Hands On With The Tesla Model Three as it Comes to NZ
Tesla is well…. Tesla. Different. And now that Tesla is just a little bit better. I had the privilege of attending the launch of the updated Model three. Model three is the mass market car, that car that the Model S and X paved the way for. The one that’s attainable and affordable and it’s been a huge success with production runs well into the millions, cementing Tesla as one of the world’s leading EV manufacturers. No surprise considering Tesla virtually kicked the whole thing off.
Now I say virtually – Maybe I should say recently, it’s a little known fact that there was extensive charger networks throughout major cities in the US 100 years ago. In the early 1900s, motorists could choose between gasoline, electric, or steam(!). Like VHS and Betamax, it wasn’t apparent that any one propulsion method would dominate the auto market. Electricity was starting to power the home, and trams, so it seemed logical to electrify carriages – now becoming called cars. Ultimately gasoline won the battle due to its range capability and ease of topup.
Virtually all control is through the enormous centrally mounted screen and while voice control is available, Tesla enables you to automate just about all the things that you’re going to need. The few central controls required like indicators and wipers are very subtle buttons on the steering wheel but all of the stalks are gone. That’s right…No stalks. this thing looks like a spaceship inside. So uncluttered, it looks so clean. Tesla leads with technology, so it’s impressive that they have made it disappear so effectively.
Most everything is controllable and adjustable and visible through the Tesla app. Amazingly it took Tesla to tell the auto industry that people wanted to connect to their car and do things with it like turn on air conditioning and their app is very sophisticated as a result
Available in two variants, the rear wheel drive, and the all-wheel drive long-range. It’s fast : just 44 seconds to 100Kph for the AWD. Here’s another few numbers : up to 629ks on a charge, 15 mins for a 280km charge on a supercharger. Tesla continues to set the benchmark here.
So this is 3.1, scratch that, this is Model 3 updated, not to be confused with Windows 3.1 or Windows 3.11 ( that came with networking back in the old days when the internet took off). I don’t actually know the provenance of the name model 3 yet I’m not quite sure how we meant to tell this model apart. But let’s just say that if you order it now, that’s the one you are going to get!
Tesla somehow seems to occupy a different niche in the car world. If you’re a Tesla buyer you’re a committed lover of the brand. You are going to hoover up every update that is released. If you’re not currently a Tesla follower, then you probably going to need to learn a bit more about the brand to be able to understand what Tesla stands for. Just step into the cabin and you appreciate the ethos of what Tesla is doing.
