[GutsyGibbon]

The Motivation:
It all started in 2016, while I had decided to go green and get rooftop solar. After upgrading some appliances, we were producing a lot more than what we used. As the utility company pays us pennies on the dollar, it made sense to consume more. I am not much of a Tesla fan, but had really liked the Model S. When the Model 3 was announced, I got onboard and booked online. I was not crazy enough to go stand in line.

The Wait:
Then the excruciating wait started. 2 years, with lots of buzz in the press. Everytime there was a new electric car, I would consider getting it and cancelling the Model3 reservation. Prius Prime, Audi etron, Leaf, Bolt, Volt etc. None of them had all the things I was looking for. Interiors, driver assist features, & range. Last month, I realized I may miss out on the Federal tax credit, if I wait till the $35k M3 to come out. Just in time, I got an e-mail to configure my M3. I decided to try the configuration tool, and started building it online - color, long range, premium interior, auto pilot, and wheel options. It came up to some $61K and the button to place order was right there. I have bought 6 other cars in the US. I have never bought anything sight unseen/online. I have always driven the car I was buying, under all conditions. In traffic, with passengers, and on the freeway. Here I was considering spending more, based on heresay and online reviews. Then I called the commander in chief, she goes - "hell yeah, upgrade all the way, dont over think it, just get it". I entered the credit card info, and clicked on it (place order button). There, I had done it. Ordered a car online, without ever seeing it. Then started another wait of 3 to 6 weeks. I had to upload license, insurance, and registration stuff as well, and wait for the e-mail to trade in my Prius.

The Trade-in:
I was hoping I would get to talk to someone, at some point in time. But NO!, the trade in process was also online. I got a link and I uploaded the pics of my car, odometer reading and answered a few questions (about tire wear, scratches, etc). I saw a tradein credit that was a lot more than KBB value.

The Delivery:
I installed the Tesla app on my phone/Galaxy S8, before the delivery appointment. We were there 10 minutes ahead of time. No Model 3s in sight, just a Model X and a Model S. There were several tables setup, with one of them having our name, and a small gift (a scaled model 3). We were greeted by a Tesla rep, and were asked to sign all the DMV papers, trade in papers included. At this point I was like, can I please see the car before I sign away? The rep goes, we will sign all but the last one to accept the delivery. I obliged and signed it all in a hurry. Then, lo and behold- all the Model 3s to be delivered were behind a curtain. We walked to our car and it was not yet the time of our appointment. I had to wait a minute for the app to get unlocked and show my model 3. Then the rep helped me with BT setup, Driver profiles, and a whole bunch of settings. My initial impressions were that of awe, looking at the simplicity of things. No buttons, no keys, just one screen in the middle. The rep went over other basics regarding EV charger setup at my house, and cables and such. I explored the car for 5 minutes on my own. I was upto speed on most things because of watching all those YouTube videos. So, in about half hour the rep goes, "Thats it, congratulations", and he had me do the last signature to accept the car. This was the simplest, fastest ever new car buying experience. The car we traded in was moved away, no questions asked at the very good price I had seen online. (much better than KBB value)

Setup :
The setup took me some time and getting used to. The first thing was to connect to my phone. You need an iPhone or an Android phone. TM3 car has no keyfob, there is a credit card sized card that I needed to stick on the center console, and then enable lock/unlock based on proximity of the phone. TM3 comes with always on LTE connection. It is paid for by Tesla(for now). I am able to lock, unlock the car from my office, while it is parked a mile away, or at home. I created 2 driver profiles, with an option to enable easy exit. A short person can enable this to have the steering rise to the top most spot, and the seat backwards after pressing the park button. All the settings such as mirrors, steering, seats when changed has context sensitive popup that allows you to save to profile with one touch. There are no dedicated buttons for adjusting mirrors and such. Depending on the context the rockers on the steering can be used to adjust the mirrors. This keeps the interior simple, and user experience intuitive. I can also set the temperature of the car from the app, before walking to the car.


Controls/User experience: The rest of the UI is super snappy. It is powered by an Nvidia Tegra processor. I have never seen the map lag by even half a second. The real time traffic updates are always there. And long distance trips are routed through Tesla super chargers. I have the Long range version. 300 miles(500kms) on a charge. They had charged it 80% some 250mi range when I picked up the car.

Getting in, getting out: This is super intuitive, with the phone in the pocket you just grab the handle to unlock. After pressing the park button, you just walk away from the car to lock. I had to peek and confirm that it was indeed locking after a while. As the door windows do not have a frame around it, the windows slide down when opened, so that they do not make contact to the body when closed. This is seen in other cars that do not have a window frame. The lights, radio, and climate control stays on if I continue to stand next to the car. The headlights, wipers, mirrors are all in auto mode, if I need to turn something on, I will need to go through menu options on the display.


Side note: Another thing of beauty is the ability of Tesla to repond to user feedback in a jiffy. Earlier the AC control was at the far end of the display, and people found it to distracting as they had to reach over. Tesla did an over the air update, and with the new firmware it is moved closer to the driver. There are updates every week, and the experience keeps getting better.

Exterior:
I am obviously biased, I will not say much but let the pictures speak. The roof is all glass.


LED Lights


Logo:


Wheels:
The only thing I am not a fan of is the wheel. On the left is the Aero wheel cap for aerodynamics. Supposed to increase efficiency by 10%. On the right is the fine alloy wheel that is hidden inside. I have ordered a Tesla center cap and covers for the lug nuts. There is a 2 month wait for these center caps.


Mirrors:
When parked the mirrors fold back in. There is another camera under the chrome triangle logo in the side, looking down.


Interiors:
There are no AC vents (that rattle after a year). There is one big slot. The controls are super intuitive, you can modify the airflow to be anywhere from the same slot.


Front seats: They are super comfy. All seats are made of vegan leather. Leather seats bother my vegetarian wife.


Rear Interior: The glass roof increases headroom for rear passengers.


The rear legroom and headroom is awesome. Rear seats are also heated.


Driving impressions.
There are Normal, Sport and Comfort modes. Sport mode is a lot more responsive and the handling lot more crisp. I leave it in Normal mode for regular use. There is also an option to aggressively regenerate so that one pedal driving is possible. Stepping on the throttle, is pure joy. (with no sound feedback). 0-60 in less then 4.6 seconds, I hear that is faster than a BMW 330i. Regardless, it is instant power that I have not experienced in any sedan I have owned. For the first few miles the cameras and sensors calibrate themselves. During this period the car does not allow you to enable Auto pilot. After some 30 miles, the fun really started. Auto pilot is pure joy in city traffic. The car knows the speed limits of every street out there, and a simple double tap on the stalk enables it and sets it to speed limit. Even on roads that snake, it maintains exact center position in the lane. There are indicators on the screen for every object close by. Every car on the street is also displayed. I was freaking out, and kept my hand one inch off from the steering and watch it do all the driving. I am going to create a video of this soon. It is unreal. Rear cameras can be turned on while driving. It can change lanes while in auto pilot, if I turn on the indicator. Moving the steering disengages auto pilot but leaves it in adaptive cruise control mode. I will make a video of the enhanced auto Pilot mode in the next week.

Storage:
Being an electric car the front is super clean. The front storage, and trunk can be opened from the phone/app. Even remotely. The glove box, does not have a button, it is under some option on the screen.
The front storage can hold an airplane carry-on luggage item easily.


Storage in the trunk


More storage but no spare wheel


Summon mode:
Along with Advanced Auto pilot, the summon mode will be available(not yet enabled in my firmware version). Where you can stand away from the car and move the car forward or reverse from the phone/app. If the car is parked where it is hard to squeeze in. Or, if you have a smart garage, you can ask your TM3 to warmup to a certain interior temperature, open the garage door, and pull out to your driveway (eventually).

Parking:
There are clear indications of obstacles, and the exact distance from the obstacle. When very close the color of the line marker changes to red. With a garage cramped with 2 cars and a motorcycle, this is something that is very useful. With a large display the rear view is big and clear for backing up. The 26 inches you see in the below pic is the distance from the pole on the right/passenger side. All nearby objects are shown on the screen to assist with an event free parking.


Maintenance notes:
With regenerative breaking the breaks never wear, and you never need to replace break pads. Obviously no oil change, so that leaves you with just the tire rotation as the maintenance need.

[GTO]

Thread moved from the Assembly Line to the Initial Ownership Section. Thanks for sharing!

[SJM1214]

Thanks, Sir! for Detailed review of Tesla.

Originally Posted by GutsyGibbon

Summon mode:
Along with Advanced Auto pilot, the summon mode will be available(not yet enabled in my firmware version). Where you can stand away from the car and move the car forward or reverse from the phone/app. If the car is parked where it is hard to squeeze in. Or, if you have a smart garage, you can ask your TM3 to warmup to a certain interior temperature, open the garage door, and pull out to your driveway (eventually).

Jeremy Clarkson demonstrated(The Grand Tour, Season 2) the summon mode, which lets the Tesla drive to you on its own albeit over a short distance and in a straight line, and its ability to drive without any help on roads with white lines on either side using a feature known as Autopilot.

https://twitter.com/thegrandtour/sta...44777622708224
Video link: The Grand Tour twitter account.

[Flyer]

Congratulations GustyGibbon on your new Tesla Model 3. Nicely written ownership review. To be honest reading through your booking experience felt like I'm watching a Hollywood SciFi movie.

[M00M]

Originally Posted by GutsyGibbon

Model3 .

Congratulations on the Model 3, car looks super shiny and clean in RED. Im eagerly waiting for it to launch in India but todays headline in Economic Times says that GOI may move the localisation content to 70% in 3 years for EV in India to promote local manufacturing, that might just make Elon skip India and bad for people wishing to own a Tesla in India.

Fingers crossed Tesla comes to India in 2018 or early 2019.

[Amit_Kapoor4750]

Congratulations GutsyGibbon for getting this beautiful car.
It is good to see a Tesla review, days after the world celebrated The Earth Day. I wish you many happy miles ahead with this amazing car.

[Bomi]

What a car! It was a pleasure to learn about the auto-pilot feature. Congratulations!

[MaheshY1]

Since Steve Jobs is no longer among us, it was a relief to see Tesla pull an Apple with the Model 3. The car is:
- Simple
- Clean
- Functional

The simplicity does sometimes get in the way, though. E.g. using the wipers isn't as straightforward. But Tesla expects us to leave it in Auto mode and forget about it. Perhaps that'll be good enough for >90% of Model 3 owners.

[GutsyGibbon]

Thanks for all the congrats guys.

Originally Posted by MaheshY1

The simplicity does sometimes get in the way, though. E.g. using the wipers isn't as straightforward.

Not sure why you felt this way about this one. It is auto sensing, but there is a button on the indicator stalk to turn on the wipers manually, and with water spray.
I still have not read the manual for anything. I do agree, that having to adjust the mirrors while driving would involve a few touches on the screen.

[yogesh.8984]

Wow, having accustomed to reading IC engine reviews, this one stands out.

Simple is new sexy. And how true it is for Tesla cars. You may get overwhelmed at first sight after coming from traditional car background, but once you get into it (and it wont take long for that), its such simple task to drive a car (or get driven for that matter).

However driving an IC engine would still remain the pinnacle of whole motoring experience for me.

[HKap]

Originally Posted by GutsyGibbon

Thanks for all the congrats guys.

Not sure why you felt this way about this one. It is auto sensing, but there is a button on the indicator stalk to turn on the wipers manually, and with water spray.
I still have not read the manual for anything. I do agree, that having to adjust the mirrors while driving would involve a few touches on the screen.

I wonder if a Siri like voice assistant exists or will exist some time in the future. That would be perfect. Even if it is to switch items in the menu so that the rocker switches can then be used to fine tune stuff like intermittent wiper speed.

This car is already creating issues for me. I'm convinced that my next car will be a M340i but every time I see this, I feel this might be the one. Not since the first Ipod Nano have I ever craved something so bad.

Tesla is the new Apple in more ways than one. Yes their products are simple and elegant and idiot proof in that they "just work" but they are also building this amazing product ecosystem with the solar power generator and the battery packs for homes. I was reading an article yesterday which covered this point and also said that not once has Tesla sold this as a "green car". They've always said that this is the best car money can buy and it happens to run on batteries. Brilliant!

[The Brutailer]

Nice. A different car you have there. A car which gives us a peek into the future. And you know what? It’s not bad. Looks good and I’m sure it drives even better (instant torque for the win! ).

I still have one gripe though. And it’s a major one. Interiors have been simplified so much that it seems overly complicated. Why reinvent the wheel? The screen fitment looks like an after-market job and where exactly is the instrument console? It’s counter-intuitive to keep everything in that giant screen. What Tesla should’ve done is to integrate the whole screen into the instrument console behind the steering wheel (where it belongs!).

And the weirdest part is Tesla have done a pretty good job on the interior design in the Model S. I love it. Kinda dissatisfied here on that aspect. This car is trying to get away from the driving pleasure instead of enhancing it. I feel it’ll backfire.

Anyway, congratulations on the buy. For a electric car lover, in that budget, nothing comes close. Do keep us posted in future as well. Was a pleasure reading your ownership thread.

[maddy42]

Congrats on the Model 3. Thats a great color you did choose and you did highlight everything which is great about Tesla. Hope you have many wonderful miles on the car.

I did have the pleasure of driving the Model S and it was simply amazing! I have just one query with regards to pricing. Model 3 was stated to be about 35k but your car came to 61. Was there any time you felt you should probably go for a certified Model S instead as currently, i do see many model S on the tesla website for under what you paid. Also was an installation of a home charger straighforward? Care to share your experience on the long run and congrats again!

Maddy

[GutsyGibbon]

Originally Posted by maddy42

Congrats on the Model 3. Model 3 was stated to be about 35k but your car came to 61. Was there any time you felt you should probably go for a certified Model S instead ..
Also was an installation of a home charger straighforward?
Maddy

Thanks Maddy. I have a 2 car garage that is cramped with 2 cars, a motorcycle, and 3 bicycles. The Model S would have been too big of a car for us. There are many positives on Model 3 compared to Model S, in terms of efficiency, glass roof, AC vents, range etc. Model S design is a few years old now.

The car has a charger built inside, what you need at home is a 240V outlet that allows you to draw upto 50A. It is called NEMA 14-50 outlet. I got an electrician to install it for labor + $40 for a new circuit breaker. If the panel in your hose does not have any free space for a new breaker, then it can cause an additional cost.

[theMAG]

More than anything, congrats on being among an eclectic few that have ever touched the Model 3, with the now infamous production delays that Tesla seems unable to resolve !

I once got to ride in a Model S when I'd hailed an Uber, and more than anything else, the experience struck as being in a spaceship - silent, deadly propulsion with AI all around.