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10,000 miles in a Model 3 (nearly) - Review

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I'm just about to hit 10k miles in my Model 3, so thought I'd share my experience and thoughts. I picked up a Model 3 Long Range on 21st August and have used it predominantly traveling to and from work (200 mile round trip) but have also taken it on one or two longer trips.

Is it about to fall to bits?
No.
Build quality isn't as good as it was on my previous German cars and there are a number of annoying cabin rattles, but these are down to the passenger seat-belts when not in use so can be resolved by plugging them all in or through the tactical deployment of felt or rubber bands.

When cornering at speed, the sound of air rushing in to the cabin increases around the drivers window suggesting the car could be more rigid and the sealing could be better. This is only discernible when driving like a hooligan.

Have I spent days of my life sat watching it charge?
No.
Being the long range version, the motors will easily eek out 300 miles of charge when driven sensibly, or 240+ miles when driven spiritedly. This means I have only once completed a journey (400 miles) where I couldn't get to my destination in one go and plug it in.

I find the predicted mileage to be most accurate when the battery is warm, immediately after charging or after 30-40 miles on the road. As a rule of thumb, I deduct 10 miles of range if starting the car on a mild day and 30 miles if starting the car on a cold day if the battery has not preconditioned.

I have generally found the charging network suitable for my needs. There are some cold spots in my routine (such as between Chester and Shrewsbury), but in reality I've only had to use charging stations a handful of times and can plan around those cold-spots.

It is not disingenuous to say that I probably spent longer stood at a fuel pump in my previous BMW to cover 10k miles than I have spent sat at a charging station in my EV. In fact, I find the very notion of standing to fill up a car with fuel hilarious now and cannot imagine going back to that... and handing over £70 each time for the privilege.

I have a 32A Commando charger at home that I installed for <£70. Don't believe the haters, this is a perfectly legit set-up and offers no tangible disadvantages over a more expensive rig. I am fortunate to also have a 32A Rolec charger at the office in Manchester where I do the majority of my charging (it's free!)

Have I saved a fortune in fuel?
Yes.
To do 10k miles in my BMW would have cost me c.£1,600 and worn the rear tyres down to ready to be replaced (I averaged a new set of rear tyres every 12k in my 4-Series and front tyres every 20k).

So far in my Tesla I have spent £112 at Superchargers and £126 in increased electricity usage at home
That's just £240 in total! an 85% saving.

I've also had a bit of luck on occasion where chargers have been faulty and discharged for free. Imagine going to a petrol forecourt and being given free diesel because the tills were down?

Tyre-wise, I will probably need to replace them in another 10k miles. The tread is ok and consistent across the 4 wheels, presumably due to the clever torque vectoring. The only other thing I've had to put in the car is air for tyres and screen-wash.

Do I miss levers, dials and knobs?
No.
Admittedly the air-con takes a little getting used to but I find I can adjust effortlessly now, and I've never struggled to do what I'm trying to do on the touch-screen. The voice control is excellent and covers more functionality than it ever did on my previous car. The steering wheel controls and stems are sufficient to cover all I need, though it would be a nice touch if they were configurable... especially the automatic wipers, which are as pants on a Tesla as they are on a BMW.

Is it the best car I've ever owned?
Yes.
It is faster, more comfortable and more efficient than anything I've ever owned. The acceleration is intoxicating and I haven't had a passenger yet that hasn't reacted. My wife and mother hate it, but the kids (and my grown up friends) squeal with delight.

I've owned some nice cars, but this is the first one I've driven that has made me question my ownership of all my previous cars. I simply cannot imagine going back to an internal combustion engine now... they just don't make any sense.
 
Thanks for the amazing review!

It is not disingenuous to say that I probably spent longer stood at a fuel pump in my previous BMW to cover 10k miles than I have spent sat at a charging station in my EV. In fact, I find the very notion of standing to fill up a car with fuel hilarious now and cannot imagine going back to that... and handing over £70 each time for the privilege.

This is my favourite part.
 
Great review! Love, can you share how you got your 32A Commando charger installed for less than £70? I Does this include the Ev grant?

A Commando socket is nothing more than a cheap plastic caravan hook-up and can be bought for £25-30. It runs at 32A, 7.4kw so needs installing as though you’re installing an electric shower (10mm twin and earth and it’s own switch in your fuse board). My sparky mate connected my wiring in exchange for a pint.

The universal charger that comes with the car takes care of the rest but you’ll need an adaptor from Tesla.
 
Great review - I'm jealous you made it to 10k before me. Ernie is at 8400, but he's only got 1 motor, so it's earning its keep.
Surprised how fast your BMW got through tires, but it sounds like you drive them hard.

Fully agree on the charging. It's much more convenient to leave home every day with the equivalent of what would have been 1/2 tank than to need to stop for 10 minutes every few days to hand over £70 in return for smelly hands and a polluted world.

My only concern with the command socket is that there is no protection for the house if the car is faulty. These batteries will melt your house wires if a fault connects them, and without a DC sensitive RCD nothing will turn it off until the wires themselves fuse.

I've got a dumb Rolec charger. Easy to fit and the tethered cable has less plugs to fail.
 
[QUOTE="pacman65, post: 4228307, member: 112208"My only concern with the command socket is that there is no protection for the house if the car is faulty. These batteries will melt your house wires if a fault connects them, and without a DC sensitive RCD nothing will turn it off until the wires themselves fuse.[/QUOTE]

I know you to be right... but it would take the car to fail AND the UMC to fail to really get ugly.
 
"These batteries will melt your house wires if a fault connects them, and without a DC sensitive RCD nothing will turn it off until the wires themselves fuse"

Actually, I don't think that's the danger. An RCD is not an overcurrent device. It is there to detect leakage current - current that's going where it's not supposed to go - for example, through a person!

Without a DC sensitive RCD, a relatively small DC leakage can render your normal house RCD inoperable for your whole house. (The cause is saturating the transformer inside the RCD.) During that time, should an occupant of your house come into contact with electricity the RCD will not disconnect as it should and they will receive a potentially fatal electric shock.

An RCD rendered inoperable by DC leakage shows no obvious symptoms (other than, maybe, the test button won't work.) Thus it creates a silent dangerous situation which remains unnoticed until its too late.

For the curious:
 
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Nice review - but 12k miles out of a set of tyres on a BMW? You must have been caning it! My last car was a 335i (RWD) and I got 35k out of the first set of tyres!

Gosh you must have never gone above the speed limit, 10k was the max I was seeing from a set of rears on my 335i. Got through a set of pads every 15k or so.....I was younger and drove the way the public expects BMW drivers to drive, basically like a t@@t:).

Got nearly 25k out of the tyres on the X.
 
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Without a DC sensitive RCD, a relatively small DC leakage can render your normal house RCD inoperable for your whole house. (The cause is saturating the transformer inside the RCD.) During that time, should an occupant of your house come into contact with electricity the RCD will not disconnect as it should and they will receive a potentially fatal electric shock.

An RCD rendered inoperable by DC leakage shows no obvious symptoms (other than the test button won't work.) Thus it creates a silent dangerous situation which remains unnoticed until its too late.

Though this is a risk that you should certainly be aware of it is also true to say that most older houses carry the same risk because they simply do not have any RCD protection unless they were rewired in recent years. Also the loss of protection only happens if there is a specific fault condition ... in which case you have the same lack of protection of as a considerable proportion of the population have as standard!
 
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The voice control is excellent and covers more functionality than it ever did on my previous car. .

OMG. This is obviously a fake review. ;)

No control over any useful features. Usually misinterprets what i am saying. Even something as basic as 'play such and such a song'... utterly fails in that it brings up a search engine and keyboard after correctly grasping what words were spoken.

Utter pants.

Rest of your review rings true though.... glad you like it :)
 
Great review and totally agree. I spent a couple of hours pottling around in town traffic today, and it was thoroughly comfortable and relaxing. The new hold drive mode is sublime, really makes driving completely smooth and effortless. Throwing autopilot on for some periods is also a lovely option to have.

When I needed to thread into a lane change or quick overtake, the car just darts into position like some kind of wind.

Getting home, I didn't feel like I had driven anywhere and was reluctant to have to get out of the car.

I've done 3500 miles now and it just gets better and better (literally with the updates!)
 
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I’ve driven my Model 3 for 20,000 miles. I concur with most of your observations. The fit and finish was exceptional, although I cannot compare it to German made automobiles. Tesla has achieved great success and has inspired an entire automotive industry in producing their own EV lines. I look forward to experiencing all the future brands.
 
Thanks for the comprehensive review. Ordered our M3, LR, AWD, FSD October 31st. Expect delivery sometime in December. Appreciated your comments about cold weather range prediction. What do you mean by cold? Here in Iowa USA we are regularly down in the teens mid winter and it can get into minus territory on occasion. Car will be garaged and I have plans for an 80A charger so mains preconditioning will be the norm. Also, have you had any experience with longish airport stays ie 2-3 weeks?
 
Thanks for the comprehensive review. Ordered our M3, LR, AWD, FSD October 31st. Expect delivery sometime in December. Appreciated your comments about cold weather range prediction. What do you mean by cold? Here in Iowa USA we are regularly down in the teens mid winter and it can get into minus territory on occasion. Car will be garaged and I have plans for an 80A charger so mains preconditioning will be the norm. Also, have you had any experience with longish airport stays ie 2-3 weeks?

We use celsius so that's 0 C equivalent to 32 F. We are mostly referring to round about freezing 0 C as cold. Though it can go some way below overnight we are not talking as cold as you have it. You are best getting your cold experiences from others in US or Canada if you want an accurate guide.