Be sure to check out the Periscope of "First ride #Model 3"

[Ulmo]

Be sure to check out the Periscope of "First ride #Model3" from @TeslaMotors:

Tesla Motors @TeslaMotors

Here are some quotes:

Ton of airflow engineering.

TouchScreen is landscape.

Longer range battery pack specs are not yet released.

Will have both rear wheel drive and dual motor cars.

Rear seat has "a ton of room" with glass instead of header creates a ton of room according to driver.

UV protection: learned a ton from the Model X for UV protection. Layered glass -- individual layers to reflect UV, absorb UV, etc.

Production car spec very close, but a lot of work to be done in time left, such as:

Real Production Development Process, like Crash Safety, production tooling

Almost none of Model S parts are reused for the Model 3. Used everything they learned from Model S and designed from ground up.

More steel chassis, also has aluminum. Will get a lot more statistics closer to production.

Super nimble low center of gravity like other Teslas.

Expect the air suspension to be optional.

 

[PaulJB]

Nice work!

 

[Kurt Foster]

People are sometimes so picky... ITS A PROTOTYPE FOR CHRISTS SAKE!! Lol, sorry about that.

 

[Ulmo]

I had the same thought, but the driver seemed to have the in-the-moment feeling that it is very close to what will eventually be sold. We know things can change more than we expect them to change, but I find his comments suggestive that that might actually be a better baked car at this first Model 3 reveal than the X was at its first reveal. We'll find out!

 

[PaulJB]

Do we know anything about how the door handles work? I imagine those doing the test drives will atleast know how the prototypes work. I imagine its like the X, but I'm curious to know for sure.

 

[MileHighMotoring]

The guy recording the video interrupted the Tesla driver repeatedly.

 

[Qualchan]

The Rep alluded to the car being driven as a longer range battery, as Ulmo noted in the transcription, but he wasn't going to elaborate on how large it was. The car was also dual drive, I believe.

I'm surprised that Elon didn't get into one of the revealed cars and pointing out some of the interior/exterior features. Oh: "ITS A PROTOTYPE FOR CHRISTS SAKE!!"

 

[favo]

The rep also mentioned touch screen is 15".

 

[Seattle Tom]

Most important, and a big negative in my mind, I thought I heard the Tesla rep day there is no instrument cluster. It's just the 15 inch center touchscreen. Did I hear that right?

 

[MileHighMotoring]

Most important, and a big negative in my mind, I thought I heard the Tesla rep day there is no instrument cluster. It's just the 15 inch center touchscreen. Did I hear that right?

This is way pre-production. Especially the interior I'd expect some changes. They may well stick with a center screen only, but I doubt it. The Mini Cooper had a center-mounted speedometer but it's HUGE. For Tesla to do something similar would take up the whole screen and defeat the purpose.

 

[Model ☰]

Most important, and a big negative in my mind, I thought I heard the Tesla rep day there is no instrument cluster. It's just the 15 inch center touchscreen. Did I hear that right?

He did say that in the Periscope drive video.

He said 15" inch instead of 17". Horizontal.

Even pointed out that the speed would be on the corner right inside your peripheral vision.

 

[Ulmo]

For another similar video, there is a YouTube I saw in another thread:

 

[apacheguy]

So the only speedo output is that tiny little widget on the 15"?

 

[ImEric]

He did say that in the Periscope drive video.

He said 15" inch instead of 17". Horizontal.

Even pointed out that the speed would be on the corner right inside your peripheral vision.

I really don't like that AT ALL! I got two reservations today, and if that's how it's going to be, with nothing in front of the steering wheel, I might have to wait until I can test drive before I make a final decision. I was ready to purchase except for that. If not for that, You could've told me that the car occasionally smells like cow manure at freeway speeds, and I'd be like "Oh, well I'll get an air freshener..."

 

[Nixx]

I really don't like that AT ALL! I got two reservations today, and if that's how it's going to be, with nothing in front of the steering wheel, I might have to wait until I can test drive before I make a final decision. I was ready to purchase except for that. If not for that, You could've told me that the car occasionally smells like cow manure at freeway speeds, and I'd be like "Oh, well I'll get an air freshener..."

I couldn't agree more. I hope they:

A) put another screen in for the speedo
B) integrate that 15 inch into the dash instead of having it hang like a picture. My kids will try to take it to the backseat as it is....

 

[Ulmo]

Another thread here with the same test ride, and less cutouts:

Another test ride - Motor Trend

I was wrong about airflow; they were talking about interior air flow. This Facebook vid shows a different angle and much more additional information over the Periscope vid I referenced, and is worth watching.

One of the best parts I got was at the very end when they opened the door, and it went from relatively quiet inside to suddenly very noisy. I hope the production level vehicle has that quality level.

 

[Ulmo]

So the only speedo output is that tiny little widget on the 15"?

Yes, that's what they said. I like that. I have almost gotten in a lot of accidents looking deep down in to the dark dash board to find out my speed, especially if I have to turn the steering wheel to see it. If it's just right there in front of me with less eye movement and in my peripheral vision and no hands or steering wheels in the way, I'd be able to see it readily.

I still don't know why Heads Up Display isn't more common.

 

[JRP3]

I also dislike the idea that there will be no dash display. Won't stop me from buying, but I've always hated vehicles with only a center mounted console/display. Heads Up would be ideal, but they didn't mention that.