Yesterday I took the little lady to pick up her car at CarMax and I spent over two hours with two different Teslas. This is by far the most exposure I've had to a Tesla and with absolutely no one around I could really play with every feature. One was white with a white interior and was a 2021 standard range. The other, where I spent most of my time, was the 2021 M3LR gray with a black interior. I chose not to drive either and simply played with the features based on what I've learned from thousands of videos I've watched.
My first thought is the car is everything I had hoped for in terms of technology. It's just amazing how many different things you can do and it's so exciting to know each day we may see even more options. For an 80s kid, it was hilarious to me to sit in the car and play Missle Command, Super Breakout, Asteroids, etc. The audio system was really impressive, the seats were comfortable, the screen large and bright, build quality was solid and overall it seems Telsa has thought of nearly everything.
A few things I thought I would point out to those of you like me that haven't had a lot of access to Teslas and are buying based on years of reading and watching videos. Many of you will know much of this but perhaps not. BTW, I don't mean to be critical here because some of this is just my personal taste.
1. If you're getting a white interior I hope you have actually seen one with white. Not that there is anything wrong with it but wow it's bright and in this case, you could see how easily it gets dirty. I can certainly see why people love it and why others wouldn't want to go that route.
2. The screen is big and beautiful but I wouldn't expect it to react as quickly as a high-end mobile phone. Some of that could be due to the cars having the older chip. Also, the cars were in an area where the building may have been causing the mobile connection to be slower than usual. In certain situations, that was likely causing a delay with features like navigation.
3. People often comment on the frunk being small and it is but it's basically a bonus spot and a fantastic addition IMO.
4. Similar to the frunk thoughts, the trunk isn't huge when you first open it but then you have the large area under it as well. Overall you're dealing with a nice amount of storage. The trunk auto opens and closes but the frunk only unlocks and must be opened and closed manually.
5. I've always been confused about why people rarely talk about the voice commands when it comes to operating these cars. Few videos show the option being used so for me it's one of the first things I took a close look at. Why would I want to go through several steps to open the glove box (compartment to me) when I can simply push the steering wheel button and say "open glove box"? I found that so much easier when using features like the glove box or trunk. Adding a button on the touchscreen allowing you to give voice commands would be a nice addition.
6. The cars had no wifi connection at the time and I found it odd that most of the games were not available because they needed to be updated. It may be a better idea to allow people to play them and update when they do have access. Maybe I missed that ability.
7. I've heard people say they expected more when they first climbed inside a Telsa. For $50k+ you may be expecting the feeling of entering a car from the future or absolute luxury. That's not the case, in some ways it's a simple interior. But keep in mind so many features are purposely hidden or well placed to the point that you may not notice them immediately. The technology alone is mind-blowing, and the EV experience and safety leave me thrilled with my purchase. You're more than getting your money's worth.
Again, just some random thoughts and opinions after an afternoon with the Model 3.
I'll leave you with one pro tip. Do not get into the back seat thinking you'll get a feel for the space and then close the door behind you. You may then find that the child lock has been enabled. Good luck getting out.
