Thirty-seven years of owning and driving have taught me a few things about cars. I’ve learned that there are beautifully designed cars, insanely fast cars, quirky/fun cars, economical cars, utilitarian cars but there's really no such thing as the “perfect automobile”. I mean, there are often compromises – the car might be beautiful and comfortable but not reliable, fast but not economical, or solidly built but not practical.
Despite what the Tesla fanboys/fangirls will lead you to believe Tesla doesn’t make a perfect car and owning one won’t make you glamorous, the envy of your neighbors, or complete your life. Also, those who believe electric vehicles are the devil — prone to fires, riddled with problems, and aren’t practical enough for everyday use, they’re wrong too.
I’ve been driving my Tesla Model 3 Long Range for almost a year now and I thought I’d share some of my the ups/downs, and impressions of the car now that I’ve lived with it for nearly twelve full months. It’s required constant learning, ignoring disinformation, and a minor reframing of how I think about driving and car ownership itself.
Range
This was the thing I was most worried about when shopping for an EV and, let me tell you, range anxiety is real. Range in an EV is entirely relative, let me explain. Tesla claimed the Model 3 Long Range achieved about 348 miles on a fully charged battery when I bought it. In reality that 348 miles was probably achieved in absolute ideal conditions – no headwinds, excessive heat or cold, flat terrain, etc. In the real world my range is probably more like 300 miles per charge, driving less than 80mph in ideal temperatures (45-85 degrees fahrenheit). Gas mileage fluctuates on ICE vehicles too, especially in cold weather, but not to such a large degree.
As I’ve learned, so many things in the real world reduce range in an EV. So much so that I would chop 20-30% off of the top of any EV manufacturer's range estimates. Aero is extremely important, I lose 3% of my range instantly just by removing the aero hubcaps on my wheels. Driving over 80 mph for long periods of time drains the battery like you wouldn’t believe. The key to making an EV for the masses is having the technology to train the driver how to mitigate range and keep them informed of when they need to charge.
The big takeaway for me this past year has been you don’t need a lot of range most of the time. Even 300 miles is much more than I need and if I had it to do all over again I may have bought the standard Model 3 with less range (and a considerably lower price tag). Elon Musk has said that Tesla is primarily a software company and now I get it. Over time the car’s tech is so good that molds you into not only a better driver but also a competent EV driver. When you learn to trust the car and just listen when it tells you to charge on road trips, range anxiety just evaporates. It took me a good six months to develop that trust.
Performance
My car can go from 0-60 MPH in around 4 seconds, it is freaking ridiculous and addictive. It's also gotten me into trouble a few times with my wife. I'll never tire of telling passengers to put their heads against the headrest and hang on as they experience "warp drive" for the first time (what I call the full-speed launch). The acceleration is mind-blowing and fun, yes, but as I’ve found out it’s also practical. In today’s world of distracted driving, quick acceleration has proven useful when you need to pass or get out of someone’s way who isn’t paying attention.
Steering is tight and responsive even in “normal” mode, and handling is actually better than many sports cars I’ve driven. The disc brakes feel more than adequate for daily driving and emergency stopping but I’ve only used the brakes five or so times in five thousand miles of driving due to the regenerative braking (one pedal driving). Once you remove your foot from the accelerator the car's motors slow you down, kind of like downshifting in a car with a manual transmission for those old enough to remember.
Quality/Durability
In the past, Tesla wasn't exactly known for their build quality but it’s gotten considerably better in recent years. I had two issues in my first few days of ownership. The car was delivered to the service center from the factory with a bad brake sensor. The sensor was replaced but this delayed delivery by two days. The other issue was misaligned weather stripping on the back window that leaked during my first car wash, this was fixed in a few minutes by the Tesla Service Center under warranty.
My phone stopped working as the key once. I had to use the Tesla keycard I keep in my wallet to unlock the car and drive it. After a five second search YouTube saved the day again. I found the solution, I had to delete and reinstall the Tesla app and it worked instantly. Oh, and this past winter I also got a pebble stuck in my brake caliper and this made a horrible scraping noise. I popped off the wheel cover and fixed this myself by jiggling the brake caliper cover and the pebble dropped out.
One clear area for improvement is paint quality. The exterior paint on my car is the most fragile I’ve ever seen on any vehicle. I baby the car yet I already have a number of scratches near the door handles and on the trunk. My advice would be to cover the entire vehicle in paint protection film (PPF) right off the bat. I got the whole front of the car done and the rocker panels and really wish I would’ve paid another four hundred dollars and had the whole car done.
In the eleven months and two weeks I’ve owned my Model 3 I’ve spent zero dollars on the car other than charging it and filling it with windshield washer fluid. Nothing has broken, or worn out. In fact, it looks as good as new (sans the scratches in the paint) and drives better now than it did the day I picked it up.
Charging
Honestly, charging is the one thing that it’s taken me the longest to get used to. Although it’s less expensive, you have to charge an EV more frequently and for a longer duration than you would fueling up an ICE vehicle at a gas station. This forces you to rethink how you live with your vehicle. I charge primarily on a Level 2 (slow) charger across the street from our building and if my battery is down to 20% it will take over three hours for me to top it off to the recommended daily driving limit of 80%. Level 2 charging takes planning but a Tesla Supercharger would charge that same amount in around 15-20 minutes.
If you have a charging solution at home or at work it’s actually more convenient than driving a petrol powered car because you have a full charge each time you hit the road. Most people who have this option charge their cars while they’re sleeping or working.
During the past year I’ve charged primarily (64%) at a Tesla Supercharger, which is the most expensive way to charge. The 35% that in the screenshot above that’s labeled “home” is actually a Level 2 charger that our city installed across the street. Still, I’ve only spent $431 in electricity in 5,000 miles of driving which is a $91 savings over gas. Once I get a home charger installed it will be a happy day because my charging cost will be reduced dramatically, by around 75%.
Safety
The Model 3 is one of the safest vehicles ever made and was only slightly bested by its cousin, the Model Y. The suite of safety features in the car reads like a book. It has eight cameras constantly monitoring the road and traffic around you and will intervene to help get you out of harms way, if needed.
The best way to survive an accident is to avoid it and I’ve had my car save me from a rear end collision twice by alerting me of traffic stopping suddenly ahead. The car noticed this seconds before I could have. The car will even take over in emergency situations to either brake, swerve, or speed up to avoid collisions if the driver doesn’t react fast enough. This hasn’t happened to me yet, thank God.
Loves/Pet Peeves
Tesla can add features that drastically improves their cars with one over-the-air software update. This is what I like most about the car. Software updates come every few months and each one feels like Christmas morning. I love that the car constantly is evolving and, in a world where other car companies are making owners pay subscription fees for things as basic as heated seats, it’s refreshing that Tesla offers these significant updates for free.
My only pet peeve so far is the abysmal paint quality. The paint is beautiful but as they say in the film A Christmas Story, it is “Fra-Gi-Ley”. Come on Elon, if you’re charging this much for a car the customer shouldn’t have to spend more money to have the car wrapped in PPF.
Are EVs for Everyone?
Absolutely not! As I’ve explained in my Quora article, electric vehicles aren’t for everyone, yet.
If you’re not someone who is at least moderately proficient when it comes to technology (or not the kind of person who is interested in learning) I would say hold off dipping your toes into the world of EVs for a while. I’ve been forced to consult YouTube on several occasions to find solutions for issues I had with the car (read Quality/Durability section above). If you don’t like to do this kind of problem solving then I’d stick with an ICE vehicle for now.
These cars are basically supercomputers on wheels and, like any computer, bugs and glitches will occur. Also, just like any computer, a “hard reset” solves most problems. You reset the Tesla computer by holding the two scroll wheels on the steering wheel down while pressing the brake for five seconds. I’ve had to do this three times in my one year of ownership.
Would I Buy the Model 3 Again?
Yes, a thousand times over. The Tesla Model 3 is, by far, the best car I've ever owned (remember, car ownership is subjective). It's been an extremely fun year of driving and getting to know this vehicle and I only foresee it getting better over time. Very few material things I've owned have given me this much joy, and when they do I tend to keep them around for a really long time. It's not the perfect car but the Model 3 is the right car for me.
Thanks so much for reading! All for now. Trust your instincts, invest in you, live boldly, and take chances.
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