Even though it’s been available for quite a long time now, the Model 3 that costs $35,000 before government incentives is nowhere to be seen in the configurator. As things stand for the time being, the cheapest version starts at $49,000 including the Premium Interior option, after which there’s the Dual Motor All-Wheel Drive at $53,000. The range tops with the Performance at $64,000 with the 75-kWh battery.
Make no mistake about it, but the Model 3 is far from the cheap and cheerful electric vehicle we were imagined it to be. Adding insult to injury, there are a lot of things that aren’t excusable. The panel gaps, software niggles, bad quality of the wood trim and windows button cluster on the driver’s door panel, questionable fitment of the rubber seals, the notorious braking problem fixed by an over-the-air update, and the list goes on and on.
On the upside, the Palo Alto-based automaker continues to improve the Model 3 with each passing month, as well as the output of the factory in Fremont, California. The thing is, Tesla has this thing where people who option the car out as much as possible are offered priority over those who want the Model 3 without too many or any bells and whistles.
These things, and many more, Mr. Regular of Regular Car Reviews points out in his latest review uploaded to YouTube. But for all the good and bad things regarding the Model 3, there’s something that no one can deny about the electric sedan we all love to hate in some way or another.
Like the Model S and Model X, the Model 3 is a trailblazer that also happens to be both a status symbol and a means of personal transportation. More to the point, the trailblazer part refers to how Tesla made electric vehicles more mainstream than they used to be. And furthermore, bringing EVs into the mainstream made mainstream automakers such as General Motors and BMW, as well as performance-oriented outfits such as Polestar, think twice about their obsessive attitude towards the relevance of internal combustion.
Love it or hate it, the Model 3 is an automotive icon of the 2010s. On that note, don’t forget that Tesla was inspired by the Nissan Leaf to go downmarket with the Model 3, thus appealing to a larger audience than what it could do with the Model S and Model X.
After a 1:43 scale model of a Ferrari 250 GTO sparked Mircea's interest for cars when he was a kid, an early internship at Top Gear sealed his career path. He's most interested in muscle cars and American trucks, but he takes a passing interest in quirky kei cars as well. Full profile
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