Model 3 Test Drive

[wheypat]

About 4 years ago I paid my £1000 deposit on a non existant car and joined the queue. 18 months later I cancelled but recently re-ordered. Last weekend I got to take the model 3 performance out for a test drive.

I've taken cars out before on a test drive. The dealer gets in, takes you somewhere quiet and you swap over, drive for a bit and you drive for 20 minutes or so and hand the car back.

This is not the Tesla way.

Book on line, turn up at the dealership, brief run over the controls in the show room and then walk to the street (St Andrews Square, Edinburgh) and the sales consultant pulls up, hands me the key and says "please bring it back by 3pm". And that's it - I'm now in control of a 60K car in the centre of Edinburgh on my own (they have told me that they are tracking it the whole time and know exactly where the car is, so don't be stupid!).

So what's it like?

First thing to get used to is the touch screen - this does everything from opening the glove box, showing the speed and making the car seats fart when you sit down (not kidding on that last one). After 10 minutes or so it seems normal.

Next thing you notice is people on pavements, at lights, in other cars staring at you. This is a car that the general public are aware of and are interested in. They stop and stare . . . and point. Not a car for a shrinking violet.

Anyway, I make it out of St Andrews square and out over the forth bridge and into Fife, up the A92 and then turn round and back, so a good 50 mile test drive. This is a fast car - didn't try ludicrous mode but man it is still as fast to accelerate as anyone could ever realistically need. It comfy, it's spartan on the inside. Plenty of USB sockets, I like the glass roof and it has ~350 mile range, which in real world terms is more likely to be ~200-250 on a regular basis. Battery is rated for 120K miles over 8 years.

It's got a year's subscription to Spotify thrown in and built in Netflix (so if you're charging you can watch something). The cars comes with a 50gb/month data limit and all Tesla superchargers have free wifi for their cars, so watch away.

The kids loved the fart mode, the built in games and netflix. The missus loved the speed and the romance mode (the car goes dark the screen displays a fire complete with sounds and the heat is gentle). I just like it to drive. Unlike the model S it's not overly big for UK roads.

And here's the clincher - 50K is a lot for a car (I've got long range) but the Scottish Government will lend me 35K . . . . charge and interest free. So throw in the old leaf and 8K cash and I've got myself a shiny new Model 3 for under £500 a month. Peep Peep!

Roll on December when I should get to pick it up!

[Howard]

About 4 years ago I paid my £1000 deposit on a non existant car and joined the queue. 18 months later I cancelled but recently re-ordered.

And here's the clincher - 50K is a lot for a car (I've got long range) but the Scottish Government will lend me 35K . . . . charge and interest free. So throw in the old leaf and 8K cash and I've got myself a shiny new Model 3 for under £500 a month. Peep Peep!

Roll on December when I should get to pick it up!

Wheypat

Many thanks for the review.

Forgive my curiosity, it would be interesting to know a little more about your financial deal. I’m guessing your old Leaf would be worth 10k or more? And you are adding a deposit of 8k on top? So are you putting down a deposit of around 20k and then paying nearly £500 a month?

regards

Howard

[wheypat]

About 4 years ago I paid my £1000 deposit on a non existant car and joined the queue. 18 months later I cancelled but recently re-ordered.

And here's the clincher - 50K is a lot for a car (I've got long range) but the Scottish Government will lend me 35K . . . . charge and interest free. So throw in the old leaf and 8K cash and I've got myself a shiny new Model 3 for under £500 a month. Peep Peep!

Roll on December when I should get to pick it up!

Wheypat

Many thanks for the review.

Forgive my curiosity, it would be interesting to know a little more about your financial deal. I’m guessing your old Leaf would be worth 10k or more? And you are adding a deposit of 8k on top? So are you putting down a deposit of around 20k and then paying nearly £500 a month?

regards

Howard

Hi Howard

My chosen Tesla is 49K. The SG is lending me 35K over 6 years interest free, so £486 a month. My leaf (1st generation, 2013 plate) is being part-exchanged with a trade in value of £4550 - I paid 8K for it in 2015 (interesting a friend of mine bought a 2nd hand leaf in 2016 - she sold it this year for £500 more than she paid for it). Mine is pretty beat up with 2 dead cells on the battery. The balance is from savings.

Details of the load here. Scotland only!

https://www.energysavingtrust.org.uk/sc ... hicle-loan

[Howard]

About 4 years ago I paid my £1000 deposit on a non existant car and joined the queue. 18 months later I cancelled but recently re-ordered.

And here's the clincher - 50K is a lot for a car (I've got long range) but the Scottish Government will lend me 35K . . . . charge and interest free. So throw in the old leaf and 8K cash and I've got myself a shiny new Model 3 for under £500 a month. Peep Peep!

Roll on December when I should get to pick it up!

Wheypat

Many thanks for the review.

Forgive my curiosity, it would be interesting to know a little more about your financial deal. I’m guessing your old Leaf would be worth 10k or more? And you are adding a deposit of 8k on top? So are you putting down a deposit of around 20k and then paying nearly £500 a month?

regards

Howard

Hi Howard

My chosen Tesla is 49K. The SG is lending me 35K over 6 years interest free, so £486 a month. My leaf (1st generation, 2013 plate) is being part-exchanged with a trade in value of £4550 - I paid 8K for it in 2015 (interesting a friend of mine bought a 2nd hand leaf in 2016 - she sold it this year for £500 more than she paid for it). Mine is pretty beat up with 2 dead cells on the battery. The balance is from savings.

Details of the load here. Scotland only!

https://www.energysavingtrust.org.uk/sc ... hicle-loan

Many thanks, Wheypat.

Enjoy the new car!

Howard

[redsturgeon]

It sounds like you have bought the performance model, I assume that was for the 4WD rather than the ludicrous mode. I will be very interested in your owner experience as I have considered buying one but have been put off by the horror stories re. build and paint quality and the slowness of getting parts if needed.

I have little doubt that the Tesla excels in many areas but it is the total owner experience that I am concerned about.

One other question I have is insurance, it that ludicrous mode too?

John

[wheypat]

It sounds like you have bought the performance model, I assume that was for the 4WD rather than the ludicrous mode. I will be very interested in your owner experience as I have considered buying one but have been put off by the horror stories re. build and paint quality and the slowness of getting parts if needed.

I have little doubt that the Tesla excels in many areas but it is the total owner experience that I am concerned about.

One other question I have is insurance, it that ludicrous mode too?

John

Hi John

I've gone long range, not ludicrous. Still 4WD. I would never use ludicrous mode so the extra £6K would be money down the drain. Insurance was about £70 a year more than the leaf it replaces. Tesla claim to have a deal with Direct Line, which is whom the leaf was insured with anyway.

Build quality - there were indeed horror stories but most of the info/reviews I've read recently appear to show that this has improved a lot since the launch.

This is still a nervous decision for me - most I've ever spent on a car is 10K, it could easily be that this car will cost me more than all the others I've ever owned put together. But hey, I'm going to try it. The leaf was always bought as an experiment to see what electric motoring was like and so far it's all been positive, bar the range. I now have a 140 mile return trip to work every day so it (the leaf) was no use for that!

[DrFfybes]

A friend in the US has just bought a Telsa Model3.

The sanity of trading in an old Porsche 911 and Golf R32 in order to make the purchase suggests me may be getting older than we thought, however he did say it was quite a pleasent thing.

Parking it in the garage was challenging, apparently it took him quite a while to persuade the anti collision systems to allow him to drive between pillars, workbenches, piles of firewood, and eventually under a suspended tennis ball until it hit the windscreen.

Paul

[redsturgeon]

Parking it in the garage was challenging, apparently it took him quite a while to persuade the anti collision systems to allow him to drive between pillars, workbenches, piles of firewood, and eventually under a suspended tennis ball until it hit the windscreen.

Paul

OTOH they seem OK with driving under articulated trucks.

John

[bungeejumper]

OTOH they seem OK with driving under articulated trucks.

Ugh. Fatal, wasn't it?

I've told this story before, so apologies, but one year a shiny new Model S pulled up in our campsite in France, right opposite our tent. What the heck was a Tesla type doing in a muddy field, we wondered? Half an hour later, the driver's wife and three kids turned up in a decrepit van. I wouldn't like to dwell too long on the marital background to that little scenario.

In the morning, it took twelve people to free the Model S from the mud, where it had become immovably grounded. Ah, vanity.......

BJ

[scotia]

from the BBC Site today:-
Tesla's chief executive, Elon Musk, has said Berlin will be the site of its first European factory.

[wheypat]

from the BBC Site today:-
Tesla's chief executive, Elon Musk, has said Berlin will be the site of its first European factory.

Not entirely surprising.

[scotia]

It appears that the new Tesla factory in Berlin will build batteries, powertrains and vehicles - starting with the Model Y. This was reported in an email from the IET - which indicated its source was a Musk Twitter.

[bungeejumper]

This was reported in an email from the IET - which indicated its source was a Musk Twitter.

Nuff said. Pass the herbal tobacco, I have a share price that needs a little bit of a ramp.

BJ

[dspp]

This was reported in an email from the IET - which indicated its source was a Musk Twitter.

Nuff said. Pass the herbal tobacco, I have a share price that needs a little bit of a ramp.

BJ

Hardly.

It was revealed by Musk when he was in Germany to receive an award for the Tesla model 3 as best car.

https://www.teslarati.com/tesla-gigafac ... statement/

This means the Germans will gain the auto assembly plant, the battery factory, and the R&D centre. Oh and the supply chain. The UK of course will gain none of the above.

As for the TSLA share price it is doing quite fine, up 40% or so, not that one can count on that trend lasting,

https://www.teslarati.com/tesla-tsla-40 ... r-analyst/

regards, dspp

[neversay]

Sounds great. Sadly it's too much money for me to look at.

Does anyone know the current set up for businesses buying electric cars? it used to be quite good.

I'm interested in the answer to that as well. I have a meeting with my accountant next week and he mentioned something about the Benefit In Kind changes making an Electric Car a 'no brainer' (by which he probably meant me). I'll let you know if I find out but a Model 3 is still out of reach for me both in terms of budget and timescales of the waiting lists...

N.

[scotia]

Sounds great. Sadly it's too much money for me to look at.

Does anyone know the current set up for businesses buying electric cars? it used to be quite good.

I'm interested in the answer to that as well. I have a meeting with my accountant next week and he mentioned something about the Benefit In Kind changes making an Electric Car a 'no brainer' (by which he probably meant me). I'll let you know if I find out but a Model 3 is still out of reach for me both in terms of budget and timescales of the waiting lists...

N.

It would be interesting to know if the accountant practices what he/she preaches - and is driving an electric car

[Meatyfool]

Business BIK for Ev = £0.

Nice if you can!

Meatyfool..