The Tesla Model 3, reviewed (finally)

Few cars have been the subject of as much intense Internet debate as the Tesla Model 3. To Muskophiles, it is quite simply the safest car ever and the best vehicle on sale today from any OEM. To the haters, it's a four-wheel deathtrap, assembled in a tent and ready to fall apart the minute you drive it in the rain.

As usual, neither of these takes reflects much more than one's underlying biases. After several days testing a Model 3, it was clear that there's a lot to like about Tesla's mass-market electric car. Equally, it was clear that the car has a real underlying design flaw, which will only be exacerbated now that the company has finally announced a $35,000 stripped-out version. For those of you who haven't rage-quit or gone right to the comments to tell me I'm wrong, there's plenty to discuss.

When the Model 3 was first announced in 2014, we didn't know much more beyond that it would cost $35,000, have a range of at least 200 miles, and be 20-percent smaller than a Model S. Two years later, the prototype was revealed to the world—and the world went nuts for it. Tesla was inundated with $1,000 deposits, filling its coffers with hundreds of millions of dollars in preorders from excited customers around the world a year before production (and its associated hell) even began. Despite Tesla's well-publicized woes, Model 3s began to trickle and then flood out of its factory in Fremont, California, throughout 2017 and 2018, first to customers in North America, more recently to Europe. Just last week, Tesla announced it was ready to start selling the Standard Range version of this car en masse.

Dig the design

I'll start with my normal disclaimer about beauty being in the eye of the beholder and all that, but with that out of the way, I'll nail my colors to the mast: I think it is designer Franz von Holzhausen's best work at Tesla. I'm a particular fan of it head-on, where the combination of the light clusters and the front not-grill work to great effect, proclaiming, "I am a sleek and sporty car." However, I'm less enthusiastic about the car in profile. The packaging requirements of needing to accommodate three adults in the back seat with sufficient headroom above the car's battery pack mean that from the B pillar backward, the Model 3 can have the look of a baby Model X, with all that entails.

The shape has purpose, though—the Model 3 has a drag coefficient (Cd) of just 0.23, lower than almost any other production car, although a little worse than CEO Elon Musk's original target of just 0.21. (Yes, I know, it's actually CdA, or the drag coefficient multiplied by a car's frontal area that's actually important, but no OEM bothers to publish those numbers.) Regardless of any resemblance to the Model X from the rear, the Model 3 is definitely a four-door sedan, not a five-door hatchback—a rear hatch was ruled out by the full-length glass roof. For those who are interested, the Model 3 is 184.8 inches (4,694mm) long, 76.1 inches (1,933mm) wide, 56.8 inches (1,443mm) tall, with a 113.2-inch (2,875mm) wheelbase.

Unlike the Models S and X that preceded it, the Model 3 makes extensive use of steel rather than aluminum in its construction, both for the monocoque chassis as well as the car's body panels. The layout is conventional for an EV, with the battery pack sandwiched between the axles. The suspension is a double-wishbone setup at the front and a multi-link rear. This car sports coilover dampers rather than the air suspension of the larger Tesla EVs.

Our test car was a $58,000 Model 3 Performance ($69,000 with options, and before any federal or local tax incentives), which means an electric motor for each axle, plus the long-range 75kWh lithium-ion battery pack. Although the hardware is mostly the same in all all-wheel drive Model 3s, in this top-of-the-range model (quickly identified by its carbon fiber spoiler) the motors have been uprated via software to a combined 450hp (340kW) and 471lb-ft (639Nm) and the inverters have been beefed up. The front motor is an induction design, rated for a maximum of 197hp (147kW); the rear is a permanent magnet motor rated at 197hp (147kW). Dual-motor Model 3s are the heaviest configuration of the car, tipping the scales at 4,072lbs (1,847kg) with a 50:50 weight distribution.

This makes it a very quick car, both from a standstill and also while on the move, with a 0-60mph time of 3.2 seconds (0-100km/h is 3.4 seconds) and a new top speed of 162mph (260km/h)—that was just increased from the previous 155mph (249km/h) this past week via a software update. The company has repeatedly emphasized the fact that the Model 3 is a driver's car, and it has succeeded in making the car more engaging to drive than its previous offerings. The ride on the Model 3 Performance is firm, and the suspension is lowered relative to the regular AWD version, but since we have yet to drive one of those, offering substantive comparison between the two is not possible. Additionally, as our test car's 20-inch wheels were shod in winter tires, it's not really possible to make any definitive statements about its dynamic ability other than to say I would very much like to try one out on track, in track mode.

With the car's acceleration set to Sport mode, it's every bit as rapid as its 0-60 time would suggest. Despite weighing more than 4,000lbs, it masks that mass extremely well, both in straight-line performance and also when changing direction. There's enough accelerator pedal travel that it's easy to drive at low speeds, although, for those who feel they can't be trusted, you can switch the acceleration to Chill (dropping the 0-60mph time to a little under 8 seconds, which makes it much slower than even the Standard Range Model 3).

To my knowledge, Tesla's electric vehicles remain unique compared to every other EV we've tested in that the brake pedal solely controls the friction brakes. Any and all regenerative braking occurs as you release the accelerator pedal, which you can set to either standard or low; the former is best used in the city or if you're a true devotee of one-pedal driving. No doubt the company has good reasons for this design decision, but it does mean that every time you use the left pedal you're wasting energy rather than returning it to the battery pack. (Other EVs blend regenerative braking and friction braking when you press on the brake pedal.)

Wearing winter tires also impacted the car's range by up to 10 percent, but I have no reason to doubt that on normal rubber and at sensible speed one would be able to drive at least 300 miles (482km) on a full battery. I did notice that the energy consumption display was more pessimistic about my remaining range than the little battery indicator, but energy consumption averaged around 300Wh/mile. Tesla says that a Supercharger will add 170 miles (274km) of range in 30 minutes; plugged into a 240V, 40A AC outlet will add 37 miles (60km) of range each hour.

That Supercharger network, more than anything else, is Tesla's ace in the hole for converting drivers over to electric propulsion. There simply isn't another EV I've tested where I'd be confident in driving 110 miles on the spur of the moment for lunch knowing I'd be able to recharge my battery quickly en route. Perhaps once Electrify America gets done building out its high-speed DC Fast charging network I'll be able to say the same about cars like the Jaguar I-Pace, Audi e-tron, or Hyundai Kona EV.