Saw the Model 3 at Monterey car week....thoughts

[ahagge]

Interesting - It appears that the interior on the Model 3 that 355rockit saw is not black, but rather a gray (contrast the door handle with the black trim). @355rockit, can you confirm? I'd certainly take this color over a black interior - too doggone hot in the summer!

 

[atlas310]

Thanks for the pics! Here are my thoughts. I don't like the wood grain at all. It just looks out of place to me. But the red does look good and I'm definitely getting the aero wheels now. My question is, is the 210 for the standard battery with the aero covers on or off?

 

[355rockit]

10% gain is substantial. The concern now is whether the stated range from Tesla includes the aero wheels. Upgrading to the 19" wheels could make range 198 or 279 depending on the battery you choose, which sounds less impressive missing the 200 and 300 mile marks

I would take this with a grain of salt until the aero wheels vs. non-aero range increase can be independently verified. Looks like Elektrek quoted my quote. Hopefully this doesn't causes waves.

 

[gambit48]

Still don't see it.

Forgive my horrible graphic skills. The "gap" is in I and the other side for comparison is II.

 

[bro1999]

I would take this with a grain of salt until the aero wheels vs. non-aero range increase can be independently verified. Looks like Elektrek quoted my quote. Hopefully this doesn't causes waves.

The fact the 10% figure came from the VP of engineering, not say the VP of communications or some other C-suite personnel not involved on the engineering side gives the 10% number a little more credence.

10% is a lot more than I would have thought. That means without the aero wheels, a base Model 3 could get as little as 200 miles of range on a single charge (assuming the 220 number is indeed the EPA figure).

I'd be very interested to see testing results with and without the aero covers.

 

[KarenRei]

Forgive my horrible graphic skills. The "gap" is in I and the other side for comparison is II.

View attachment 243094

Ah, see it. Who knows whether it came like that or the kids messed up the seat like they trashed the interior

 

[siggyfreud]

The fact the 10% figure came from the VP of engineering, not say the VP of communications or some other C-suite personnel not involved on the engineering side gives the 10% number a little more credence.

10% is a lot more than I would have thought. That means without the aero wheels, a base Model 3 could get as little as 200 miles of range on a single charge (assuming the 220 number is indeed the EPA figure).

I'd be very interested to see testing results with and without the aero covers.

Would EPA only test with the base configuration, or would 220 be an average of the two wheel types?

 

[355rockit]

Interesting - It appears that the interior on the Model 3 that 355rockit saw is not black, but rather a gray (contrast the door handle with the black trim). @355rockit, can you confirm? I'd certainly take this color over a black interior - too doggone hot in the summer!

Interior is black. I used a flash which may have caused some of the interior to come out lighter in the pic. Other pics in the set show the black color better.

 

[kbM3]

I would take this with a grain of salt until the aero wheels vs. non-aero range increase can be independently verified. Looks like Elektrek quoted my quote. Hopefully this doesn't causes waves.

I would bet the 10% figure is for traveling at 75 mph.

 

[gregincal]

But with the Model S key fob, can't you force all doors to unlock, even if the automatic approach unlock only does the driver's door? The problem is, there's no such fob-with-buttons for the M3.

I'm trying to envision someone coming back to their car with a kid in a stroller, and another by the hand, on the Model S without using the fob. Approach the car, driver's door unlocks. Now you've got to tap an icon on the center console? In a crowded parking lot, that's is a long stretch in a narrow place, with the two kids, and all... I just don't see that as workable.

It would be a definite show-stopper for my wife. She was very specific about needing the passenger door(s) to not unlock automatically, but needed to be able to manage those doors without too much fiddling. One car we had it was turn-the-key-and-wait-one-second, or just use it in the passenger door lock. On another, it was a double tap on the unlock button on the key fob. Messing with a phone app would be a total non-starter, especially with one's hands full.

We don't know what the phone interface is like, but I believe it's possible to make it so you could unlock the car from the lock screen of the phone, in which case I don't think it would be that different from a fob. Or perhaps she could unlock all the doors using the card key (again, not that different from having to take out a fob and do something with it). Basically I'll reserve judgement on the convenience until we get some more detailed information/reviews.

 

[gregincal]

I would bet the 10% figure is for traveling at 75 mph.

That was my thought. It would make a difference when traveling fast on the freeway, but probably won't make nearly that much difference in the EPA ratings (none of which are measured at high speed).

 

[Dynastar]

That was my thought. It would make a difference when traveling fast on the freeway, but probably won't make nearly that much difference in the EPA ratings (none of which are measured at high speed).

Over on the thread about the EPA document someone said the EPA only lets you count an aerodynamic feature like the areo wheels if they are used by a certain percentage of the cars manufactured. It was further speculated that the areo wheels wouldn't make the cut, so the EPA numbers are with the larger wheels. This would fit with the anti-selling of the 3 as well. We'll know for sure once Tesla starts shipping cars to us common people.

 

[Stolz25]

Every time I see that charging port size I think, "What did they make it so big for?"

Wonder if they're going to be putting a CCS combo there for European models. Or whether it's designed with next-gen connectors in mind, to be replaced as needed. Normally Tesla doesn't make things like that any bigger than they need to. Compare, M3:

MS:

Pretty significant alteration, no? There has to be a reason for it.



Yes, but it only lasts for an hour. Also, I don't see what you're talking about.

They probably designed the tail light section to look how they wanted and then fit the charge port into that space.

 

[rsbell]

As I expect to put around 15,000 highway miles/year (200 miles each way/trip) on the 3, I better go with the Aero. Was planning on 19", but 10% is a pretty significant difference.

 

[PRSIST]

I was disappointed not seeing a Model 3 during Monterey Car Week. On Sunday we were headed to Gusto Italian restaurant in Seaside (awesome pizza) and found that there was a Tesla Service Center close-by. I thought it would be good to do a last ditch effort to maybe see a model 3. When we entered the parking lot we saw a red Model 3 being charged. I went up to the owner and asked if I can take pics. He let me sit in the car. It has very comfy seats. The interior is simple, but elegant. He had the 18" rims with aero covers. He said that he went with Aero since he wants more mileage and said the gain is ~10%. He also confirmed that the aero were covers and noted TMC post regarding the wheels w/o covers. He showed me the new UMC that is being tested. He also had the Model S UMC in the trunk. I promised not to post pics of the new UMC. It turns out the gentleman who was so nice and proud owner of the Model 3 (#18) is the VP of Engineering for Tesla. Very nice guy and he made my day. I returned from Monterey today happy that I fulfilled all my goals for car week.

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I've seen those colored seats before but it never dawned on me that they do NOT appear to be black. Definitely not white, but not black either. The color looks elegant and would love to have those in my 3.

 

[Cyclone]

Every time I see that charging port size I think, "What did they make it so big for?"

Wonder if they're going to be putting a CCS combo there for European models. Or whether it's designed with next-gen connectors in mind, to be replaced as needed. Normally Tesla doesn't make things like that any bigger than they need to. Compare, M3:

MS:

Pretty significant alteration, no? There has to be a reason for it.

The Mennekes 2 connector used in Europe is much bigger than the Tesla 2 connector we use in North America. In Europe, to fit the connector, they had to remove the light ring and until recently, the closing motor. The Model ≡ will not suffer from such a limitation.

 

[PRSIST]

I was disappointed not seeing a Model 3 during Monterey Car Week. On Sunday we were headed to Gusto Italian restaurant in Seaside (awesome pizza) and found that there was a Tesla Service Center close-by. I thought it would be good to do a last ditch effort to maybe see a model 3. When we entered the parking lot we saw a red Model 3 being charged. I went up to the owner and asked if I can take pics. He let me sit in the car. It has very comfy seats. The interior is simple, but elegant. He had the 18" rims with aero covers. He said that he went with Aero since he wants more mileage and said the gain is ~10%. He also confirmed that the aero were covers and noted TMC post regarding the wheels w/o covers. He showed me the new UMC that is being tested. He also had the Model S UMC in the trunk. I promised not to post pics of the new UMC. It turns out the gentleman who was so nice and proud owner of the Model 3 (#18) is the VP of Engineering for Tesla. Very nice guy and he made my day. I returned from Monterey today happy that I fulfilled all my goals for car week.

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That interior does NOT appear to be Black! It's obviously not white, but does not appear to be black. I love the color and hope my M3 comes with it or that I can get it on my M3. It looks almost grey and I love it. It looks very elegant.

 

[Ken7]

I suspect it is black, but the drenching sunlight makes it appear lighter.

 

[AmpedRealtor]

Folks, the interior is BLACK. Cameras expose for middle gray, so when photographing a dark subject (such as a black interior) the photo will be slightly overexposed and what should be black will look gray.

 

[KarenRei]

The Mennekes 2 connector used in Europe is much bigger than the Tesla 2 connector we use in North America. In Europe, to fit the connector, they had to remove the light ring and until recently, the closing motor. The Model ≡ will not suffer from such a limitation.

That's way bigger than Type 2:

vs:

The space on M3 for a charge port is CCS Combo-sized, and then some.