. So moral of the story: don’t lose your smartphone. But seriously, once you experience this you’ll never want to go back to normal keys or key fobs ever again.
Model 3 Design
This car is stunning, and that’s why there’s really no bad color choice for the Model 3 because it just looks so good in any color, but especially red. Pictures and even videos don’t do the Tesla red justice, you really have to see it in person to appreciate how gorgeous it is. Fun fact I’m the first red Model 3 owner in my state. I’m not 100% that is a factual statement but based on the Model 3 delivery spreadsheet I’m pretty sure I am and until someone proves me wrong I’ll just assume I am because it’s cool to say. Even before seeing the interior which is really a jaw dropper, people immediately notice how futuristic the design is just from seeing the exterior. My mom referred to it as “The Transformers” car when she first saw it.
In 2013, the Tesla design chief said that the Model 3 would be “an Audi A4, BMW 3 Series, Mercedes-Benz C-Class type of vehicle that will offer everything: range, affordability, and performance”. I gotta say that’s a pretty accurate description, but the Model 3 is really in a league of its own. From the lack of a front grill, to the all glass roof, to the door handles that are flush with the body, the exterior looks very sleek and sporty. Speaking of the door handles, out of all the tech in this car, the door handles are the one thing I have to explain to every person who rides in the car. To open the doors from the outside, you press in with your thumb then grab the long part as it comes out. This is easily learned but it’s still a bit of a hassle to open if your hands are full. But I not only have to explain how the doors open from the outside, but also the inside. To get out of the car, you have to press the top button on the interior door handle, which people always think is the window button. So again it’s different than what people are used to but once you know how to do it, it feels completely natural and that’s the risk and reward that Tesla took with this design.
Since there’s no engine, it has a front trunk (or frunk), which isn’t a huge storage addition but it does allow you to store some things in it. But it’s so cumbersome to close that I hardly ever use it. You can’t shut it like a normal rear trunk, you have to close it gently almost all the way then press down with both hands at the same time until it seals shut. I wish it would have been able to close like a normal rear trunk. I believe the frunk’s best use is to store things that you need in your car but don’t need access to regularly.
The rear trunk is great and has a ton of storage for how small the car is. It even has a lower compartment for more storage. I’m really impressed with the overall amount of storage space in this car. The Model 3 is also equipped with 8 cameras, 1 radar sensor, and 12 ultrasonic sensors to assist the car with partial autonomy now and possibly full autonomy in the future. But with all that tech on the Model 3 it still doesn’t have a good blind spot detection system. It only shows a visual alert on the screen and I wish it had lights on the side mirrors or a way to show the side camera feeds on the screen when you activate your turn signal. The standard 18″ aero wheels are a big point of discussion: some people love the way they look, some hate it. I actually think the Aero wheels look good on certain colors, red being one of them. Plus not only do you save $1,500 by not upgrading to the 19″ wheels, the Aero wheels get their name from being aerodynamic which means they give the Model 3 slightly better range efficiency compared to the 19″ wheels. And the best part? They can easily be popped off to reveal the actual rim underneath so you can change it up if you don’t need the extra range from the Aero wheels. So it wasn’t even a question when I ordered my car – I’ve been a fan of the Aero wheels from the start.
Now, the interior. The view is phenomenal through the all glass roof, the vegan leather seats are some of the most comfortable car seats I’ve ever sat in, the center console gives even more storage, along with two smartphone charging docks up front. The short front end and lack of instrument cluster gives a nice wide clear view through the windshield. The backseat can sit up to 3 adults if they don’t mind getting up close and personal.
But as an owner this is the view you’ll see 95% of the entire life of this car. It’s completely different than what you see in any other luxury sedan in this price range. Some may say it’s bland and cheap looking and that they’d miss all their dials and buttons. I, on the other hand, see a beautiful minimalist design that doesn’t sacrifice controls at all but instead, moves them from hardware to software via the brain of the Model 3: the center-mounted 15″ touchscreen display. Tesla is a software and energy company that just happens to make cars so it’s no surprise the touchscreen in the Model 3 is the best out of any car out right now.
The majority of the screen is the map and GPS. The left hand side is where it shows information and quick controls for the Model 3 including remaining battery mileage, energy usage, windshield wiper controls, and of course the speedometer. And let me just say, the speedometer being on the touchscreen is a non-issue. I don’t even remember what it’s like to have an actual instrument cluster. It didn’t take hardly any time to adjust to the speedometer being on the right instead of in the middle. Windshield wipers can be set to Auto which will enable the wipers to automatically turn themselves on and off based on off it’s raining or not and it works pretty well as long as you’re okay with the wiper speed being unpredictable because they’re still not perfect yet.
The bottom menu has different icons for various things like climate controls and music source. Setting the climate is a bit unintuitive at first because it’s completely software controlled. But again like most things on the Model 3, once you get used to the new way of doing things it quickly becomes natural. The touchscreen itself is responsive and it’s fairly simple to navigate. For this being the first version of this type of screen and software I think Tesla did a good job with the layout. However my primary grip is I wish the artwork icon would swap locations with the source and the playback controls so that those are closer to the driver which makes it easier to use the touch controls while driving. And I believe Tesla will no doubt constantly improve the software and layout over time because they’ve already been doing just that.
The backup camera is the best I’ve ever seen in a vehicle just because of how large the display is. And it comes in handy because the view out of the rear view mirror is pretty narrow compared to most cars I’ve driven. So almost everything is controlled via the touch display, opening trunk/frunk, settings for lights, even opening the glovebox. The navigation system uses Google Maps and provides turn by turn directions and also shows current traffic conditions and I’ve compared it to Waze which is my favorite navigation app and it replicated Waze’s directions almost every single time. So it has pretty much become my go-to GPS because it’s so convenient because it’s built into my car and is up to date in real time.
The Trip Planner is great because when you type in a destination that is more distance than your current battery range, it will show you which Superchargers you need to stop at and how long you need to charge in order to get to your destination without running out of battery. So with that paired with the 310 mile battery range on a full charge, I pretty much never have range anxiety. For those wondering if the screen is distracting – not at all. Sometimes I forget it’s there. It’s not intrusive or too bright or anything like that. In fact it automatically adjusts brightness and switches to a night mode when it’s dark.
The premium sound system is awesome as well. It allows music playback through Bluetooth from a smartphone but what I really love is that the Model 3 has built-in LTE connection along with music streaming via Slacker Radio which I find myself using more than Spotify Premium which I did not expect. But when you’re playing music over Bluetooth from your smartphone it does display what you’re playing on the touch screen and you’re able to control the playback from the steering wheel and on-screen buttons in case you wondered about that. It also has Tunein for podcasts which is nice. But the speakers sound so good it’s hard to listen not to listen to music when driving even for a huge podcast fanatic like myself.
Which brings us to the steering wheel which has a few controls for the car. Besides the two stalks on either side that have typical controls like windshield wipers, brights, turn signals, parking button, cruise control and autopilot: the wheel itself has two scroll buttons that can be scrolled up or down, pressed left or right, and clicked in the middle. The left scroll button is dedicated to audio playback and can increase or decrease volume, go to next or previous song, or play/pause. The right scroll button can be pressed to activate basic voice controls. Voice controls are useful but are still pretty basic. My hope is that Tesla can continue to push software updates that will enable more sophisticated voice controls because that’s where many of our devices are moving towards and it would be great to say things like “set cruise control to 70 mph” or “open glovebox”.
Let’s talk about one of the main reasons I bought a Model 3: Enhanced Autopilot. Tesla claims this is still a BETA feature but if you’re watching this you’ve probably already heard of Tesla Autopilot which, on certain roads, will automatically steer, accelerate, and brake as needed to stay within the lane at whatever speed you set. It’s basically cruise control plus and works best on long highway or interstate drives. To enable Autopilot while driving, just double tap down on the right stalk and if it’s available it will pop a message saying to keep your hands on the wheel and be ready to take over at any time. So even though you’re supposed to be keeping your hands on the wheel you can see that it steers, accelerates, and even slows down and stops by itself. But you should always stay alert and be ready to take over at any time, and if it senses that you haven’t had your hands on the wheel it will periodically pop up an alert to put your hands on the wheel so that it knows you’re still paying attention.
To easily change your speed on Autopilot or cruise control, just scroll the right wheel up or down quickly to change the speed in 5 mph increments or scroll a single notch for 1 mph increments. You can also set the length of space between the Model 3 and the car ahead using the scroll wheel’s left and right directions. I’ve used Autopilot for hundreds of miles and it’s worked almost perfectly. There was one time when I initiated the turn signal and as it was halfway through the lane change it suddenly turned back into the previous lane like it thought there was a car in my blind spot when there wasn’t anything at all. So it’s definitely still improving every day, but other than that it’s worked great and it’s something I use every single day. It takes the mundane boring part out of driving and lets me relax a little more than usual knowing that there are two things controlling the car instead of just one.
Also when you have the Enhanced Autopilot option, the regular cruise control actually becomes Traffic Aware Cruise Control meaning it basically does what Autopilot does except for Auto Steer. So on roads when Autopilot isn’t available or when it’s limited to a certain speed, I will enable normal cruise control with one tap down of the right stalk and it maintains that speed like any other car but if the car ahead slows down, the Model 3 will brake and speed up again to maintain that speed so you don’t have to. So Autopilot is one of my favorite features of the Model 3 and it’s something everyone seems to love.
Driving & Handling
It’s quite sad that half the reason I bought the Model 3 was for Autopilot because this car is so much fun to drive. I hate driving, or I should say, I hated driving before getting my Model 3. Now I look for any excuse to drive somewhere.
The first thing people always notice is how quiet it is. This is a common experience for anyone who rides or drives in an electric vehicle for the first time so it isn’t unique to Tesla but it’s so satisfying. When the car is on and stopped it’s dead silent. When going at slow speeds it’s like partially-dead silent. Zombie silent you could say. And even driving normally it’s much quieter than any gasoline engine vehicle. No engine, no exhaust, no transmission, no rattling parts under the hood. Just blissful peace and quiet with the ever so faint whir of the rear motor at times.
After you get used to the quietness of the electric vehicle, the next thing people notice is the acceleration. This thing is quick and the fast acceleration is mainly due to the instant torque that comes with electric vehicles. Tesla’s official specs don’t say this but many online acceleration tests show the first production Model 3 achieving 0-60 in 4.7 seconds.
I know there are plenty of gasoline vehicles that are faster than that, but what really makes this memorable is the instant torque along with the quick acceleration without the noise, like I just mentioned. When you go 0-60 in less than 5 seconds and can still hear a pen drop, that is what’s so fun about it.
But even though it’s fun to enjoy the quick acceleration, there’s sort of an ironic phenomenon that comes with owning a Tesla because I’ve found it to be a fun challenge to see if I can achieve better range efficiency than my previous drive, based on the stats it shows on the display. The faster you accelerate and drive it fast, the more the range efficiency suffers so I find myself actually driving more smoothly just to see if I can lower my overall average wH per mile. And so far my Model 3 is getting great efficiency at an average of 234 wH per mile.
The handling is better than anything else I’ve driven. The compact steering wheel is a lot smaller than my G6 steering wheel and it has a very comfortable grip. When steering the Model 3 it feels super sporty and nimble. It doesn’t have smart air suspension but the ride is significantly less bumpy and more comfortable than my G6 ever was.
One of the biggest and best differences when transitioning from a gasoline car to a fully electric car like the Model 3 is the one-pedal driving. In the Model 3 when you let your foot off the accelerator the car actually slows itself down with automatic regenerative braking. So you barely have to use the actual brake pedal unless you need to come to a complete stop or stop very quickly. This not only saves your brake pads but it also lets you drive most of the time with just one pedal. Also whenever regenerative braking occurs it feeds energy back into the battery so you get better efficiency. And in the Model 3 if you do need to come to a complete stop while driving like at a red light for example, all you have to do is press the brake pedal until the “Hold” icon appears and then you can take your foot off the brake and the car will stay stopped which is a relatively unknown but very convenient feature. One-pedal driving and regenerative braking definitely takes some time to get used to but once you master it, you’ll never want to go back to driving with a gas pedal.
The fully electric motor really does enhance driving in a way that’s difficult to put into words. It feels effortless and obvious. It just feels right. When cruise control is enabled it keeps a steady speed even if you’re going up or down a steep hill, there’s no delay in acceleration compared to my old Pontiac which had to think a bit and slow down before it actually revved the RPMs and struggled to keep up with set speed when going uphill.
Remember how everyone says a car is the worst possible purchase a person can make because it instantly depreciates as soon as you drive it off the lot. Well, what if I told you my Model 3 will be better next year than it is today? See, Tesla is constantly improving the software and just like all the other Tesla vehicles, the Model 3 can download software updates automatically as Tesla releases them. Your smartphone and computer have been doing this for years. Now it’s the car’s turn. As Russ would say, “Why not?”
Cost & Savings
Even though the Long Range Model 3 is a luxury car first and foremost, it’s still allowing me to not ever buy gas again which feels really good.
Instead of visiting gas stations, I just charge my Model 3 in my garage so it’s also saving me time. The Model 3 comes with a mobile connector cable along with some adapters to charge it. A common outlet for home charging is a NEMA 14-50 which I have in my garage and it gives my Model 3 thirty miles of range per hour of charge.
My Model 3 charges at night when my electricity is considered off-peak and is billed at 6.3 cents per kWh. After driving over 2,000 miles, my Model 3 is averaging 234 Wh/mile which means it uses 23.4 kWh to travel 100 miles. So 23.4 kWh times 6.3 cents means it costs approximately $1.48 to travel 100 miles in my Model 3.
Of course these numbers all depend on many factors like where you live, how much your electricity costs, and your average range efficiency but based on current gas prices it would cost me about $11.50 to travel 100 miles in my Pontiac G6. That’s a $10 savings per 100 miles. I usually drive at least 20,000 miles per year so that’s a $2,000 annual savings on what would have been spent on fuel. This doesn’t offset the initial cost of the car by any means, but over time it will prove to be significant.
Conclusion
When it comes down to exactly what a car should be, the Model 3 excels in almost every single way. It’s attractive while being fully electric with zero emissions, it’s quick yet quiet, it’s fast yet safe, it’s compact yet comfortable, it’s fun yet relaxing, it can travel over 300 miles on a single charge yet has a nationwide network of Supercharger stations for a quick charge when needed, and most of all: the Model 3 is the future, and it’s here now.
Here’s the best way I can try to explain what it’s like going from a gasoline car to a Model 3. Remember like 10 years ago when everyone had a Motorola RAZR as their cell phone? At the time it was the coolest thing I’d ever owned, until I got my first iPhone in 2009 and that completely changed the game.
Think of how that felt – going to a smartphone that is completely software driven with an intuitive user experience along with a minimalist simple design built around a single touchscreen and only a couple of buttons. Now try to envision what it would be like to go back to a flip phone with a ton of little buttons, no touch screen, no apps, no over-the-air software updates, nothing. Nobody wants that. It would never happen.
The Model 3 is like the flagship smartphone to the electric vehicle and autonomous car revolution, and once you experience it for yourself you may get a little sad and nostalgic for antiquated gasoline cars because they’ll soon be forgotten in the wake, rear view mirror, of what is the Tesla Model 3.
That’s my review of the first production Long Range Tesla Model 3! I hope you enjoyed it. Of course nothing is perfect, so I will be coming out with more videos about the Model 3 and tips and tricks for Model 3 owners or future owners so be sure to subscribe to my YouTube channel.
