NEW Model 3 Highland review!

[Eto Demerzel]

I'm glad I waited to see Highland details. I thought 5K off a new '23 M3P would motivated me to go with the outgoing model, but the changes are quite significant and the '24 looks gorgeous.

Your comment of pushing down the German brands on the totem pole is going to be wrong when they finally arrive. We already known that the Taycan is widely considered the superior premium EV 4-door sedan over the S and the EQS over the X. When the Boxster EV and Macan EV arrives in 2025 the 3/Y is going to face pressure like it's never known before and likely loose their crown, at least the Y. What will keep the 3/Y the best seller is price, we all know Merc & Porsche are going to put outrageous price tags on their cars.

I agree the changes are enough that I will wait. Any educated guesses on MSRP yet?

When Mercedes actually allows owners to open the hood, i'll take them seriously. Throwning a bunch of screens and led lights into a 3 yr lease vehicle... not impressed.
Tesla has no competitor to the Boxster and people buying Y's are not the same demo as Macan buyers.

And until Porsche, BMW and others hardwires NACS, as VAG is scrambling to do, they are all USB-A in a USB-C world.

 

[racerx2005]

Holy crap! Is that your bike?

sure is …

 

[byeLT4]

I test drove a new Model S last week to see if I could deal with the stalk-less steering column and drive mode slider thing on the main display.

I couldn't - everything about it is awful....

I bought one in April, in about 30 minutes I was used to it and haven't looked back. Different strokes for different folks

Now to convince the wife she needs the new 3

 

[asterothe]

So will these be available in October in the US?

 

[racerx2005]

I bought one in April, in about 30 minutes I was used to it and haven't looked back. Different strokes for different folks
Now to convince the wife she needs the new 3

No stalks is fine but the yoke is actually dangerous, i.e. I’ve switched my MYP with a friend’s MSP for a weekend and almost crashed his car on an emergency swerve to avoid a lunatic running a stop sign; it’s just not practical, sure works fine for leisure driving, not for emergencies, and I thought I was used to it after driving Saturday and most of Sunday. His wife loved the MYP and got one ;-)

 

[asterothe]

No stalks is fine but the yoke is actually dangerous, i.e. I’ve switched my MYP with a friend’s MSP for a weekend and almost crashed his car on an emergency swerve to avoid a lunatic running a stop sign; it’s just not practical, sure works fine for leisure driving, not for emergencies, and I thought I was used to it after driving Saturday and most of Sunday. His wife loved the MYP and got one ;-)

It's scary to read this. I ordered with yoke but I can see this happening you want to turn the car and there's not as much area to hold.

 

[AlanSubie4Life]

Hopefully they are adding more differences between LR and P.

whare is the Performance model? would love to see one with a lower stance and maybe a more agressive front end

Focusing on the looks seems like it misses more significant changes which are possible for Performance.

It seems like it's going to have to have a drivetrain similar to Plaid, to keep the HP curve flat. Biggest issue with current Model 3, and seems mostly solved with Plaid. Hopefully it won't vibrate.

If everything is done well the Model 3 Performance should be as fast as the Model S Plaid. Probably won't work out that way for marketing reasons, but it seems like it should be possible...though the smaller pack could limit power, it is a bit lighter vehicle so it might be a wash.

I think that Plaid-like drivetrain would be more efficient than the current Model 3 drivetrain though I'm not clear on how much more efficient (ignoring tire differences).

I guess we'll see but really that seems like the most exciting potential change for Model 3. Most of the stuff on this reveal so far is largely cosmetic or comfort. Yeah, slightly more aero, but if they stick with the smaller 75kWh pack they've been using recently, it won't be much better than a less efficient vehicle with the ~80kWh pack for road trips.

Seems likely the Performance will continue to get the Panasonic cells, for sure. Not as clear on the base model revealed so far (could still be the LG cells with smaller pack resulting in the 358-> 333 range reduction, but no one will know until EPA numbers are clear - Europe range figures could be for a different pack so could be different for US (often is the case), in addition to the WLTP/EPA difference).

No word on charging speed. It would be nice if they would support charge rates above 250kW but seems like it will not happen since no real pack change. Need to be able to take advantage of those V4 Superchargers!!!

 

[dronus]

I bought one in April, in about 30 minutes I was used to it and haven't looked back. Different strokes for different folks

Now to convince the wife she needs the new 3

Until just over 2 weeks ago I’d never driven a full EV let alone a m3 with auto regen braking and no dash. It only took about half of the test drive (15mins) to get used to it and I kinda liked it. So much so I ordered one that night.
It was similar to when I bought a trail years ago and the instrument cluster was in the middle of the dash. Automatic parking in my current car is also something new.
Can embrace or resist change, as you said different strokes for different folks haha.

I’m guessing accepting a change in how to use indicators won’t be too difficult either, especially as the same single example of “well how do I indicate out of a roundabout” is the only one coming up. Especially for the new generation who spent the first half of their lives with fresh technology.
Good luck convincing the missus to get the new one, for her of course haha

 

[Mikedfw]

Has this been confirmed? The MS/X have AC seats, why wouldn't the new M3?

Cost. Ventilated costs less than cooled.

 

[SO16]

Has this been confirmed? The MS/X have AC seats, why wouldn't the new M3?

Are you certain that the s/X have COOLED seats?

I tried them out and just felt ventilated to me. Even asked the Tesla mechanic and he said they were ventilated that just sucks air in. I have that on my 2017 MS and it is not as good as actually cooled seats.

 

[fasteddie7]

Are you certain that the s/X have COOLED seats?

I tried them out and just felt ventilated to me. Even asked the Tesla mechanic and he said they were ventilated that just sucks air in. I have that on my 2017 MS and it is not as good as actually cooled seats.

My 2023 model s feels like it’s blowing air.

 

[Chuck305]

Make no mistake a lot of Tesla owners own a Tesla because there was or still is no luxury/premium counterpart in the 3/Y segment. The upcoming 2nd gen EQC and Macan EV will change that just as the Taycan and EQS did to the S/X. They may be more expensive than the Y, but the there is a portion of current Y market share that will convert as well as those luxury owners that didn't jump to embrace Tesla will now have a viable EV option. Let's not forget how well the ID4 is selling You can bet the VW group is paying close attention an will be putting those lessons learned into Audi and Porsche brands.

I'm not dogging Tesla. I plan to buy a M3 RWD in January if Tesla passes on the tax credit to buyers because it's still the best price of all currently. All I'm saying is your statement about the Highland refresh pushing the Germans further down the totem is going to be wrong. Tesla has been around for a while now and has reached its sustainable market share. The Highland/Juniper update at best will defend its existing market share till the luxury german brands and Japanese arrive in force (ie C-class EV, Honda Accord EV, RAV4 EV, etc). Unless Tesla get serious about build quality, competitive features like cross traffic warning, 360cam etc it's going to the brand that gets bumped down the totem pole, we've already seen this with the S & X.

 

[cusetownusa]

No. AC seats in the refresh

Gotcha. I was just going by the website description and owners manual that both say ventilated front seats. I don’t actual own one so did t realize they were AC seats also.

Wonder why they call it ventilated seats though and not advertise that they are AC seats?

 

[zoomer0056]

Are you certain that the s/X have COOLED seats?

From my 2022 MSLR manual, see item 2.

 

[zoomer0056]

ventilated seats

These are seats with holes in them, millions of holes. Holes are for ventilated cooling. Take a look at the Mercedes description. If you do a search using your terminology "AC seats", all the results come back as "cooled seats".

 

[kpanda17]

You not gonna like no stalk

I drove a Ms no stalks
No issue at all

 

[SO16]

From my 2022 MSLR manual, see item 2.
View attachment 970339

Yes I do know that. I also have a 2017 MS with ventilated seats. But mine just runs a fan that sucks air in to the seat to create a slight cooling affect. It doesn’t blow out cold conditioned air to cool the seats.

The term “cooled” to me implies blowing cold air. Ventilated is merely a fan sucking ambient air in. I was disappointed that the new MS still just sucks air in.

 

[fasteddie7]

Yes I do know that. I also have a 2017 MS with ventilated seats. But mine just runs a fan that sucks air in to the seat to create a slight cooling affect. It doesn’t blow out cold conditioned air to cool the seats.

The term “cooled” to me implies blowing cold air. Ventilated is merely a fan sucking ambient air in. I was disappointed that the new MS still just sucks air in.

My 23 MS with hw4 and the new glass roof definitely is blowing air not sucking it.

 

[NCDAG's M3P]

The Future "We're not stopping here. We are actively working on the new Performance Model 3, where we'll push the boundaries even further."

There was a rumor that performance is getting a different front bumper. Hopefully they are adding more differences between LR and P.

I hope that’s what they are doing. There really needs to be a bigger gap between what a P model gets and looks like vs RWD/LR.

 

[SO16]

My 23 MS with hw4 and the new glass roof definitely is blowing air not sucking it.

Interesting.

I couldn’t feel it blowing cold air when I was in a hot new model S at the Tesla showroom a few weeks ago and I even confirmed with their mechanic. I guess I’ll need to check again.