I've narrowed my car search to a Model 3 Performance or an Audi S4. I'll primarily be using the as a commuter in a mild climate, but the car absolutely must be able to handle occasional 200-300 mile business trips, occasional family road trips, and exposure to Chicago-level winters.
The S4 is a known quantity. It will be a terrific four season car and with ICE obviously does not have issues with longer trips. It can't touch the Model 3 for straight-line speed and is a step behind in handling. Total cost of ownership is a near-draw given the local cost of electricity.
There are a lot of things I love about the Model 3, but a few things that really worry me:
- Charging availability. Most of my longer trips would be along the 5 or 15 corridors in SoCal. I've seen several reports of long lines at California superchargers. I can't plan my business travel around the possibility of being stuck in a line waiting to charge.
- Cold weather battery performance. There's a good chance the car will see extensive duty in Midwest winters--i.e., -10 to 30 degrees for several months a year. I am reading reports of 30-50% range hits in cold weather. I'm not willing to do things like cycle cabin heating just to get reasonable range out of a $70k car.
- Cold weather design issues. Again, there seem to be a number of complaints about sticking handles, doors, and chargeports in cold weather. It seems like Tesla may have addressed the chargeport but I don't see how they could do anything about the windows or handles with an OTA update. Having door handles regularly stick closed in the wintertime would be a deal breaker for me.
Now I know the internet is an echo chamber and tends to blow issues way out of proportion. I'd love to hear from people who have similar use cases on whether the Model 3 works as well as a traditional car, or whether I'd be better off waiting for the next generation of EVs. Thanks!