Why all the hate for the Aero wheels?

[JWardell]

This is just another small shift in thinking led by Tesla.
Yes, it has been common in the past for affordable cars to cut costs and use cheap steel rims, and make them look (slightly) prettier with hubcaps and plastic covers. Not long ago, most cars had that and only luxury cars had alloy wheels. Only more recently have normal cars come with alloy rims.
Meanwhile, most EVs and many hybrids have had wheels with very small holes in them--this goes back to the EV-1 and the first Honda Insight--because it really does reduce a good amount of drag and increase efficiency. Some where covers and some were solid metal rims. Often, they just don't look that nice.
What Tesla has done here is offer CHOICE. You still get a decent alloy rim, and on top of that an easily removable cover that will further reduce drag. If you don't do much highway driving or really care about looks, remove them. Otherwise, be thankful for the extra range. It also opens the possibility for aftermarket replacements allowing you to change the look of your car for a fraction of the cost of a full set of wheels.
And frankly, I don't really like the look of the sport rims either...

 

[Sportstick]

You can call them "luxury brands", but the name for the Model 3's class is "compact midrange sedan". Same with the 3-series, same with the A4, etc. Not luxury sedan. Model S's class is "luxury sedan" (Tesla says "full-size luxury sedan", although it's been argued it should actually be "midsize luxury sedan").

This wholly depends on whose segmentation you use. Check JDPower, Strategic Vision, Consumer Reports, AutoPacific and see what you find. Out of curiosity, in which segmentation do you find the name, "compact midrange sedan"? The term "midrange" does not appear in any segmentations I've seen. One factor which affects this is that in Europe, brands such as BMW, MB have cars in non-premium segments. In North America, anything from them is almost automatically "luxury" per se due to brand positioning. This results in such vehicles as MB CLA250 and Audi A3 being segmented as "Entry Luxury Sedan". Markets and segmentations do vary across regions.

 

[T34ME]

What Tesla has done here is offer CHOICE.

This is what I like about the T3, it is like a blank canvas that you can customize (or not) and achieve just the look you are after.

 

[sports4eva115]

This photoshop was posted on reddit:
[Photoshop] Model 3 With Silver Aero Wheels (both styles) on ALL colours • r/teslamotors

if anyone has experience changing the color on the rims, how hard is it to DIY?
I'm really digging the right-side design, would probably make the darker areas even darker to enhance contrast.

 

[FlyingKiwi]

This photoshop was posted on reddit:
[Photoshop] Model 3 With Silver Aero Wheels (both styles) on ALL colours • r/teslamotors

if anyone has experience changing the color on the rims, how hard is it to DIY?
I'm really digging the right-side design, would probably make the darker areas even darker to enhance contrast.

Wouldn't be hard to do, depends how you want to do it. Spray paint or wrap would both work, wrap should be easier to reverse if you don't like how it turns out. I like the right column more than the left, but both look better than factory finish.

 

[DR61]

This photoshop was posted on reddit:
[Photoshop] Model 3 With Silver Aero Wheels (both styles) on ALL colours • r/teslamotors

if anyone has experience changing the color on the rims, how hard is it to DIY?
I'm really digging the right-side design, would probably make the darker areas even darker to enhance contrast.

Very nice job! Just what I wanted to see.

 

[Hank101]

I now can tolerate the Aero covers - nice job.

 

[SageBrush]

This photoshop was posted on reddit:

Nice improvement on the right

 

[ProphetM]

I wonder how different the right column would look if the cover's accent color was white instead of silver. I want to get a white interior with blue paint. Too much to have white on the wheel covers too? My other thought was to use white lug nut covers when running the rims without the aeros.

 

[azred]

This is just another small shift in thinking led by Tesla.
Yes, it has been common in the past for affordable cars to cut costs and use cheap steel rims, and make them look (slightly) prettier with hubcaps and plastic covers. Not long ago, most cars had that and only luxury cars had alloy wheels. Only more recently have normal cars come with alloy rims.....

i must be even older than you. I recall a time many years ago when a friend of mine took a corner a little too fast. One of the spoked hubcaps was pinched off and disappeared in the ditch. He saw it rolling in his rear view mirror but didn't want to expend the effort to find it. So he drove the 50 miles home and assumed it was no big deal -- until his Cadillac dealer informed him that the cost of the replacement was over $300. So he got in his car and drove back and found the "cheap" hubcap. I can only imagine how expensive one of the Tesla hubcaps will be if we lose one.

 

[dgpcolorado]

... I can only imagine how expensive one of the Tesla hubcaps will be if we lose one.

I doubt that we will be losing only one — I figure that all four will be stolen at once!

 

[FlyingKiwi]

I can only imagine how expensive one of the Tesla hubcaps will be if we lose one.

Another good reason to keep them safely stored in a box high up in the back corner of the garage until you sell the car.. Think of the extra resale with mint condition hubcaps!