That I'd jot down a few thoughts after completing my first week and 700 miles in a Model 3 SR+ (indeed my first EV).
Delivery: after all the horror stories I was expecting the worst but actually it was pretty good with no obvious faults, paint blemishes, interior marks or damage and everting present and correct. There were a few dodgy panel gaps but after owning a Lotus, it didn't feel it was worth flagging them as a warranty issues.
It was however delivered with 8% charge remaining and as it arrived 6 weeks earlier than predicted, we had no home charging point installed yet so had to wait 15 hours with the granny charger to actually drive it.
Driving: Having scanned through the manual in the week prior to delivery it was easy to set-up and lovely to drive. Acceleration is certainly more than adequate for road use in any situation. It's comfy too although feel it's a bit underdamped for the performance on offer and certainly gets very 'squirrelly' and ragged when pushed hard (it's no BMW 3 series for sure) but as overall package it's very good. Practically wise it's great and we did our first trailer tip run on Wednesday with no issues. Unfortunately a couple of issues did become apparent when I first started to drive it - front tracking was out massively on delivery (and steering wheel wasn't central) and rear passenger was door constantly rattling on uneven roads.
Charging: If you live in a semi-rural location (like West Dorset) and you need to rely on public charging points, you're in trouble. In our first week we made 5 trips to charging points and only 2 were working. On this basis, it would be virtually impossible to run a short range EV locally so I genuinely feel sorry for owners who try to rely on this minefield of networks. We're certainly not ready locally for an EV revolution. I did finally get to try a Tesla Supercharger at Bristol SC but with high expectations I was a bit underwhelmed - charging maxed at 42kw (and at times dropped to 30). There were 3 other cars on charge there at the same time but is this normal for SC's? I got a similar rate of charge from a pod point fast charge unit in Lidl.
Warranty work: Went to an appointment at Bristol SC (our nearest but still over a 4 hour round trip so half a day off work) for the tracking and rattle. Not massively impressed unfortunately - they agreed the tracking was completely out so sorted that but claimed they couldn't replicate the rattle. I said it was pretty noticeable on a test drive on any non-racetrack tarmac but was told they didn't have time to test drive the car despite it being one of the issues it was booked in for! With hindsight, I should have just got it tracked locally and guess I'll have to fix the rattle myself.
Ongoing issues: So we drove through some torrential rain on way back from Bristol SC. When I got home and opened the trunk, it felt heavier than normal - as I raised it, it became apparent that it had filled with water between the two skins! You could hear it sloshing about and when raised, through a tiny hole in the weld near to where the hinge is, it slowly started trickling out. So now I've got to go back to Bristol in November to get it sorted out - hope it doesn't freeze in the meantime!
Overall: Despite the ongoing issues that you wouldn't expect in a £40k+ car I'm still enjoying the drive and getting my head around when and where to charge. It's a unique driving experience. We won't be selling our other ICE cars anytime soon but will certainly be using them far less.
Delivery: after all the horror stories I was expecting the worst but actually it was pretty good with no obvious faults, paint blemishes, interior marks or damage and everting present and correct. There were a few dodgy panel gaps but after owning a Lotus, it didn't feel it was worth flagging them as a warranty issues.
It was however delivered with 8% charge remaining and as it arrived 6 weeks earlier than predicted, we had no home charging point installed yet so had to wait 15 hours with the granny charger to actually drive it.
Driving: Having scanned through the manual in the week prior to delivery it was easy to set-up and lovely to drive. Acceleration is certainly more than adequate for road use in any situation. It's comfy too although feel it's a bit underdamped for the performance on offer and certainly gets very 'squirrelly' and ragged when pushed hard (it's no BMW 3 series for sure) but as overall package it's very good. Practically wise it's great and we did our first trailer tip run on Wednesday with no issues. Unfortunately a couple of issues did become apparent when I first started to drive it - front tracking was out massively on delivery (and steering wheel wasn't central) and rear passenger was door constantly rattling on uneven roads.
Charging: If you live in a semi-rural location (like West Dorset) and you need to rely on public charging points, you're in trouble. In our first week we made 5 trips to charging points and only 2 were working. On this basis, it would be virtually impossible to run a short range EV locally so I genuinely feel sorry for owners who try to rely on this minefield of networks. We're certainly not ready locally for an EV revolution. I did finally get to try a Tesla Supercharger at Bristol SC but with high expectations I was a bit underwhelmed - charging maxed at 42kw (and at times dropped to 30). There were 3 other cars on charge there at the same time but is this normal for SC's? I got a similar rate of charge from a pod point fast charge unit in Lidl.
Warranty work: Went to an appointment at Bristol SC (our nearest but still over a 4 hour round trip so half a day off work) for the tracking and rattle. Not massively impressed unfortunately - they agreed the tracking was completely out so sorted that but claimed they couldn't replicate the rattle. I said it was pretty noticeable on a test drive on any non-racetrack tarmac but was told they didn't have time to test drive the car despite it being one of the issues it was booked in for! With hindsight, I should have just got it tracked locally and guess I'll have to fix the rattle myself.
Ongoing issues: So we drove through some torrential rain on way back from Bristol SC. When I got home and opened the trunk, it felt heavier than normal - as I raised it, it became apparent that it had filled with water between the two skins! You could hear it sloshing about and when raised, through a tiny hole in the weld near to where the hinge is, it slowly started trickling out. So now I've got to go back to Bristol in November to get it sorted out - hope it doesn't freeze in the meantime!
Overall: Despite the ongoing issues that you wouldn't expect in a £40k+ car I'm still enjoying the drive and getting my head around when and where to charge. It's a unique driving experience. We won't be selling our other ICE cars anytime soon but will certainly be using them far less.
