Tesla test drive. Thoughts

[CharlieAlphaMike]

Puzzles said:

CharlieAlphaMike said:

Your comment is based on personal experience I assume?

Yes and in many others. When all is well it's fine, but as soon as it's not they are terrible IME.

Edited by Puzzles on Saturday 25th February 14:19

It's interesting to hear about the varying levels of service but I think the same can be said about most marques these days. As I said in a previous post, my experience to date with Tesla could not have been better but gone are the days of flowers and a bottle of something during the handover.

[Puzzles]

CharlieAlphaMike said:

Puzzles said:

CharlieAlphaMike said:

Your comment is based on personal experience I assume?

Yes and in many others. When all is well it's fine, but as soon as it's not they are terrible IME.

Edited by Puzzles on Saturday 25th February 14:19

It's interesting to hear about the varying levels of service but I think the same can be said about most marques these days. As I said in a previous post, my experience to date with Tesla could not have been better but gone are the days of flowers and a bottle of something during the handover.

Lying and deliberately being misleading seem ingrained into the culture at tesla, that is something I've not experienced elsewhere, maybe when there is a change of leadership things will improve.

Anyway, they are great cars and the defacto choice imo.

[CharlieAlphaMike]

Puzzles said:

CharlieAlphaMike said:

Puzzles said:

CharlieAlphaMike said:

Your comment is based on personal experience I assume?

Yes and in many others. When all is well it's fine, but as soon as it's not they are terrible IME.

Edited by Puzzles on Saturday 25th February 14:19

It's interesting to hear about the varying levels of service but I think the same can be said about most marques these days. As I said in a previous post, my experience to date with Tesla could not have been better but gone are the days of flowers and a bottle of something during the handover.

Lying and deliberately being misleading seem ingrained into the culture at tesla, that is something I've not experienced elsewhere, maybe when there is a change of leadership things will improve.

Anyway, they are great cars and the defacto choice imo.

That sounds like an awful experience you've had and completely opposite to mine. Some consistency is obviously lacking and that needs to change. Personally, I've never been particularly 'loyal' to any marque but I know some people are and to maintain brand loyalty, customer service needs to be a top priority.

It's no defence but...Tesla are relatively new to the market (in car manufacturing terms) so perhaps there's a lot still for them to learn. Yes, they've been around since 2003 but it's only since 2010 (I think - correct me please if I'm wrong) that they became 'mainstream' with the introduction of the Model S.

[Nicks90]

There is inconsistency in all dealer networks, same with build quality issues. Just look elsewhere on PH to see how many posts there are about rejecting a new car.

My own experience with Tesla has (so far) been positive and I will be getting my model Y delivered on the 22nd
I am sure if there are any issues, it can't be any worse than my experience with Citroen.
C4 that was 3 years and 2 months old with full main dealer history, 23k miles and the adblu light comes on. Take it back to the dealer for what my wife presumed was a top up that had been missed at the last service the month before. Nope, the pump was dead. Which is sealed for life in the tank. New pump/tank is £1500 fitted. Dealer wanted nothing to do with it and neither did Citroen directly. Even though Citroen themselves had altered the tank design 6 months aftery vehicle was built due to an inherent design fault.I had to threaten to sue them with all the technical bulletin details of the tank redesign due to almost 50% warranty claims before they relented and swapped the tank......

So as long as Tesla are better than that, I will be happy

Edited by Nicks90 on Sunday 12th March 13:43

[Piginapoke]

Nicks90 said:

There is inconsistency in all dealer networks, same with build quality issues. Just look elsewhere on PH to see how many posts there are about rejecting a new car.

My own experience with Tesla has (so far) been positive and I will be getting my model Y delivered on the 22nd
I am sure if there are any issues, it can't be any worse than my experience with Citroen.
C4 that was 3 years and 2 months old with full main dealer history, 23k miles and the adblu light comes on. Take it back to the dealer for what my wife presumed was a top up that had been missed at the last service the month before. Nope, the pump was dead. Which is sealed for life in the tank. New pump/tank is £1500 fitted. Dealer wanted nothing to do with it and neither did Citroen directly. Even though Citroen themselves had altered the tank design 6 months aftery vehicle was built due to an inherent design fault.I had to threaten to sue them with all the technical bulletin details of the tank redesign due to almost 50% warranty claims before they relented and swapped the tank......

So as long as Tesla are better than that, I will be happy

Edited by Nicks90 on Sunday 12th March 13:43

VW was the same with me when my Tiguan DSG gearbox shat itself 6m outside warranty. £2,000 fitted to you sir.

Hello Tesla, 21k done and never been happier with a car.

[LHRFlightman]

LordFlathead said:

LHRFlightman said:

Picking up my 2021 SR+ tomorrow. Can't wait, not going to sleep much tonight.

I remember picking up my car on a late December night at Thorpe Park in pitch darkness.. the guy handing out the Tesla access cards said, "It's over there.. somewhere.. let me know if you can't find it.

There were over 1000 cars in the car park for collection that night and it was pouring with rain

Good luck and do report back. fk what everyone else says I think they are a great car and I've had a few

So I've had the car for almost 3 weeks now and have some thoughts.

The UI is very intuitive and now its been setup, I rarely touch it, bar the usual climate settings etc. It's a very relaxing drive, whether that is the lack of engine noise, or one pedal driving, its just relaxing. With the heated seats on, and the heated steering wheel, the temperature is set at 19C and everyone is comfortable. The headlights are brilliant, a class above anything else I've driven. Despite being the least powerful Model 3, it's absolutely fine for everyday driving. I've found out that Tesla actually dampen down the performance off the line, to try to move people to the LR and Performance models. Maybe that'll change in time, but its quick enough already tbh.

Range has been fine. On a spirted drive in 6C, I saw 308 wh per mile. Yesterday on an economy run at 14C I got it down to 179 wh per mile which was pretty nuts to see.

I've been charging the car overnight at home, via the Tesla 3 pin plug charger and have had no issues. So far I've not seen less than 60% left on the battery when I've returned home so this has been fine for now. A Tesla charger gets installed on 28th.

Family all love it. No complaints from the two kids, 23 and 19, in the back, and the boot is large enough for most things you'd want to travel with.

Overall, having completed about 600 miles in it, very satisfied.

[AlexIT]

LHRFlightman said:

So I've had the car for almost 3 weeks now and have some thoughts.

The UI is very intuitive and now its been setup, I rarely touch it, bar the usual climate settings etc. It's a very relaxing drive, whether that is the lack of engine noise, or one pedal driving, its just relaxing. With the heated seats on, and the heated steering wheel, the temperature is set at 19C and everyone is comfortable. The headlights are brilliant, a class above anything else I've driven. Despite being the least powerful Model 3, it's absolutely fine for everyday driving. I've found out that Tesla actually dampen down the performance off the line, to try to move people to the LR and Performance models. Maybe that'll change in time, but its quick enough already tbh.

Range has been fine. On a spirted drive in 6C, I saw 308 wh per mile. Yesterday on an economy run at 14C I got it down to 179 wh per mile which was pretty nuts to see.

I've been charging the car overnight at home, via the Tesla 3 pin plug charger and have had no issues. So far I've not seen less than 60% left on the battery when I've returned home so this has been fine for now. A Tesla charger gets installed on 28th.

Family all love it. No complaints from the two kids, 23 and 19, in the back, and the boot is large enough for most things you'd want to travel with.

Overall, having completed about 600 miles in it, very satisfied.

Good to hear, ordered mine last week and went also for the RWD one, as I couldn't justify the extra money for the LR version. At the end of the day it will probably make a difference on one or 2 occasions per months on longer business trips, but most are in a 200 miles radius from home so with the usual mid-way stopover for coffee it should be fine.

[Heres Johnny]

Nicks90 said:

There is inconsistency in all dealer networks,

The irony is Musk owns all the dealers because he wants to ensure the consistency.

It could be just variabiity in people but my hunch is they're great when its routine stuff that they understand, but as soon as you go off that, either because the fault is a little more taxing to bottom out, the computer says no, pretty much anything from the run of the mill stuff, the things falls apart.

[Register1]

AlexIT said:

LHRFlightman said:

So I've had the car for almost 3 weeks now and have some thoughts.

The UI is very intuitive and now its been setup, I rarely touch it, bar the usual climate settings etc. It's a very relaxing drive, whether that is the lack of engine noise, or one pedal driving, its just relaxing. With the heated seats on, and the heated steering wheel, the temperature is set at 19C and everyone is comfortable. The headlights are brilliant, a class above anything else I've driven. Despite being the least powerful Model 3, it's absolutely fine for everyday driving. I've found out that Tesla actually dampen down the performance off the line, to try to move people to the LR and Performance models. Maybe that'll change in time, but its quick enough already tbh.

Range has been fine. On a spirted drive in 6C, I saw 308 wh per mile. Yesterday on an economy run at 14C I got it down to 179 wh per mile which was pretty nuts to see.

I've been charging the car overnight at home, via the Tesla 3 pin plug charger and have had no issues. So far I've not seen less than 60% left on the battery when I've returned home so this has been fine for now. A Tesla charger gets installed on 28th.

Family all love it. No complaints from the two kids, 23 and 19, in the back, and the boot is large enough for most things you'd want to travel with.

Overall, having completed about 600 miles in it, very satisfied.

Good to hear, ordered mine last week and went also for the RWD one, as I couldn't justify the extra money for the LR version. At the end of the day it will probably make a difference on one or 2 occasions per months on longer business trips, but most are in a 200 miles radius from home so with the usual mid-way stopover for coffee it should be fine.

Wife did her 68 mile round trip today, A roads, town, and motorway.
Her used 22%
So on a model 3 LFP battery, thats a range of 310 miles.
And her wasn't even trying.

[greenarrow]

Interesting thread as I almost booked a test drive today but decided it was too wet to be an objective test. I've been doing my research and watched a lot of videos on you tube. The US ones are interesting as many have done mega miles and it's clear the cars can do the business. I think for me the LR or performance models might just be too fast. I wouldn't trust myself in a car that can do sub 4 secs to 60. I'm quite keen on trying a RWD model as I currently own a bmw 3 series and there's quite a weight reduction if you get the RWD base model. Autocar weighed one at 1630 kg which really isn't bad when you consider what the electric mini weighs. Anyway the RWD one will have more than enough performance for me coming from a fairly slow 318d...and I'm told you can feel the weight saving on the road. Anyone else prefer the base model???

[Whistle]

greenarrow said:

Interesting thread as I almost booked a test drive today but decided it was too wet to be an objective test. I've been doing my research and watched a lot of videos on you tube. The US ones are interesting as many have done mega miles and it's clear the cars can do the business. I think for me the LR or performance models might just be too fast. I wouldn't trust myself in a car that can do sub 4 secs to 60. I'm quite keen on trying a RWD model as I currently own a bmw 3 series and there's quite a weight reduction if you get the RWD base model. Autocar weighed one at 1630 kg which really isn't bad when you consider what the electric mini weighs. Anyway the RWD one will have more than enough performance for me coming from a fairly slow 318d...and I'm told you can feel the weight saving on the road. Anyone else prefer the base model???

I have a long range and you soon get used to it.
After a year it doesn’t feel that quick anymore.

There is also a chill out mode that makes it accelerate like my old Nova SR.

[starsky67]

Whistle said:

greenarrow said:

Interesting thread as I almost booked a test drive today but decided it was too wet to be an objective test. I've been doing my research and watched a lot of videos on you tube. The US ones are interesting as many have done mega miles and it's clear the cars can do the business. I think for me the LR or performance models might just be too fast. I wouldn't trust myself in a car that can do sub 4 secs to 60. I'm quite keen on trying a RWD model as I currently own a bmw 3 series and there's quite a weight reduction if you get the RWD base model. Autocar weighed one at 1630 kg which really isn't bad when you consider what the electric mini weighs. Anyway the RWD one will have more than enough performance for me coming from a fairly slow 318d...and I'm told you can feel the weight saving on the road. Anyone else prefer the base model???

I have a long range and you soon get used to it.
After a year it doesn’t feel that quick anymore.

There is also a chill out mode that makes it accelerate like my old Nova SR.

The good thing about the performance is that it is there when you want it, but is no drag when you don't, unlike a V8 or V12 petrol car or something.

I did a track day this week in my EV6 GT, it was just too wet for my normal track car. I drove there, blasted round the track for 90 minutes, having a great time (and overtaking quite a few petrol cars) and then cruised back home in ECO mode listening to classic FM. All on one charge.

You can't get that sort of flexibility in a petrol car.

[Keith R]

Whistle said:

greenarrow said:

Interesting thread as I almost booked a test drive today but decided it was too wet to be an objective test. I've been doing my research and watched a lot of videos on you tube. The US ones are interesting as many have done mega miles and it's clear the cars can do the business. I think for me the LR or performance models might just be too fast. I wouldn't trust myself in a car that can do sub 4 secs to 60. I'm quite keen on trying a RWD model as I currently own a bmw 3 series and there's quite a weight reduction if you get the RWD base model. Autocar weighed one at 1630 kg which really isn't bad when you consider what the electric mini weighs. Anyway the RWD one will have more than enough performance for me coming from a fairly slow 318d...and I'm told you can feel the weight saving on the road. Anyone else prefer the base model???

I have a long range and you soon get used to it.
After a year it doesn’t feel that quick anymore.

There is also a chill out mode that makes it accelerate like my old Nova SR.

I have a M3P, and after a year the acceleration still surprises me. I can't see that ever changing.

[djc206]

I didn’t intend to test drive one but having rented a “Jetta or similar” in Montreal last autumn we were presented with a model 3. It was low mileage at about 5000km but had a couple of build quality related niggles namely the rubber trim around the passenger door being loose and the rear seatbelt holes/housing had come loose. I hate having to do everything with the screen, a couple more functions with buttons/stalks would be nice but overall I have to say I came away thinking fairly positively about it. Superchargers were great and we were able to charge at our convenience when shopping, it swallowed our luggage comfortably. I’m not a fan of the model 3 styling generally, I think they’re a bit bland but overall pretty decent cars. I certainly don’t think they’re marmite, I didn’t love, I didn’t hate it, I wasn’t happy or sad to leave it behind at Trudeau. It was decent.

[annodomini2]

greenarrow said:

... I currently own a bmw 3 series and there's quite a weight reduction if you get the RWD base model. Autocar weighed one at 1630 kg which really isn't bad when you consider what the electric mini weighs...

That's the 2019/2020 NMC version, the current LFP one is around 1900kg

[Register1]

greenarrow said:

Interesting thread as I almost booked a test drive today but decided it was too wet to be an objective test. I've been doing my research and watched a lot of videos on you tube. The US ones are interesting as many have done mega miles and it's clear the cars can do the business. I think for me the LR or performance models might just be too fast. I wouldn't trust myself in a car that can do sub 4 secs to 60. I'm quite keen on trying a RWD model as I currently own a bmw 3 series and there's quite a weight reduction if you get the RWD base model. Autocar weighed one at 1630 kg which really isn't bad when you consider what the electric mini weighs. Anyway the RWD one will have more than enough performance for me coming from a fairly slow 318d...and I'm told you can feel the weight saving on the road. Anyone else prefer the base model???

We have the base RWD.
With the newer LFB battery technology, and the heat pump, they are super economical.
Absolutely quick enough.
Last week during the brief warmer weather, we did something like 5,2 miles per kwh.
Thats 5,2 miles for 10 pence charging on Octopus.
Being so much lighter, they are really economical.
On a warm day, driving conservatory, we could have got something like 312 miles from the 60kwh battery
(60 x 5,2)

[greenarrow]

On my 260 mile drive to work yesterday (a trip I only do once a month) I noticed at keele services a bank of tesla chargers, all empty. I hadn't noticed these before but it made me realise keele would be a good charging stop for me (205 miles from home) and clearly not a busy service point (unlike Warwick where all the charging bays are always full!!). That must be another point in favour of tesla, their super charger network. I assume other motorway services on the M40 or M6 between Bournemouth and the Wirral have them? I also noticed like you do when you start thinking about a particular car how the model 3 is the only EV you see in big numbers on motorway trips.... So for me, with my odd work routine, (3 weeks at home 1 week with 520 mile round trip) if I want an EV it appears to be a no brainer. (I also hadn't realised before that it's a hatchback!!! Doh!!)......

[CharlieAlphaMike]

greenarrow said:

On my 260 mile drive to work yesterday (a trip I only do once a month) I noticed at keele services a bank of tesla chargers, all empty. I hadn't noticed these before but it made me realise keele would be a good charging stop for me (205 miles from home) and clearly not a busy service point (unlike Warwick where all the charging bays are always full!!). That must be another point in favour of tesla, their super charger network. I assume other motorway services on the M40 or M6 between Bournemouth and the Wirral have them? I also noticed like you do when you start thinking about a particular car how the model 3 is the only EV you see in big numbers on motorway trips.... So for me, with my odd work routine, (3 weeks at home 1 week with 520 mile round trip) if I want an EV it appears to be a no brainer. (I also hadn't realised before that it's a hatchback!!! Doh!!)......

The Model 3 isn't a hatchback, it's a saloon. The Model Y is the hatchback. I also wonder if it's the Model Y that you see most often. I think a lot of people confuse the two but the Y is slightly taller than the 3. Put them side-by-side and the difference is much more noticeable, especially in the 2nd picture shown below:

[skilly1]

greenarrow said:

On my 260 mile drive to work yesterday (a trip I only do once a month) I noticed at keele services a bank of tesla chargers, all empty. I hadn't noticed these before but it made me realise keele would be a good charging stop for me (205 miles from home) and clearly not a busy service point (unlike Warwick where all the charging bays are always full!!). That must be another point in favour of tesla, their super charger network. I assume other motorway services on the M40 or M6 between Bournemouth and the Wirral have them? I also noticed like you do when you start thinking about a particular car how the model 3 is the only EV you see in big numbers on motorway trips.... So for me, with my odd work routine, (3 weeks at home 1 week with 520 mile round trip) if I want an EV it appears to be a no brainer. (I also hadn't realised before that it's a hatchback!!! Doh!!)......

If you didn’t know - you can tap on the map, and some icons come up on the left hand side. One of them shows you all the charging locations in the UK. Useful if you want to find out where they are, and also you can then click on that charger to get directions to it and the car preheats the batteries to get it ready for charging.

[somouk]

greenarrow said:

I assume other motorway services on the M40 or M6 between Bournemouth and the Wirral have them? I also noticed like you do when you start thinking about a particular car how the model 3 is the only EV you see in big numbers on motorway trips.... So for me, with my odd work routine, (3 weeks at home 1 week with 520 mile round trip) if I want an EV it appears to be a no brainer. (I also hadn't realised before that it's a hatchback!!! Doh!!)......

The model 3 is a saloon, the Y is a hatchback. I'm seeing more and more model Y about now.

The supercharger network is excellent, on that run from from Bournemouth to the Wirral there are about 7 supercharger stations and more if you go off the motorway by a few mile. Makes a big difference to long range capability in an EV.

I did Devon in March and Edinburgh in April, both in a model Y with the shortest range and had no issues at all apart from a 10 minute wait at Gretna to get on a charger as it was Scottish half term and they were busy. They're now building more chargers on Gretna northbound.