A day with the Model 3; got 227 wh/mi

[F_T_K]

I wonder if the 'tilt' steering wheels went away as airbags were added.

 

[oliman06]

Screen works very well, even at night - I was initially concerned about glare from the large screen during the day but did not find that to be an issue despite it being a fairly sunny day. At night, I was also not distracted from the screen in Night mode with auto brightness turned on (it was at 22% brightness). I do wish that some of the controls were more well located (e.g. the volume control for the navigation) so I'm hoping that will be improved in future software.

I love the screen on the Model3 - something I thought I'd have an issue with, but it turned out to be just fine. However on a recent hot day (here in Los Angeles) my screen froze - can't access any icons nor swipe... the bottom part of the screen where the fixed "apps" are felt a bit hot to the touch - the nav and speedometer and all vehicle functions were fine, it's just the screen was inaccessible - I pulled over to a parking lot to figure out how to reset the screen and was able to reset it by holding down the 2 scroll wheels for 10 seconds. That did the trick... however this morning when I got in the car (after a cooler night) the screen had vertical lines all across like and I had to do another reset of the screen. On these 2 occasions though, none of the car's features were impeded. I was still able to perform driving functions - it'll just be an issue if you needed to adjust your A/C and this happens or you need to have your wipers on. That can be a major problem. Anyone had this issue on their Model 3's?

 

[Daniel in SD]

Older domestic cars had a mechanism where the steering column had a pivot roughly where the column passes under the instrument cluster. You could pull a lever and the steering wheel would arc through its range, defaulting to a fully-raised position through a spring load that dramatically changed the angle of the face of the steering wheel. The actual column could not be raised or lowered and was fixed in place

I’ve known people who love this feature on older GM products as they would pull the lever just before exiting the car and the steering wheel would pivot upward with the angle facing away from them. This eased ingress and egress, parcularly if they were uh, corpulent.

I haven’t seen a car equipped with this kind of steering column in a long time though, with one of the last holdouts I’ve experienced being a C6 Corvette.

View attachment 294879

Interesting. Modern cars have the pivot much closer to the firewall so there is less tilt.
My Lexus has a feature where the steering wheel goes up and in when you turn it off. I disabled it but I imagine it would be useful if you were obese enough.

 

[SoCalGuy]

Just took an Uber in a 2017 VW Passat - im sorry to report the back seats are noticeably more comfortable than the M3. Either the floor was 2-3 inches lower or the seats 2-3 inches higher. Either way, my legs were fully supported. I wonder if someone will make a custom angled seat cushion for the M3 rear seats so that you have support... or if Tesla will revise the seats once they're out of production hell...

 

[Daniel in SD]

Just took an Uber in a 2017 VW Passat - im sorry to report the back seats are noticeably more comfortable than the M3. Either the floor was 2-3 inches lower or the seats 2-3 inches higher. Either way, my legs were fully supported. I wonder if someone will make a custom angled seat cushion for the M3 rear seats so that you have support... or if Tesla will revise the seats once they're out of production hell...

The floor is 2-3 inches lower because there is no battery in the footwell. Using a booster seat would probably help but not if you're tall. At least I don't hit my head like I do in the Model S. Maybe for the SR version they can use the unused battery space to put in a footwell. Obviously that's not going to happen but I bet the Model Y with its higher roofline will have much more comfortable rear seats.

 

[SoCalGuy]

The floor is 2-3 inches lower because there is no battery in the footwell. Using a booster seat would probably help but not if you're tall. At least I don't hit my head like I do in the Model S. Maybe for the SR version they can use the unused battery space to put in a footwell. Obviously that's not going to happen but I bet the Model Y with its higher roofline will have much more comfortable rear seats.

I was thinking they could make an angled cushion so your butt is basically where it is now but the cushions angle up towards the front to give your legs more support. Not as great as a flat seat but probably better than the current seats.

 

[TT97]

The floor is 2-3 inches lower because there is no battery in the footwell. Using a booster seat would probably help but not if you're tall. At least I don't hit my head like I do in the Model S. Maybe for the SR version they can use the unused battery space to put in a footwell. Obviously that's not going to happen but I bet the Model Y with its higher roofline will have much more comfortable rear seats.

If Tesla is focused on cost savings, the seats on the Y will be the exact same seats as the 3 (the roof line will not slant by the seats giving a little more headroom). I am picturing the difference between the 3 vs Y will be similar as to what Mercedes did with the C-Class vs the GLC. The GLC is a little higher off the ground than the C (and naturally has the open trunk) but are otherwise identical in the inside.

 

[TT97]

Interesting. Modern cars have the pivot much closer to the firewall so there is less tilt.
My Lexus has a feature where the steering wheel goes up and in when you turn it off. I disabled it but I imagine it would be useful if you were obese enough.

Isn't this like Easy Entry on the Tesla? I am waiting for mine, but my current car has the feature so when you are ready to leave, the steering wheel moves up and the seat moves back (although in my car, I only set it for the steering wheel to move).

 

[Daniel in SD]

I was thinking they could make an angled cushion so your butt is basically where it is now but the cushions angle up towards the front to give your legs more support. Not as great as a flat seat but probably better than the current seats.

That would probably help but it would probably be a problem for child car seats. The solution is to make a Model 3 wagon! I know they don't sell well in the US but they're still popular in Europe.

 

[dhrivnak]

I love the screen on the Model3 - something I thought I'd have an issue with, but it turned out to be just fine. However on a recent hot day (here in Los Angeles) my screen froze - can't access any icons nor swipe... the bottom part of the screen where the fixed "apps" are felt a bit hot to the touch - the nav and speedometer and all vehicle functions were fine, it's just the screen was inaccessible - I pulled over to a parking lot to figure out how to reset the screen and was able to reset it by holding down the 2 scroll wheels for 10 seconds. That did the trick... however this morning when I got in the car (after a cooler night) the screen had vertical lines all across like and I had to do another reset of the screen. On these 2 occasions though, none of the car's features were impeded. I was still able to perform driving functions - it'll just be an issue if you needed to adjust your A/C and this happens or you need to have your wipers on. That can be a major problem. Anyone had this issue on their Model 3's?

I too had a screen freeze and did a reboot while driving. While a bit unnerving I doubt it was out for more than a minute. So no you are not the only one but for me has happened so infrequently I have not even reported it as a problem.

 

[sperkin]

Thanks for your review!!

The anti won’t like your review though. As a positive note though you gave the anti folks a couple new reasons to be even more anti model 3:
- the steering wheel doesn’t tilt
- the headrest are not adjustable

They will add that to their existing list which include very high priority items such as missing AM radio.

He says his biggest gripe is the back seat. I have never set in the back seat of my car since 1991.

 

[SoCalGuy]

He says his biggest gripe is the back seat. I have never set in the back seat of my car since 1991.

Haha yes for some people that isn't an issue. For those of us that have family and friends taller than 4 feet riding with us for longer than a quick trip to the market, it becomes a pretty big issue...