Official Tesla Model 3 thread

[WetEV]

Why shouldn’t we just get a 2019 Leaf (60 kWh) or a Bolt with the same range?

Early Bolts have seat comfort problems at least for some people, including me. The 2018's are reported to be better seats. The 2019's are rumored to be better still. I'd suggest sitting in one for a long as you can, as well as long of a test drive as you can get before you buy/lease one.

 

[EVDRIVER]

Get what you want ior can afford. Or wait until 2019 and buy a used 3.

 

[scottf200]

Why shouldn’t we just get a 2019 Leaf (60 kWh) or a Bolt with the same range?

Early Bolts have seat comfort problems at least for some people, including me. The 2018's are reported to be better seats.
The 2019's are rumored to be better still. I'd suggest sitting in one for a long as you can, as well as long of a test drive as you can get before you buy/lease one.

Not sure they have better seats in 2019.

***UPDATE: General Motors has contacted us regarding these possible changes to the 2019 Bolt. As it turns out, some information from Mike Lelli was likely misinterpreted.

For the official record, front seat improvements were made for the Model Year 2018 Bolt and carry over for the 2019 Model Year.

As for the suspension, the Bolt does not have a new setup for 2019, though GM says it’s always fine-tuning its products.

via: https://insideevs.com/2019-chevy-bolt-better-seats-suspension/

 

[cwerdna]

I found it funny that in https://www.facebook.com/groups/TeslaMotorsModel3/permalink/1078276729016852/ (I only lurk there as it's too busy and FB's comment/reply UI is terrible for any long threads/conversations) and found it amusing that a guy with a 3 is "complaining" about "range anxiety" when he was blasting the AC (set to 68 F when it's 90 F outside) and doing 80 to 90 mph! :shock: :roll:

I guess as more and more folks who've never had an EV before now get Teslas and want to use Superchargers and the vehicles for road trips, we're going to keep getting more and more of these who don't realize the laws of physics, even more so than w/Leaf (which are terrible road trip vehicles.)

 

[EVDRIVER]

I found it funny that in https://www.facebook.com/groups/TeslaMotorsModel3/permalink/1078276729016852/ (I only lurk there as it's too busy and FB's comment/reply UI is terrible for any long threads/conversations) and found it amusing that a guy with a 3 is "complaining" about "range anxiety" when he was blasting the AC (set to 68 F when it's 90 F outside) and doing 80 to 90 mph! :shock: :roll:

I guess as more and more folks who've never had an EV before now get Teslas and want to use Superchargers and the vehicles for road trips, we're going to keep getting more and more of these who don't realize the laws of physics, even more so than w/Leaf (which are terrible road trip vehicles.)

That's why they are on a Tesla Facebook page vs TMC.

 

[cwerdna]

Tesla misses Model 3 production goal of 6,000 units per week, but on track for overall Q3 goal
https://electrek.co/2018/09/02/tesla-misses-model-3-production-goal-overall-q3-goal/

There was a mention of the above my local NBC Bay Area news tonight but I couldn't find it on their web site.

 

[GRA]

Via IEVS:

Tesla Model 3 Travels 322 Miles On Single Charge With A/C Cranking

https://insideevs.com/tesla-model-3-322-miles-single-charge/

Vancouver, BC to Portland. There's a video. Unfortunately, later in the trip they got rear-ended while stopped at 40-50 mph, but everyone's okay.

 

[lpickup]

Via IEVS:

Tesla Model 3 Travels 322 Miles On Single Charge With A/C Cranking

https://insideevs.com/tesla-model-3-322-miles-single-charge/

Vancouver, BC to Portland. There's a video. Unfortunately, later in the trip they got rear-ended while stopped at 40-50 mph, but everyone's okay.

While on another leg of the journey, the couple’s Model 3 was, unfortunately, rear-ended by a Dodge sedan. The accident was luckily at low speed, as Dodge was doing 40 mph at the moment of the impact.

40mph is low speed? I mean, yeah, we hear about accidents where people were going 90+ all the time, but 40mph is not exactly just poking around in traffic! Still, it really does look like minimal damage to the Model 3's trunk.

And LOL, he had to rent a 12-seater van to get back to Vancouver (because that's all the rental company had left). Quite the difference from the Model 3!

 

[scottf200]

Monthly sales

 

[lpickup]

Monthly sales

I know we just got done with all the prognostication about whether Tesla hit 200K in June or July of this year...the crazy thing is that with just a modest increase in monthly Model 3 sales throughout the rest of the year, I estimate they will be at 192,000 in 2018 alone, and at about 352,000 total by the end of the year! (I think there is an outside chance they may even hit 200K sales in 2018 alone).

And then when I see that in August only 32 e-Golf's were sold, and 75 Honda Clarity BEV's, I want to scream. Even Hyundai/Kia seem to be barely trying to move their vehicles.

 

[EVDRIVER]

Monthly sales
]

I know we just got done with all the prognostication about whether Tesla hit 200K in June or July of this year...the crazy thing is that with just a modest increase in monthly Model 3 sales throughout the rest of the year, I estimate they will be at 192,000 in 2018 alone, and at about 352,000 total by the end of the year! (I think there is an outside chance they may even hit 200K sales in 2018 alone).

And then when I see that in August only 32 e-Golf's were sold, and 75 Honda Clarity BEV's, I want to scream. Even Hyundai/Kia seem to be barely trying to move their vehicles.

?????

 

[lpickup]

?????

Since you weren't specific about what the ????'s for, I'm going to assume it's the confusing wording where I used "2018 alone". I couldn't really think of a better way to say it, but let me try to lay it out.

With InsideEVs August estimates, in 2018 so far, Tesla has sold (in the US) 56,417 Model 3's, 14,645 Model S's and 13,600 Model X's. That's 84,662 US Tesla sales so far in 2018.

I plugged in estimates of 20K, 22K, 24K and 25K Model 3 sales for Sept through Dec, and likewise, numbers of S & X, that actually are probably on the conservative side. With the additional 91K Model 3 sales, that brings the 2018 Model 3 total to 147,417, Model S to 23,263 and Model X to 21,603 for 2018. Add those together, and that makes 192,283 Tesla US sales in 2018 alone.

It took Tesla 8.5 years to sell 200,000 EVs in the US, but in 2018 alone, they will be close to that figure, and there's even an outside chance that they may even go over that. And if not for the fact that we will probably see 40-50% of their Model 3 sales go overseas, they would probably even double that in 2019!

 

[lpickup]

Some more fun facts:

Total number of times that total US monthly EV sales (combined, but not counting Model 3 sales) exceeded 17,800: 7

1. December 2017: 25,047
2. December 2016: 24,785
3. March 2018: 22,553
4. September 2017: 21,125
5. June 2018: 19,117
6. March 2017: 18,541
7. May 2018: 18,310

 

[SageBrush]

OK, I'll contribute another fun fact:
Almost 70% of *EV sales in the the USA in August were Tesla

I wonder if Tesla can hit 90% by the end of the year. 6000 Model 3 a week should do it.

 

[GRA]

Via IEVS:

Tesla Model 3 Breaks Into Top 5 Best-Selling Passenger Cars In U.S.

https://insideevs.com/tesla-model-3-us-top-5-best-selling-cars/

. . . In August, sales increased to around 17,800, which is an all-time record for any plug-in model.

Good Car Bad Car sales stats (with higher estimations of Model 3 sales than ours – 20,450), shows Model 3 is now the fifth best-selling passenger car in the country (it would be at our 17,800 figure, too)! Only the high-volume Toyota Camry, Honda Civic, Honda Accord and Toyota Corolla Family were able to sell in more volume, but at full swing of 10,000 cars a week and 40,000 a month, it’s just a matter of time before the Model 3 rises to the top. . . .

This is something of a milestone. Of course, the Model 3 is far more expensive than any of the others so the size of its ultimate market is a lot more limited, but it's still noteworthy. Will it be able to make it into the top ten for the year?

Also IEVS:

Touchscreen Hater’s Guide To The Tesla Model 3

https://insideevs.com/touchscreen-haters-guide-tesla-model-3/

The Drive tries to navigate the Model 3’s information screen

Automotive journalists are an odd breed. Most are set in their ways, rarely open to sudden change. In turn, sometimes, objectivity (unfortunately) gives way to brand preference, personal opinion or simply to the heat of the moment. However, for some publications – like The Drive – objective news reporting, albeit, with a bit of a personal touch, is the key to their overall success.

So, when the duo consisting of Mike Spinelli and Alex Roy, the executive producer and editor-at-large of the publication, respectively, ventured into a detailed rundown of the Model 3’s infotainment screen, we were sure to expect a well-educated and entertaining video. To say the least.

The Tesla Model 3 doesn’t come with any sort of gauges or infotainment screens right in front of the driver. The vehicle does away with any dashboard switchgear. In turn, that means that all mission-critical information, data or switches, need to be controlled through a center-console touchscreen. And that might prove to be difficult for some rather set-in-their-ways automotive journalists. Furthermore, the Model 3’s was reportedly among the most distracting of 30 new vehicles tested.

Without a doubt, for someone that never spent any real time behind the wheel of a Tesla, that might prove to be a problem. However, the Model 3 is quite easy to drive and in most cases, the busy and rather cluttered switches, levers and buttons found on most cars of today, might become a thing of the past. Just as it happened with smartphones. Just as it happened with pretty much every modern appliance we have these days. The idea is to declutter and stop taking away the concentration from the driver. But, does it actually work? Can die-hard touchscreen haters come to like it?

• No doubt, giving up my beloved, janky analog switches would be difficult to fathom, and those wacky Tesla “easter eggs” seem frivolous (is that Mac Paint in there?). At least Alex is sympathetic to my plight, and can explain the functions in a way even I, a cretin, can understand. . . .

Haven't had a chance to watch the video yet, but on the basis of more than half a century of research in the area plus lots of driver accounts already, I'm willing to say that the answer is almost certainly no, although recent changes that moved some common C/C functions onto the steering wheel switches have improved matters.

 

[EVDRIVER]

I disagree. I fought this at first until I realized most controls are not needed. IE, I no never touch my climate controls where before I fiddled with many knobs. Auto works great. I know get frustrated driving my truck because it seems overly complex and annoying. My guess is most people that actually USE and DRIVE a Tesla will agree. Taking a test drive or reading the internet does not count.

 

[lpickup]

I disagree. I fought this at first until I realized most controls are not needed. IE, I no never touch my climate controls where before I fiddled with many knobs. Auto works great. I know get frustrated driving my truck because it seems overly complex and annoying. My guess is most people that actually USE and DRIVE a Tesla will agree. Taking a test drive or reading the internet does not count.

I feel like I'm in the minority, but I love AUTO settings on climate controls. I loved the LEAF's, and I love the Tesla's. Other than when you need to turn on the defroster, it normally just does what I would do.

But just like the first gen LEAF, the Tesla lacks a way to turn off the heat (at least it does today) when the temperature is cold in the morning, but hot in the afternoon, such as in the current season. You have to manually turn down the temp in the morning, and then set it back in the afternoon.

Well, at least with the Tesla I have access to Teslafi that could do this automatically for me (maybe I'll do that!), but in both cases, I feel that any thermostat controlled system that switches automatically between heating and cooling needs to have 2 temp settings so you can define a dead zone where you just get fresh air without cooling or heating. That would do the trick.

At least the LEAF eventually added a HEAT button for us. Hopefully Tesla will do the equivalent (in software).

 

[Oils4AsphaultOnly]

I disagree. I fought this at first until I realized most controls are not needed. IE, I no never touch my climate controls where before I fiddled with many knobs. Auto works great. I know get frustrated driving my truck because it seems overly complex and annoying. My guess is most people that actually USE and DRIVE a Tesla will agree. Taking a test drive or reading the internet does not count.

I feel like I'm in the minority, but I love AUTO settings on climate controls. I loved the LEAF's, and I love the Tesla's. Other than when you need to turn on the defroster, it normally just does what I would do.

Me too. And with the app, you can pre-heat/pre-cool so the "blast of air" that you get in the beginning isn't an issue anymore.

 

[GRA]

I disagree. I fought this at first until I realized most controls are not needed. IE, I no never touch my climate controls where before I fiddled with many knobs. Auto works great. I know get frustrated driving my truck because it seems overly complex and annoying. My guess is most people that actually USE and DRIVE a Tesla will agree. Taking a test drive or reading the internet does not count.

I feel like I'm in the minority, but I love AUTO settings on climate controls. I loved the LEAF's, and I love the Tesla's. Other than when you need to turn on the defroster, it normally just does what I would do.

Me too. And with the app, you can pre-heat/pre-cool so the "blast of air" that you get in the beginning isn't an issue anymore.

I detest ACC, as it always, at least in my car, starts up at max heat or cool, when all I typically want is fresh air blowing on me lightly, or some heat at floor level. I have to turn ACC off every time I restart the car and change a setting.

 

[Oils4AsphaultOnly]

I feel like I'm in the minority, but I love AUTO settings on climate controls. I loved the LEAF's, and I love the Tesla's. Other than when you need to turn on the defroster, it normally just does what I would do.

Me too. And with the app, you can pre-heat/pre-cool so the "blast of air" that you get in the beginning isn't an issue anymore.

I detest ACC, as it always, at least in my car, starts up at max heat or cool, when all I typically want is fresh air blowing on me lightly, or some heat at floor level. I have to turn ACC off every time I restart the car and change a setting.

You sound like my parents, who complain about how things don't work the way they expected it to. ACC is not auto. And as I told Ipickup, with pre-heat/cool, you don't have to get that blast as your car's interior is conditioned already by the time you open the car door. I don't know what you're doing, but the only reason that ACC is on when you start the car, is because you had it on AUTO when you turned off the car.