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Considering 2021 Model 3 - Trade-offs to current cars on my mind

Discussion in 'Model 3' started by frontrangeM3, Mar 5, 2021 at 4:15 PM.

  1. frontrangeM3

    frontrangeM3 Member

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    Location:
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    First new post here. Empty nesters, Denver Area. Have 2007 Z4 roadster (toy car), 2015 Q5 TDI (sporty camper tug) and 2019 Leaf SL+ (urban corridor runabout). Considering combining the Z4 and the Leaf+ into a Model 3 LR AWD. Have test driven before, briefly at least, have some understanding of the EV scene, but not of the Tesla twists to car ownership and travel. Been reading up here and chatting with the couple of owners I know.

    The Leaf+ offers about 240 miles of real world range in town in the summer time, and roughly 200 in winter running snow tires in Denver, unless it's really cold. I don't drive it like a baby carriage either. We routinely see about 4.3 mi/kwh in summer and 3.5-3.9 in winter. Ours has every option available, including 2-tone leather, a decent sound system, LED lights all around, more than enough power for day-to-day, and a heat pump to help in winter (no fancy octovalve, but it does work to heat the cabin with minimal range impact, sometimes simpler isn't all bad...). Interior is an updated version of what we've always known. Apple Car Play and Andriod Auto standard. DCFC is Chademo of course. I've never used it. We charge at home 100% of the time (so far) using a 14-50 240v line on a dedicated 50 amp GFCI circuit.

    NIssan's standard "Pro-Pilot" is comparable to Tesla's basic autopilot from what I gather, but does offer rear cross-traffic alert. It works well enough as long as the cameras are clean. I rarely use it, since we're not on the highway that often with this car. I've taken it as far as Ft Collins north of us to visit family, 135 miles round trip in summer, got home with 100 miles of range showing. For bopping around town, it's a great little FWD car. Not fancy, but it drives nice, handles nice, and is dead quiet. Under-appreciated overall, I think.

    I expect the Leaf to depreciate pretty steeply in the next 12 months. So far it's holding value quite well after incentives. We all but stole it back in 2019. 40% off! But the lack of TMS on the battery and the newer cars coming out will not help its resale. It just isn't desirable enough on the market to hold its own.

    The Z is a hoot to drive. 6 speed stick, short throw shifter to die for, silky smooth in-line 6, light-weight, goes exactly where you point it in the instant you do so. Loud on the highway. Not an over-the-road car in traffic. Mountain road, afternoon trip for lunch car seems to be the sweet spot. So it's a little limited. Once we sell it, there's no looking back though. We'll never again own anything quite like it. Still has low miles, so it's got a little value, but once we put another 5-10 thousand on it, that will evaporate.

    Since I'm not patient with "twitchy" cars that can disappoint in a big way in a pinch, I'm a little gun-shy on the model 3. Not sure it's a good fit. Folks who've had a great experience sing its praises, others sing a decidedly different tune. Tesla has it's own way of doing things, and it's their way or the highway. I do appreciate fine engineering, and being in IT I for the last 20-some years, I have some understanding for how hard things are to get right.

    Tomorrow I'm going for yet another test drive. We have a newer service center near us, so that helps, and the 2021 refresh has addressed some of our concerns from past test drives (heat pump, and wind noise, mostly). The interior takes some getting used to, but at least the UI is better now.

    I'm on a Tesla board here, talking with enthusiasts. Given all that above, what should I be thinking about on this test drive? What kind of pros and cons have you run into in your transition from pre-Tesla to Tesla ownership?
     
  2. dmurphy

    dmurphy Woof.

    Joined:
    Dec 7, 2018
    Messages:
    3,319
    Location:
    New Jersey - Morris County
    Pros: driving is fun again.
    Pros: lots of room for a small car
    Pros: all the EV benefits
    Pros: Supercharger network makes cross country tripping simple
    Pros: heating in the winter is sublime. Heats fast, heats everything, really spectacular
    pros: Never stopping at a gas station again.
    pros: constant software updates keeps the car “fresh”

    cons: my Cadillac had a “plusher” interior
    Have to stream XM radio - no built in tuner
    Cons: they tend to multiply in your driveway.

    I’ll be honest. I’m coming up on 2 years with my Model 3 and with EVERY car I’ve ever owned, I’ve already started thinking about “what comes next” by now. This thing? No way. I’m driving it till the wheels come off and then some. Like I said though, they do multiply. Once you have a Model 3, that Q5 better watch its back. You’ll be daydreaming about replacing it with an X.
     
  3. MXLRplus

    MXLRplus Active Member

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    Eastvale, CA
    At 5000'+ DA, the EVs are on their home turf. An EV accelerates the same regardless of altitude (ignore comments about air resistance).
    Even the slowest Tesla sold is WAY quicker than the standard Z4 or the Leaf. Now the Turbo 6 Z4 is quicker on paper than the base Model 3, except in the real world of passing power on mountain roads.

    Today's Z4 is 3,500lb. The base Model 3 is 3650lb. So weight is not as cut and dried as you might assume. The EVs carry their weight much lower to the ground.

    The Leaf is perhaps the most practical. I had a hard time with the Pro-Pilot Autosteering, but that was my fault most likely. The lackluster performance, the CHAdeMO nonsense, the styling keep me away from the Leaf.
     
  4. jjrandorin

    jjrandorin Moderator, Model 3, Tesla Energy Forums

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    Location:
    Riverside Co. CA

    Since you are thinking about the model 3 replacing both your in town car and your "fun" car, I would pay attention to the steering on the model 3. It doesnt bother me, but some complain its a bit "light". The model 3 is like driving a big go cart at someplace like k1 speed (local place that has indoor electric go cart tracks).

    Also, your real world range is likely going to be similar to what you describe you are getting out of the leaf.
     
    • Like x 1
  5. frontrangeM3

    frontrangeM3 Member

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    Our Z is more like 3100# empty. I consider that light.
     
  6. frontrangeM3

    frontrangeM3 Member

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    Wow. similar? When rated over 100 miles farther EPA? Dang. That would be a disappointment. Can you elaborate?
     
  7. frontrangeM3

    frontrangeM3 Member

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    LOL. I'm not sold on towing with any EV just yet. The Q has the equivalent of ~300 kwh battery on board, net net after efficiency adjustments, and "recharges" in small minutes. I can hook up and drive through the mountains over multiple high-altitude passes from home to Carbondale in 5 hours, never stop, and have plenty of diesel left for tooling around, picking up groceries and what not. The practical benefits of arriving and setting up in daylight are not to be underestimated.

    And yes, I've topped Vail pass (north of 10k feet altitude) going 70 mph just to see if I could. I wasn't even all the way into it.

    Our little camper is 7' feet wide and nearly 10' tall. That's a big box behind you. Color me skeptical on the towing thing for now. You certainly needed worry about the aero effects of your side mirrors... We like our Q.
     
  8. dmurphy

    dmurphy Woof.

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    There are some folks in the Model X forum here at TMC that can tell you everything you want to know about towing with the X. It's definitely capable - just a matter of range. Real world, with the size camper we have coming in 2 weeks (Surveyor 19BHLE) will be about 150 miles between stops. Then about 1/2 hour to charge and keep going. Given that I don't plan on going more than 60mph, that's a stop every 2 1/2 hours or so. I'm totally fine with that. But that's me - I'm not in a rush, I don't travel outside that radius too often with the camper, and I enjoy the journey as much as the destination. Totally understand that's not for everyone!

    (And that's no knock on the Q, by the way. We had a Buick Enclave before the X, and there's a few things about it that I miss, too. I know, "it's a Buick" but really -- well done vehicle.)
     
  9. MXLRplus

    MXLRplus Active Member

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    That's more than a V8 2002 Corvette Z06. It's 3080lb on a half tank as sold, before the rollbar.
     
  10. stopcrazypp

    stopcrazypp Well-Known Member

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    I'm guessing talking mostly about highway driving, but given you are driving mostly in town, I doubt it'll necessarily apply to you. Depends on what wheels/tires you are getting and your driving style, but it's not hard to find people getting 230-260 Wh/mi from their LR AWDs in mixed driving. With roughly 75kWh usable works out to be around 300 miles of range (288-326 miles). You may do better if you almost always exclusively drive in town. I'm sure if you have compared our consumption of the Leaf for highway (especially higher speed) travel vs in town travel, you won't be a stranger to this difference.
    Overall Wh/mi
    Real world ranges
     
  11. theothertom

    theothertom Member

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    I made fun of a friend who owned a 325i. He asked me if I had ever driven one. I said no. He said then don't or you'll be buying one. About a year later I test drove one and he was right.
    I got that same feeling when I drove a model 3. What to do on a test drive? Punch it. Then you'll know.
    Real world mileage ? Yesterday we drove 100 miles at 70-75 mph and got 4.2 miles per kWh (236 Wh/mile as Tesla measures it). Outside temp around 70F. That translates into 315 miles of range if we drove it down to zero. EPA range for my car is 322 but Tesla upped it to 352 for 2021 (larger battery).
     
  12. XPsionic

    XPsionic Member

    Joined:
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    Location:
    los angeles
    Your choice is yours, I've got a Boxster S manual and I'd never sell it for a Model 3. Totally different experience. I love my Model 3 for day to day around town or trips that doesn't involve more than 1 supercharger stop, but on a good day, going out to the mountains, driving for fun? Model 3 just doesn't provide the same sort of experience. It's fun certainly, but very different. But if you're not the type who loves the top down vroom vroom experience that much, then the Model 3 would definitely count as a fun car, great acceleration, great handling, just quite inert and almost completely silent and not very involving.

    Replacing the leaf tho? Now that's an easy call. Model 3's so much better than any FWD EVs to drive.
     

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