"Even if you buy no options at all, this will still be an amazing car!"

[JeffK]

For example: This is a BMW E46 series 3 back seat. OMG.

To be honest - I could care less about a spaceship feel if I could have a Tesla M3 with an interior like this.

To everyone: I'm still buying an M3 even if it doesn't look like this.

View attachment 200225

That's a $191k Mercedes S-Class Maybach (S600) bro haha

 

[Garlan Garner]

That's a $300k Mercedes bro haha!

My comment still stands.

 

[Garlan Garner]

Where did you come up with that being a BMW 3-series? Not even close. Did you mean 7-series?

Second thought, I don't even think that's a BMW. Looks like a Bentley or some other opulent absurd costing car.

I meant 7 series.

I love it.

 

[Garlan Garner]

Regardless of where it is from, its a gaudy, horribly ugly, waste of space. I don't need a center console for my passengers to store junk. I don't even need one for me to store junk. The future is sleek and minimalists. That's so year 2k! Actually, it's Liberace-esq.

Please Tesla don't ever go that route!

I love it.

 

[JeffK]

My comment still stands.

I love it.

You can view more pics here
Mercedes-Maybach Sedan | Mercedes-Benz
but yeah... that's nice!

 

[Garlan Garner]

I don't mind minimal either.

Anything other than plastic

 

[Garlan Garner]

You can view more pics here
Mercedes-Maybach Sedan | Mercedes-Benz
but yeah... that's nice!

Yes...yes... fantastic

 

[Eclectic]

Range isn't a matter of efficiency. It's a measure of how big your gas tank is. There are car ads that promote how far the car will go, but don't mention once the mpg. The range is gotten through a bigger gas tank, not how efficient the vehicle is.

All the vehicles on Garlan Gamer's list have pretty bad mpg. Of gasoline. Gasoline, which produces carbon emissions. That's why we emphasize that. If we wanted just a luxury car cheap, we'd go for one of those. But some of us care about the environment.

The "filling the tank" metric is a bit of a misnomer, since over 90% of the time people will go to their cars with a "full tank" of electrons. Time to refuel was the seconds it took to plug it in at night, and the seconds it took to unplug it in the morning. For road trips, if you time the recharging stops with the breaks you'd take anyway for food and bathroom, there will be little disruption to your trip.

You missed my point. Arguing that the Model 3 is the greatest automotive bargain ever produced by using the red herring of 100 mpg as a criteria (as was done earlier in this thread) is nonsensical. You have to look at the entire package to conclude that something is the greatest automotive bargain ever, and that means not just efficiency but all the other important elements of owning and using the vehicle.

To many people, range and "refuel" time is more important than efficiency, especially when you're talking about a mass market car. My experience over several years and well over 50,000 miles driving Teslas is that the range and refueling issues are major concerns.

I've used my Tesla on long road trips from the Bay Area to Montana and I assure you, there is more than just a little disruption on the trip from having to recharge. For example, my F150 has a 36 gallon fuel tank and gets 20 mpg freeway. I can refill the tank in about 10 minutes. The Tesla, on the other hand, has a real world range of about 180 miles when going from the Bay Area to Montana. I otherwise wouldn't take breaks every 180 miles unless I am forced to, and that is what happens with my P85D. With my truck, I'll drive about 5-6 hours at a stretch before stopping for either fuel, a bathroom break of food/drink. There is a very significant time penalty to driving a P85D on a road trip.

Now, take into consideration the fact that with a Model 3, you're going to have less real world range than I get in my P85D. I couldn't imagine having to stop every 150 miles for 30-60 minutes on a 1,000 mile trip. This is not an unusual road trip either, as it is the SF to Yellowstone route, which is a pretty popular vacation route. 100 mpg is nice, but for the typical mass market auto buyer range and time to refuel is at least as important.

And with the Model 3, the range is going to be a more pressing issue for routine driving. Yes, you start out the day with a "full tank", but if you are running around all day that full tank is going to need to be refilled at least once. Add in the fact that superchargers are likely not going to be plentiful enough to handle the massively increased fleet of cars using them and you have some pretty serious issues about range and time to refuel.

All of which is not to knock the Model 3, but the assumptions going into claims that it will be the greatest automotive bargain of all time are quite flimsy. My point is that focusing on the "100 mpg" criteria as one of the main metrics for judging whether this is one of the best cars ever made, while ignoring metrics like range or recharging time, is inane.

 

[Canuck]

You can view more pics here
Mercedes-Maybach Sedan | Mercedes-Benz
but yeah... that's nice!

It's even worse looking through the pictures. Throw pillows? Are they serious? They make it even look more like a Liberace stage.

I love it.

Thankfully, Tesla does not and you'll never find a Tesla interior looking like that.... I hope!

 

[JeffK]

It's even worse looking through the pictures. Throw pillows? Are they serious? They make it even look more like a Liberace stage.

Thankfully, Tesla does not and you'll never find a Tesla interior looking like that.... I hope!

It's just the attention to detail that really shines... You might not find misaligned body panels and such.

I just hope Tesla starts to really focus on QA with the Model 3 and has much tighter tolerances.
If humans are the point of failure then figure out how to better check quality in an automated fashion. Laser measurements, etc.

 

[omgwtfbyobbq]

Why is that a requirement though? Not for being efficient with money. If it was purely a financial consideration, something simpler like a Prius would probably win.

At the moment, yes. If Tesla can hit their marks, the M3 would likely cost significantly less than a Prius to operate over a few hundred thousand miles.

 

[Chopr147]

I may be getting a low-optioned Model 3 because it will be a second Tesla. Any long trips will be in the S. Things could change by then. Maybe Lucid Motors will have their EV out and about then. So many OEM's have showed EV's to be out by 2018,2019,2020,2021 etc........... This landscape is going to change big time and the Model 3 may only have a year or 2 before it has competition. If Tesla can get it out by 2018 that is.

 

[Canuck]

It's just the attention to detail that really shines... You might not find misaligned body panels and such.

Agreed. Plus, I would like more cup holder, USB ports, inverter plug, grab handles, coat hooks, and an overall better quality of finish. There's no argument there.

 

[Chopr147]

grab handles, coat hooks

Who cares about grab handles ? My wife apparently. That is one of her complaints.
and coat hooks? It would be nice not to have to throw my suit jacket across the back seat.
I added a rear USB port. My daughter put her slurpee on the rear floor making me cringe and drive like a granny

 

[ohmman]

OK, gang. A host of messages moved to snippiness. Can everyone please talk about the topic and not the specific participants?

 

[BluestarE3]

It's even worse looking through the pictures. Throw pillows? Are they serious? They make it even look more like a Liberace stage.

Make mine with crushed velvet in bordello red, please!

 

[shrspeedblade]

View attachment 200232

I don't mind minimal either.

Anything other than plastic

That is a very, very sweet interior. I'm a sucker for wood though! Unfortunately I doubt I'd be willing to pony up the price of admission even if I could afford it.

It's unfortunate that my post several pages back inspired such bickering, that was not my intent, but only to express how impressed I am with the parameters of the Model 3 even as a base model. So much so that nothing else on the market holds much allure for me except a used Model S. If the Model 3 comes out and drives like a dog or gets restyled in a manner unpleasant to me (shallow, I know, but there's a reason I never even test drove a BMW i3) I'll probably change my mind.

Hell, if you don't care how a car drives or looks, go buy a new Prius! On a pure dollars and cents level it's an extremely good vehicle.

But by my personal criteria it's a cluster ****!

 

[SageBrush]

With my truck, I'll drive about 5-6 hours at a stretch before stopping for either fuel, a bathroom break of food/drink. There is a very significant time penalty to driving a P85D on a road trip.

Now, take into consideration the fact that with a Model 3, you're going to have less real world range than I get in my P85D. I couldn't imagine having to stop every 150 miles for 30-60 minutes on a 1,000 mile trip. This is not an unusual road trip either, as it is the SF to Yellowstone route, which is a pretty popular vacation route. 100 mpg is nice, but for the typical mass market auto buyer range and time to refuel is at least as important.

This is so different than my driving habits I decided to pipe up.

We stop every two hours for 10-15 minutes
The last time we took a trip over 250 miles was two years ago and it was the only 500+ mile drive in over a decade

So even if I am one edge of a spectrum and you are at the other, it leaves tens, if not hundreds of millions of drivers somewhere between us. Can we stop the generalizing now ?

 

[SageBrush]

Hell, if you don't care how a car drives or looks, go buy a new Prius! On a pure dollars and cents level it's an extremely good vehicle.

I care about both, and think it likely we'll end up with a Prius Prime and a Model 3.

 

[Topher]

I'm a sucker for wood though!

Me too. But I don't think there is more than a few ounces of wood in that car, and all of it is behind a thick layer of plastic. So it doesn't do it for me. Quilting? Loose throw pillows? I can't wear my top hat everyday.

Thank you kindly.