After much more than three years of waiting I picked up my model 3 from Tesla’s Edinburgh service centre at the end of June and drove it home to northern Ireland through a 5-day route around the Scottish Highlands.
So, after 3 months and over 3,500 miles, here are some thoughts on the car.
Bun mai bun cel mai bun
When I placed my purchase (May 2019) there were 3 different versions available in the UK. The range topping ‘Performance’, the ‘Long range AWD’, and the starter priced ‘Standard range Plus’, which is the one I went for.
Tehnologie și echipament
Even in this base model 3 the standard equipment list is excellent…
Air de aer dual
Scaune frontale reglabile cu 12 căi, reglabile cu putere
Ecran tactil de 15 ″
Navigație prin satelit
Oglindă automată, pliere de putere, oglinzi laterale încălzite
Music and media over Bluetooth
Custom chauffeur profiles
Centre console with storage and 4 USB ports
Premium seat material and trim
Audio modernizat – sunet imersiv
Lămpi cu ceață față cu LED (nu mai sunt incluse)
Controlul aplicației
Intrare fără cheie
Docking pentru 2 smartphone -uri
There are also numerous other features that don’t fit into the typical car categories such as TeslaCam, a dashcam system that includes ‘Sentry Mode’ to monitor your car when it is parked.
There are 8 cameras, 12 sonar sensors and a radar all feeding the new v3 AI computer. The system is learning continuously as the neural net gets better and better – view this video if you want to learn much more (much more).
Passive keyless entry comes courtesy of Bluetooth and the smartphone app and this works really well. just walk up to the car with your phone in your pocket and pull the door deal with for it to unlock. step in and put your foot on the brake pedal. The car is now on. Sclipitor.
Photo credit report – reinisbphotography
When you leave, it locks itself once your phone is a few metres away. You can set an option to give a quick beep of the horn to confirm this or you can look back and view for the door mirrors folding in if you choose a silent confirmation.
In addition, the car comes with 2 RFID ‘credit cards’ that can be used to lock / unlock and start it too. An optional £140 essential fob is also available but neither it nor the cards support the passive walk-up lock / unlock the way the phone app does. [Actualizare] Noul KeyFob actualizat care tocmai a fost lansat acum are blocare / deblocare pasivă.
If you are concerned about the safety and security of any of these devices then you can simply turn on ‘PIN to Drive’ to add the additional requirement to enter a personal identification number to start your car.
The 15.4-inch (39 cm) LCD landscape touchscreen is the single point of control for the car, even opening the glovebox is done from here.
Faceți clic pentru a mări
The interface takes a bit of learning, but it rewards. Its chock-full of little touches that you need to discover too. For example, a micro-flick of any of the seat controls is a shortcut to bring up the mirror and steering wheel adjustment options. press and hold the volume or temperature icons on the screen and you can slide your finger left and best to set the level.
The screen can be distracting though and the wiper controls in particular are ripe for improvement. O actualizare pentru a adăuga un dublu clic pe capătul tulpinii pentru a aduce ștergătoarele la viteza 1 ar ajuta. The software-controlled car setting is not up to the task currently, not detecting rain early enough or wiping often enough, and in some cases wiping for no reason. This is because Tesla are using their cameras and AI to detect rain, rather than a dedicated sensor like many (all?) other car manufacturers. It ought to get better over time hopefully.
Ecranul trece la un mod de noapte întunecat în funcție de timp.
As for the lack of a binnacle behind the wheel, this is something you forget within about 20 minutes of your first drive. My better half said she was already used to the speedo being in the centre of the car just from being in the passenger seat. It’s a similar change to your iphone losing its home button, something you soon never even think about. some of the advantages are better visibility out the front of the car and fresh air for the chauffeur straight through the steering wheel through the smart slotted fan system.
The HomeLink garage door opener is no longer included in any model 3 but can be added for $300. That price includes the (bumper off) fitting at a Tesla service centre.
Even though it’s a saloon, the model 3 has a hatch back shape and occasionally you do miss having a rear wiper to clear the screen. many times the rear video camera is able to compensate though. even with the rear window clear, its high line doesn’t offer great visibility behind you. canine owners and other hatchback fans might choose the model Y coming in 2021?
Autopilot
Basic Autopilot features are now standard on all model 3’s and that’s as it ought to be as Tesla are probably known for this tech above all else. So now every car has adaptive cruise control (right down to a standstill), auto-steering and a lane departure cautioning system.
At the time of ordering the option was there to pay another £4,900 for the FSD (Full Self Driving) package which adds Summon, car Lane Change, Autopark and navigate on Autopilot. some of these features are not available yet in the UK due to legislative issues. The hardware for them is fitted to every car so they can be enabled for a fee at any time in the future, although you’ll pay much more than if you paid for it along with the car. I think this is bad value, particularly with the current restrictions here.
The radar cruise control is a step backwards in some instances. I like to hit cruise when I come into a 30mph or 40mph zone and with dumb systems this works well. but with the Tesla ‘intelligent’ radar the car regularly shits itself and jumps on the brakes. in some cases this is due to a parked car (that’s not in your path), in some cases a pedestrian or car safely crossing a long way down the road from you, in some cases for no obvious reason at all. This makes you A) very annoyed, B) look like a tool to anybody following you and C) wish you could have good old vanilla cruise back round town. In fairness this was mostly the same in the last car I owned that had traffic aware cruise control too. Let’s hope it’s another one of those things that “gets better over time”.
On the motorway however, the system is mostly excellent. This is what it was made for and where it performs at its best. I drove the M6 from Manchester to Gretna completely on Autopilot and it was brilliant, bar the odd blip, mostly at off ramps where there’s a break in the white lines on the left-hand side. The car nags you too often (every 15 seconds on the motorway) to keep your hands on the wheel, even when they are already there, and you have to put some torque into the wheel for it to sense you.
The model 3 currently does not read road signs like its older Mobileye equipped siblings, so it’s depending on GPS data for speed limits. I’ve found that on numerous roads these details are wrong and this is particularly annoying when the cruise control matches itself to the speed limit.
Apps, software data & Fun
The Mobile app is excellent, allowing you to control certain aspects of the vehicle, like its temperature, locks, headlights and horn, plus the ability to monitor its location and state of charge. It’s particularly enjoyable to use after coming from the abomination that was the Nissan leaf app. push notifications are helpful too and come through on the Apple view as well.
Obviously the app requires connectivity to the car and several times now my 3 has lost its LTE connection for around a day implying the app is only able to control things when in Bluetooth range.
Aplicația Tesla – faceți clic pentru a mări
I also registered for the 3rd party TeslaFi service and I love the amazing range of stats it logs for the car. After each drive I get an email showing the information below and this is all available online too.
Rezumatul călătoriei Teslafi – Faceți clic pentru a mări
I’ve had 5 software updates because I got the car and version 10 is due any day now. These OTA (over the air) updates are particularly impressive, improving the cars features as well as adding new ones. It’s just another area where Tesla are showing the way to the rest of the industry.
Simțul umorului lui Tesla este bine documentat (modul fart oricine?). slightly much more helpful are the on-board games and version 10 will bring the ability to view Netflix and YouTube while parked and on Wi-Fi.
Performance, dealing with & Ride
The model 3 feels rapid and its 0-60 time of 5.3 seconds is just half a second shy of the E46 M3 I had a few years back. Not bad for the slowest car Tesla currently sells.
However, the car’s many outstanding acceleration seems to be from around 40 mph on (Auto express magazine reports 30-50mph in 1.9 seconds and 50-70mph in 2.6 seconds). While all electric cars are governed to some extent, the initial acceleration from zero feels like it’s being held back very artificially on the SR+. I guess this is probably so the 0-60 performance of this lightest model 3 (the smallest battery and no front motor) aren’t too close to the times of the much more expensive 3’s, S and X. It certainly feels like it could easily be ‘uncorked’ at a later date.
It’s worth mentioning that performance tails off as the battery level goes down. I’d like to see some of the car mags do 0-60’s for every 10% drop in SoC (state of charge) to quantify this.
In addition to that powerful instant torque, the Tesla’s ultra-low centre of gravity implies it handles extremely well too. I had read about the GoKart like flat cornering and it’s all true. An added benefit of placing the cars heaviest component, the battery, between the wheels implies that the car has a low polar moment of inertia. even the rear motor sits slightly ahead of the rear axle and this all combines to make it simpler to chaDirecția NGE rapidă, oferindu-i mult mai mult în comun cu o mașină sport cu motor mediu decât un salon familial cu 5 locuri.
În timp ce senzația de direcție este destul de amorțită, este foarte rapid (doar 2 rotații blocaj la blocare) și asta se adaugă agilității și oferă elementul final din această fabrică de zâmbet. Există trei setări sub meniul de conducere, confort, standard și sport, care necesită un efort progresiv mai puternic din partea șoferului pentru a întoarce roata.
Modul Chill elimină răspunsul acceleratorului, cu toate acestea nu aveți acces la puterea completă în caz de urgență în această setare. Frunza avea un buton pe podea sub pedală, ceea ce v -a permis să înlocuiți modul eco, dar nu pe 3. Așa că las doar mașina în modul standard și să -mi execut propriul mod de răcire cu o atingere ușoară pe pedala liniștită puternică .
Înainte de a obține mașina, mă gândeam că Tesla va beneficia de o paletă regene. Alți producători au făcut acest lucru și capacitatea de a crește regen pe măsură ce intrați într -un colț trăgând pe o paletă de câteva ori ar putea îmbunătăți experiența de conducere. Cu toate acestea, pe modelul 3 puteți face acest lucru, dar totul cu cel mai bun picior. În opusul modului în care a funcționat frunza, regen aici este inițial ușor, dar pe măsură ce ridicați mult mai mult și ajungeți spre partea finală a călătoriei acceleratorului, crește substanțial. Nu va trebui să atingeți pedala de frână decât dacă conduceți destul de tare – și atunci faptul că Regen nu vă va încetini suficient de brusc pare ciudat. Aproximativ 30 de minute de conducere vă vede memoria musculară să se ajusteze la regene. Din acea zi, cel mai ciudat lucru este să intri într -o mașină cu piston și să încerci să facă față comportamentului său neobișnuit de coastă și lipsei unui Kers.
Roți, anvelope și moduri
Am cumpărat kitul de capac Tesla Aero Wheel, astfel încât să pot să-mi scot mai puțin capacele roților aero și să dezvăluie aliajele frumoase de dedesubt.
Anvelopele standard Michelin Pilot Sport 4 (235/45 ZR18) sunt o atingere de calitate de bună calitate. Am descoperit că unele modele 3 sunt cu aliajele Sport Tesla 19 ″ modernizate vin cu mult mai mult cauciuc cu buget Hankook.
Deși îmi place designul, am simțit întotdeauna că roțile standard de 18 ″ arată prea mic pentru modelul 3.
Am cumpărat aceste aliaje de turbină din Satin Black 20 ″ din SUA și au ajuns cu câteva săptămâni înainte de mașină, dar asta mi -a oferit timp să le obțin ceramică acoperită înainte de a continua anvelopele.
Sunt un set eșalonat-fronturi de 8,5 ″ lat (anvelope 235/35-20) și spate 10 ″ lat (anvelope 275/30-20) și am primit aceste centre de roți Tesla T negre pe Amazon.
Acestea sunt în mare parte o schimbare cosmetică, deși anvelopele Michelin Pilot Sport 4S reprezintă o actualizare a prinderii. Cu toate acestea, acestea scad eficiența mașinii, cu o scădere de aproximativ 15% prin calculele mele.
Dar îmi place aspectul celor 20 de ani și mai am stocul 18. Dacă merg vreodată într-o călătorie rutieră trans-europeană, atunci vor merge din nou pentru o gamă maximă. cel mai bun din ambele lumi.
Va fi interesant să vedem cum este o tracțiune din spate Tesla în zăpadă, astfel încât 18, s -ar putea transforma în roți din sezonul de iarnă.
Mașina a avut o acoperire ceramică GTechniq, a fost descifrată și a avut Callipers de frână vopsite în roșu, totul de PMG Autocare în Belfast. Mai am încă două moduri de făcut în săptămânile următoare pentru a completa aspectul.
Siguranță
Construcția de oțel și aluminiu a modelului 3 a fost evaluată în SUA de către Administrația Națională de Siguranță a Traficului Autostrăzilor și au considerat că are cea mai mică probabilitate de vătămare a oricărei mașini pe care au evaluat -o vreodată (deși se referă la ea ca atare a provocat un pic de spat între NHTSA și Tesla).
Mai aproape de aceste părți, mașina a câștigat recent 5 stele în testul euro NCAP și au comentat …
The Tesla model 3 made a strong debut with a ideal score in the frontal offset deformable barrier crash test, a mainstay of Euro NCAP’s assessment because its inception in 1997. Its performance in the safety assist tests particularly impressed, thanks to its superb chauffeur support systems Ca și suportul pe benzi, asistența rapidă și frânarea autonomă de urgență. Scorul de 94 la sută al Tesla în