"bhtooefr" (bhtooefr)
09/04/2018 at 20:24 • Filed to: tesla, electric
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"bhtooefr" (bhtooefr)
09/04/2018 at 20:24 • Filed to: tesla, electric | 1
| 11 |
...holy shit.
Disclaimer: I’m long TSLA, and increased my position after the drive (although I had submitted the limit order beforehand, so...)
I mean, this is based on maybe half an hour of walking around and looking at, and about 10 minutes of driving a friend’s LR Dual Motor car (not Performance) with the 18" aero wheels, with a shorter (and much faster) ride back, but...
No photos, either. It’s a Model 3. They all look the same except for the wheels and the color. This one was red.
Interior impressions
The center display is... honestly fine, surprisingly. I’ve got amblyopia in the right eye, so I’m nearly the worst case, and it worked fine for me. (Of course, I do drive a Prius, which has center instrumentation as well, but not as extreme as the Model 3.) I didn’t actually operate many functions in it (the owner was doing that), but touch targets looked quite large, so I suspect I’d get used to it no problem. Would I like more buttons? Yes. Do I need more buttons? No.
Seating felt fine, the back seat was fine (which is a
massive
improvement over the Model S, where the back seat ergonomics are completely fucked), interior ergonomics seemed fine (I could’ve done with a
thinner
steering wheel, but the small diameter was nice), what more is there to say? I didn’t notice any glaring issues (although I did notice that the turn signal stalk wasn’t latching, which is not my favorite thing).
The frunk is nothing like a pre-refresh Model S RWD frunk (that’s ridiculous, but also awesome), but it’s a nice touch.
The trunk is... fine for a compact sedan, but I wish it were a liftback.
Edit: Forgot to mention, outward visibility seemed perfectly fine, I didn’t notice any glaring issues. And, one thing I liked - the armrests were about equally spaced, meaning I could actually use both while driving, whereas on my Prius, the door-mounted one is too far away...
Powertrain
I’ve driven a Model S 90D a couple years ago, so I knew roughly what this was going to be like, but I wasn’t disappointed. Driving slowly, it was weirdly... gently tugging at the leash, completely controllable, but it let you know that if you let it, it was going to go for it, right now . Slight variations in position caused immediate changes in power, but it was still easy to drive smoothly at low speed.
And then I got out of the gravel driveway, stepped on it, and held on. The phrase “an iron fist in a velvet glove” comes to mind, it’s powerful, it comes on with all of the torque right now, but it’s smooth about it too somehow. Lifting off and going into regen is buttery smooth, and fast, but not brutal. (I recall this being more sudden on the Model S 90D that I drove.)
Suspension/Handling
So, I didn’t push it hard at all, even though I had a twisty back road at my disposal. Unfamiliar car, rather narrow road with things to hit on both sides, I took it easy. (In fact, I took the same route back home in my Prius, and drove it significantly harder in the Prius, just because I’m familiar with how it behaves.) However, the steering was quite direct, very quick ratio (Motor Trend has claimed 10.3:1, which is crazy fast, but Tesla says it’s variable ratio, so who knows), and it felt like it was quite nimble. I did also note that it was quite compliant on rural Ohio roads.
The owner drove it back, and attacked the road. Holy shit, the thing just stuck . Almost no drama (there was one point where from the passenger seat I felt the front end lose a bit of traction, but still), excellent body control, A+, would drive again (especially on a road or track where I can play with it a bit more comfortably).
Conclusion
If the damn thing were a liftback, I’d be seriously considering dropping the Prius for one, as soon as standard interior becomes available (I don’t like leather interiors, and I’d rather not have the all-glass roof).
It’s not.
So, in under three years, the Prius will be paid off. At that point, I’d seriously consider a used Model 3, or maybe if the Model Y isn’t too tall (there is a trend of small crossovers being barely taller than cars lately, I’d tolerate, say, 60"/1.524 mm tall), one of those.
I’d get RWD if possible, as I don’t need the dual motor’s added performance, and the ~12% added real-world range (as Tesla derated the RWD cars’ claimed range to make the dual motor cars look better) and reduced weight of the RWD car is relevant to my interests.
BigBlock440
> bhtooefr
09/04/2018 at 20:30 |
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~12% added real-world range (as Tesla derated the RWD cars’ claimed range to make the dual motor cars look better)
I thought it was the additional regen from the front motors that contributed to the increased range?
Captain of the Enterprise
> bhtooefr
09/04/2018 at 20:31 |
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Just looked on their website. Are the gauges on the screen or are they in front of the driver. That wheel does look pretty thick too
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bhtooefr
> BigBlock440
09/04/2018 at 20:42 |
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On the Model S and X, yes, this is the case. (Both motors are AC induction motors, and AFAIK they’re not as good at regen at low speeds, so having two helps.)
On the Model 3, the rear motor is a switched reluctance motor with permanent magnet assistance, and is vastly more efficient, but the front motor is still AC induction (this actually makes sense to make the “secondary” motor an AC induction motor, because they freewheel very well, just shut off the field - Toyota does the same thing for the rear motors on their AWD hybrids ), and seems it hurts more than it helps.
!!! UNKNOWN CONTENT TYPE !!!
City: 136 MPGe or 24.7 kWh/100 mi
Highway: 123 MPGe or 27.3 kWh/100 mi
Combined: 130 MPGe or 25.9 kWh/100 mi
!!! UNKNOWN CONTENT TYPE !!!
City: 120 MPGe or 28.0 kWh/100 mi
Highway: 112 MPGe or 30.1 kWh/100 mi
Combined: 116 MPGe or 28.9 kWh/100 mi
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bhtooefr
> Captain of the Enterprise
09/04/2018 at 20:42 |
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They’re on the screen:
When in “gear” the P is replaced with the speedometer.
TheTurbochargedSquirrel
> Captain of the Enterprise
09/04/2018 at 20:43 |
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Everything is on the screen. There is nothing in front of the driver except a steering wheel.
facw
> Captain of the Enterprise
09/04/2018 at 20:44 |
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Nothing in front of the driver. And not really much in the way of gauges at all. Just a small numerical speedometer readout in the top left of the central screen.
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bhtooefr
> facw
09/04/2018 at 20:45 |
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There’s also a thin line below the speed that shows regen (to the left of center) and power deployment, a nd a few indicator icons here and there (for things like turn signals, cruise control setpoint, autopilot enabled, etc., etc.)
NKato
> bhtooefr
09/04/2018 at 21:11 |
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I’ll be that negative Nancy. With the messes Tesla keeps getting into because of Elon, I’m not expecting the value to rise much. It’s also strange that their stock is more valuable than any of the big three. An indicator of volatility.
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BigBlock440
> bhtooefr
09/04/2018 at 21:14 |
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But the front does the majority of the braking, and you’re still adding a second source of regen, so why wouldn’t it add to the range? I understand why they’d “de-
rate” it and probably also artificially limit it, but I don’t understand why it’d be rated lower, aside from ratings not considering regen.
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bhtooefr
> BigBlock440
09/04/2018 at 21:25 |
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So there’s a few things going on here.
First off, if regen is traction or motor-limited, the second motor will help. If it’s battery -limited, it will not help, and on the EPA test, I think it is battery-limited. On wet or loose surfaces it may well be another story.
Second, the Model S and X with dual motor powertrains can decide to switch which motor they’re using for propulsion based on what’s most efficient. It’s more efficient to use the smaller front motor at light load and freewheel the big rear motor, for instance, something not available to the RWD cars. However, in the Model 3, the rear motor’s permanent magnet assistance means it won’t freewheel as efficiently, so using it when front power isn’t needed for traction reasons makes more sense... but you have the added weight and a bit of drag from the front motor when you’re not using it.
fintail
> bhtooefr
09/04/2018 at 21:32 |
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If only we could get some more range and better styling.