Tesla Model 3 revealed

[forzaminardi]

I'm not especially a fan of the man or his cars, but what Musk and Tesla (sounds like a 80s synth duo) have done is quite remarkable really. To have produced cars that have changed the perception of electric vehicles even among PHers is some achievement. To now, apparently, make them affordable is amazing for a start up (albeit an absurdly well-financed one). For all that Renault/Nissan say they are the leading produced of electric vehicles, and BMW's critically-praised i-series, neither has made the electric car cool, nor really produced a product that's a realistic alternative to a IC-engined car.

I have to say, a big part of Tesla's appeal that is possibly overlooked is that the cars actually look pretty good. I really don't understand why other manufacturers have to work so hard in making their EVs look absurdly ugly. Again, Tesla, as a new entry, are not blinded by precedent and locked into copying other competitors. Apart from the fact that a Chevy will always struggle to be as cool as one made by an eccentric billionaire Bond villian, who'd buy as ugly a car as the Chevy Bolt, with its i3 copying coloured-in bits and sit up and beg styling when the Tesla Model 3 is available, even if it is $5k more?

[I'm Rick james]

It has a whiff of April fool's about it somewhere...

[g3org3y]

Wow, looks great!

Truckosaurus said:

I think the 'single touchscreen' dashboard design will become much more common across other vehicles as it must be cheaper to manufacture and install than 10s of single switches and knobs on a traditional dash.

What about the ergonomics of such a design? With a lack of tactile feedback, how does one do common functions (temp or vol up/down) without taking eyes off the road?

[AH33]

Looks alright, I was expecting another ugly model x type thing. Interior im not a fan of. Performance seems decent even on the base model.

I cant see it being £25k in the UK. It'll start at £35k and I imagine top specs will be over £50k. Even at that price though its gonna sell loads, hope they are going to properly invest in the recharging network, if more and more people buy these then its going to be a problem.

[jazzybee]

I think it will be good, Deposit paid. I am guessing by now there will have been 250k orders.... I should have been in the dealership yesterday.

[Galsia]

The front is missing a grill, even if it doesn't need one. The Model S got the look right but this looks a little odd. Hope this is successful though. I could see myself getting one in a few years.

[swimd]

They have already sold at least 130,000 of them which may well be whole production for 2017/2018. Current X and S owners (125,000 and rising) will get priority over all people who are new to the brand and the launch will be staggered from Western US to Eastern US to Europe to RHD markets.

Long story short I don't think any non-Tesla owner will be able to get one in the UK before 2020. However it is a nice car for Californian tesla owners who stood in line yesterday.

[0000]

Nearly put a deposit down. Not sure about the rear end, it's difficult to get a feel for the size of it (I'm 6'5 so dimensions matter) and the lead time is obviously looong. So I haven't, yet. Clearly there's a lot of momentum they can build here though.

[David87]

AH33 said:

hope they are going to properly invest in the recharging network, if more and more people buy these then its going to be a problem.

This is true. I can't recall how many times I've seen some stty old car parked in the few electric spots that there are, though. It annoys me and I don't even own an electric car!

[OwenK]

g3org3y said:

What about the ergonomics of such a design? With a lack of tactile feedback, how does one do common functions (temp or vol up/down) without taking eyes off the road?

Model S has been out four years with this setup, doesn't seem to have caused an issue.
It's not ideal... But it is cool and futuristic feeling, and makes cars cheaper. I'll take that sacrifice.
I'm pretty sure I remember reading that haptic screens are on the to-do list anyway (screens with a surface that can be distorted so it can make raised buttons as needed for you to operate by feel alone).

Regards the model 3... It's not as pretty as I was hoping, although I admire the ingenuity of their grill-that's-not-a-grill styling direction with this and the X, I don't actually like the way that feature looks. It's got dumpy proportions compared to the S, too. To be expected considering this is the mainstream car and the S is the luxury, halo car.

However - it's miles, miles better looking than an i3, Bolt or even *shudder* the Leaf.

Waitrose car parks will be absolutely rammed with these.
In a few years it's going to feel very, very silly to be using a combustion engined car for your basic transportation.

[EricE]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

Reservations opened yesterday. Online reservations are now open and will be treated equally to in-store reservations.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=txa1Ptaht_E

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_adaI_xklXQ

Edited by EricE on Friday 1st April 08:48

[DoubleD]

jazzybee said:

I think it will be good, Deposit paid. I am guessing by now there will have been 250k orders.... I should have been in the dealership yesterday.

You think it will be good, but what if it isn't?
I'm amazed that people don't care if they drive ok before blindly putting down a deposit!
That Ellen woman is obviously very intelligent.

[eyebeebe]

DoubleD said:

I find it odd that people have already decided that it's there next car, what if it doesn't handle very well? Or you can't get comfy in it? I would never spend all that money without knowing what I was going to get.

The deposit is refundable. I'm sure there will be a demonstrator available before delivery. I'll be going to my local Tesla at lunch.

I thought I saw that the annual production was due to be 500k, so even with the pre-orders already received, I'd hope to receive a car mid-late 2018 in Switzerland, which is when the A45 is up for a change.

[98elise]

David87 said:

AH33 said:

hope they are going to properly invest in the recharging network, if more and more people buy these then its going to be a problem.

This is true. I can't recall how many times I've seen some stty old car parked in the few electric spots that there are, though. It annoys me and I don't even own an electric car!

Musk has said supercharger stations will be doubled in the next year, and so will destination stations (hotels etc). I doubt it will stop there.

[kambites]

I'd imagine most people will do the huge majority of their charging at home. If we get one, I doubt we'll use a public charging station more than a couple of times a year.

I can't see many people who don't have the ability to charge at home buying one for some time; the infrastructure just isn't there yet.

[AnotherClarkey]

Funk said:

MitchT said:

Car Magazine said:

It’s due to cost $35,000 (£24,216)

But how much by the time the 'rip off Britain' premium has been added?

Turn $ to £ usually, so £35k+ I'd suspect.

Liking the look of this a lot though!

I agree that this is often the case but if you look at the current price fro a base Model S (70, RWD) it is £54,000 vs. Just over $70,000.

[Krikkit]

Wow, much want! Obviously need to drive one first, but that looks fantastic, if it drives even vaguely as well as the Pxx then it should be a cracker.

[confused_buyer]

Jimmy Recard said:

Sadly for people who love to complain, that doesn't really exist. You may however find that the price quoted here includes VAT whereas that will usually be added at point of sale in the US. As such, things often tend to seem much cheaper like for like.

$35,000 = £24,375 at today's rate.

Add 10% import duty = £26,812.

Add 20% VAT = £32,175

So, a direct 1:1 "no premium" price in the UK would be about £33,000 at the current exchange rate assuming it is a US built example.

[George111]

Is this an elaborate April fools joke ?

You still can not refuel it at my local Sainsbury's, Tesco or even - shock horror - Waitrose !

[RobGT81]

George111 said:

Is this an elaborate April fools joke ?

You still can not refuel it at my local Sainsbury's, Tesco or even - shock horror - Waitrose !

Why would you need to recharge if it's your local supermarket? The range isn't 2 miles.