I picked up my Model 3 LR in early May, and thought that racking up nearly 3,000 miles by the end of June was a sign that I was quite enjoying the vehicle. Here we are, about three weeks later, and I've put on another 4,000 miles. Here are some reflections on my experience thus far.
Some context: I've closely followed Tesla since late 2012. I was a line-waiter reservation-holder, and previously owned a 30 kWh Nissan Leaf.
Delivery/Initial thoughts
I picked up on 5/10. Arrived to the delivery center and met my advisor, who took me back to the car and did a quick walk-around. He showed me the basics of the UI, then left me to play around / inspect the car more closely while he grabbed my paperwork and confirmed the trade-in that I had brought.
When he returned, I signed the few remaining documents and we went over the car for a few more minutes, and then I was out. Total time at Tesla was about 45 minutes, and that's with a trade. It was a positive experience. I adjusted to the center display in a matter of minutes after delivery. Panel gaps are consistent to my eye. The only issue I had at delivery was a slight discoloration to the passenger A-pillar trim piece inside, which Tesla will replace whenever I bring the car in next. It's really only visible in the right light, so I have not made this a priority.
The car is a blast to drive. It may not have the internal-organ-compressing acceleration of the S/X P models, but what it has is sufficient to put a smile on my face whenever I press the go pedal with more than a light touch. Highway passing--especially on undivided 2-lane roads--is so much less stressful than in an ICE vehicle due to the immediate punch the car delivers. It's planted to the ground and corners very well.
Complaints
The phone key reliability needs work, as has been discussed in countless other threads. That's really my only significant complaint to this point. It works well for me and my wife (Pixel 2 & Pixel) 95% of the time, but when it fails, it's a PITA and can be embarrassing. If I had to pick another thing to complain about, it's that I've had to restart the user interface a few times due to the LTE connection not resuming after leaving an area with no service. But that's a minor thing, and I'll take that in trade for the frequent OTA improvements I've received.
Thoughts after 7,000 miles in 2.5 months
This car is fantastic. I took it to West Texas (a large charging desert) on a 1,400 mile trip over 4 days. Supercharging got me there with virtually no stops beyond what I'd have done in a gas car--stopped once and ate breakfast, and a 2nd time for lunch. The car was ready to continue when I was both times. I stayed at a hotel with a J1772 charger. Was able to get my work done, which included multiple 50-mile each way trips while on-site, and return home with no issues.
This past week my family and I took the car on a 2,400-mile road trip from Denver up through Wyoming to the Rapid City, SD area. From there we visited the Badlands/Minuteman Missile/Rushmore/Jewel Cave/Wind Cave/Wall Drug/National Grasslands Visitor Center, Teddy Roosevelt NP in North Dakota (a true charging desert, as @lightfoot3b will attest), Devil's Tower and Fort Laramie in Wyoming, and Scotts Bluff in Nebraska.
With one exception--the North Dakota stop where we stayed at a hotel and I charged the car at an RV site 3/4 mile away--charging was simply a non-issue. We stopped to charge at Superchargers as directed by the in-car nav, and had bio breaks while it charged. With small kids, the car was ready to move on before we were every time. The Superchargers were pretty conveniently located--we did not have to veer off our intended course by more than a mile, and in all but one case there were restaurants within a minute's walk.
Things learned
-The things that seem difficult to do via the touch screen--raising/lowering temp or volume--actually aren't, because you don't need to touch them exactly in the up/down hitbox. You can just swipe up or down across the temp or volume control.
-Add a little buffer to the nav's estimation of when you can end a Supercharge session and continue on your trip. It's never failed to get me there, but leaving immediately did result in a stressful leg from Trinidad, CO to Amarillo, TX once. Stick around another 3-5 minutes and you'll have enough buffer to just skate on through stress-free.
Bottom line
I think I've pushed the car pretty hard to this point. It was already apparent that for 'normal' daily use, the Model 3 is great. I now know that even for pretty significant road-tripping into less well-covered areas, it's sufficient, too. I love the size of the car (the Model S just feels too big to me), the handling, the software--the whole package. It's the best car that I've ever owned by a wide margin, and I do not plan to give it up anytime soon. Supercharging is a key advantage vs other electrics. Quite simply, the two road trips that I took this month would not have been possible in any electric vehicle but a Tesla.
Some photos of my experience thus far follow.
At Teddy Roosevelt National Park:
In random scenic Colorado locales:
The roof glass coating is magical when wet:
Supercharging:
Lusk, WY
Rapid City, SD
Wall, SD campground while tooling around Wall Drug (not strictly necessary, but I wanted to play it safe as our next leg was through the Badlands and we'd already shot 100 miles of range since leaving Rapid City).
Spearfish, SD
Some context: I've closely followed Tesla since late 2012. I was a line-waiter reservation-holder, and previously owned a 30 kWh Nissan Leaf.
Delivery/Initial thoughts
I picked up on 5/10. Arrived to the delivery center and met my advisor, who took me back to the car and did a quick walk-around. He showed me the basics of the UI, then left me to play around / inspect the car more closely while he grabbed my paperwork and confirmed the trade-in that I had brought.
When he returned, I signed the few remaining documents and we went over the car for a few more minutes, and then I was out. Total time at Tesla was about 45 minutes, and that's with a trade. It was a positive experience. I adjusted to the center display in a matter of minutes after delivery. Panel gaps are consistent to my eye. The only issue I had at delivery was a slight discoloration to the passenger A-pillar trim piece inside, which Tesla will replace whenever I bring the car in next. It's really only visible in the right light, so I have not made this a priority.
The car is a blast to drive. It may not have the internal-organ-compressing acceleration of the S/X P models, but what it has is sufficient to put a smile on my face whenever I press the go pedal with more than a light touch. Highway passing--especially on undivided 2-lane roads--is so much less stressful than in an ICE vehicle due to the immediate punch the car delivers. It's planted to the ground and corners very well.
Complaints
The phone key reliability needs work, as has been discussed in countless other threads. That's really my only significant complaint to this point. It works well for me and my wife (Pixel 2 & Pixel) 95% of the time, but when it fails, it's a PITA and can be embarrassing. If I had to pick another thing to complain about, it's that I've had to restart the user interface a few times due to the LTE connection not resuming after leaving an area with no service. But that's a minor thing, and I'll take that in trade for the frequent OTA improvements I've received.
Thoughts after 7,000 miles in 2.5 months
This car is fantastic. I took it to West Texas (a large charging desert) on a 1,400 mile trip over 4 days. Supercharging got me there with virtually no stops beyond what I'd have done in a gas car--stopped once and ate breakfast, and a 2nd time for lunch. The car was ready to continue when I was both times. I stayed at a hotel with a J1772 charger. Was able to get my work done, which included multiple 50-mile each way trips while on-site, and return home with no issues.
This past week my family and I took the car on a 2,400-mile road trip from Denver up through Wyoming to the Rapid City, SD area. From there we visited the Badlands/Minuteman Missile/Rushmore/Jewel Cave/Wind Cave/Wall Drug/National Grasslands Visitor Center, Teddy Roosevelt NP in North Dakota (a true charging desert, as @lightfoot3b will attest), Devil's Tower and Fort Laramie in Wyoming, and Scotts Bluff in Nebraska.
With one exception--the North Dakota stop where we stayed at a hotel and I charged the car at an RV site 3/4 mile away--charging was simply a non-issue. We stopped to charge at Superchargers as directed by the in-car nav, and had bio breaks while it charged. With small kids, the car was ready to move on before we were every time. The Superchargers were pretty conveniently located--we did not have to veer off our intended course by more than a mile, and in all but one case there were restaurants within a minute's walk.
Things learned
-The things that seem difficult to do via the touch screen--raising/lowering temp or volume--actually aren't, because you don't need to touch them exactly in the up/down hitbox. You can just swipe up or down across the temp or volume control.
-Add a little buffer to the nav's estimation of when you can end a Supercharge session and continue on your trip. It's never failed to get me there, but leaving immediately did result in a stressful leg from Trinidad, CO to Amarillo, TX once. Stick around another 3-5 minutes and you'll have enough buffer to just skate on through stress-free.
Bottom line
I think I've pushed the car pretty hard to this point. It was already apparent that for 'normal' daily use, the Model 3 is great. I now know that even for pretty significant road-tripping into less well-covered areas, it's sufficient, too. I love the size of the car (the Model S just feels too big to me), the handling, the software--the whole package. It's the best car that I've ever owned by a wide margin, and I do not plan to give it up anytime soon. Supercharging is a key advantage vs other electrics. Quite simply, the two road trips that I took this month would not have been possible in any electric vehicle but a Tesla.
Some photos of my experience thus far follow.
At Teddy Roosevelt National Park:
In random scenic Colorado locales:
The roof glass coating is magical when wet:
Supercharging:
Lusk, WY
Rapid City, SD
Wall, SD campground while tooling around Wall Drug (not strictly necessary, but I wanted to play it safe as our next leg was through the Badlands and we'd already shot 100 miles of range since leaving Rapid City).
Spearfish, SD
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