Tesla Model 3: This Is It
Confirmed deets:
Thoughts:
The 15" screen tacked onto the otherwise spartan dash is an interesting move. I wouldn't be at all surprised if a HUD is offered when the car enters production. While clearly a prototype, the director of engineering at Tesla stated the interior is the production intent of the Model 3, so I wouldn't anticipate a drastic departure of what you see there. I would expect to see steering wheel buttons added, minor fit/finish tweaks, etc.
In the prototype car Jalopnik rode in, the engineer stated it was a dual motor vehicle, and you can see it hauls ass when he plants it.
The grill-less front end will be polarizing, but is likely a function of the extremely low drag coefficient the car is rumored to have. While I don't like the oncoming view, the car does look good in profile. My guess is this will become an increasingly common design trait across the auto industry in the drive for increasingly more slippery vehicles.
I can see this eating into BMW's 3-series market share, but probably not touching anything Subaru sells, except maybe some STI buyers who were already anticipating forking over $40k for a reasonably speedy sport sedan and are open to looking at electric cars (I don't imagine that's a huge number of people, but some, I'm sure).
I put down my $1k deposit yesterday when online deposits went live. I didn't want to wait in the 5 block long line at our local Tesla store...
Confirmed deets:
- $35k starting price.
- Seats 5 real adults.
- Sub 6 second 0-60 in base trim. Higher specs are "much faster".
- Single motor and dual motor options.
- 215 mile range in base trim. Higher trims have a lot more.
- Autonomous features and Supercharger compatibility are standard on all trims.
- Glass roof extending across the entire cabin standard.
Thoughts:
The 15" screen tacked onto the otherwise spartan dash is an interesting move. I wouldn't be at all surprised if a HUD is offered when the car enters production. While clearly a prototype, the director of engineering at Tesla stated the interior is the production intent of the Model 3, so I wouldn't anticipate a drastic departure of what you see there. I would expect to see steering wheel buttons added, minor fit/finish tweaks, etc.
In the prototype car Jalopnik rode in, the engineer stated it was a dual motor vehicle, and you can see it hauls ass when he plants it.
The grill-less front end will be polarizing, but is likely a function of the extremely low drag coefficient the car is rumored to have. While I don't like the oncoming view, the car does look good in profile. My guess is this will become an increasingly common design trait across the auto industry in the drive for increasingly more slippery vehicles.
I can see this eating into BMW's 3-series market share, but probably not touching anything Subaru sells, except maybe some STI buyers who were already anticipating forking over $40k for a reasonably speedy sport sedan and are open to looking at electric cars (I don't imagine that's a huge number of people, but some, I'm sure).
I put down my $1k deposit yesterday when online deposits went live. I didn't want to wait in the 5 block long line at our local Tesla store...