2021 Tesla Model 3 Review

the tesla model 3 was unveiled five years ago on the surface not a ton has changed but it still remains one of the most advanced vehicles one can buy and arguably the best electric vehicle on the market towards the end of 2020 tesla did one of the largest upgrades they have done to the model 3 since its launch changing a number of features i just purchased a new 2021 tesla model 3 and took delivery right at the end of march so today i'm going to review the new model 3 let you know the good and the bad in my experience so far and what you should expect if you're looking to buy one so let's get into it [Music] the tesla model 3 currently starts at 37 990 dollars and i went with that base model standard range plus with one upgrade for the paint you have options to upgrade the paint wheels full self-driving and more as well as an upgrade to the long range all-wheel drive or performance models at the core hardly anything is different feature-wise between the base model and more expensive model the interior looks the same and only includes a couple of upgrades for the more expensive models which we'll get to in a minute and then there's the obvious upgrades of longer range and better performance now instead of comparing the 2021 model to older models i'm going to review this car as is since going forward this is what the model 3 will be the exterior of the model 3 features four doors a frunk and a powered lift gate the door handles are flush with the doors and match the new matte black trim all around the exterior i personally much prefer this to the chrome the model 3 used to have you have auto dimming side mirrors double paned front windows for reduced noise eight autopilot cameras around the car and no grill up front since there is no engine i went with the stock 18 inch aero wheels and these have two different options you can use the included plastic hub caps for the best efficiency or take off those hubcaps if you prefer to look at the wheel below it going inside the front seats of the model 3 are very comfortable with various different automatic controls that you can save to your own profile on screen this is convenient when having multiple drivers because you get your exact seat adjustments along with your mirror and steering wheel adjustments at the touch of a button i even added an eat profile that pushes my seat all the way back automatically when i'm eating or doing work in my car included with the car is a home charging setup for a normal outlet along with a j1772 adapter so that you can charge your tesla at chargers that use this particular plug if you need a different adapter to charge at home tesla sells these online for 35 to 45 dollars you'll also receive a front plate bracket with sticky tabs but i personally prefer to use a third-party removable clamp accessory to attach the front plate if needed some states do not require a front plate and the model 3 looks best without one the front dash of the model 3 is a very minimalistic design with nearly everything controlled via the 15 inch touchscreen in the middle of the dash there's no instrument cluster directly in front of you so your speed and all other relevant info is displayed on the left side of your center screen in my experience this is something you get used to within a couple of days the only physical controls are the stocks and scroll wheels on the steering wheel that control your blinkers shifting autopilot music controls cruise control speed and more as well as your normal window adjustments the rest is controlled on screen including climate settings and windshield wiper settings sometimes i wish i could just control the climate a little bit easier than it is on screen but having it there comes with its own advantages since the model 3 has this somewhat hidden bar across the dash for your vents you can specifically direct those vents where you want and then keep it on a particular temperature 99 of the time i just keep it on auto and only adjust this temperature in the middle of the screen since my vent positioning is safe to my profile as well the only digital control that bothers me a bit is windshield wipers the controls are designed for auto windshield wipers to do the work however in my experience the auto setting isn't the most reliable and i end up changing them manually you can initiate them from the left drive stock but if you want to change settings you have to tap on screen to do so we'll talk more about the screen and core functionalities in a minute but now let's finish out the interior up front under the screen you have a wireless charger for two phones and your center console storage below that this has a matte finish and a drawer that slides to hide a large amount of storage inside as well as two open usb c ports this is an improvement on the previous model 3 since the wireless charger is routed separately from these ports and tesla has now included an additional usb-a port inside the glovebox with an included usb drive for sentry mode and dashcam footage this is the feature that uses the autopilot cameras around your car to record while driving in the case of an accident and record if someone gets too close to your car or attempts to break in when it's parked so you have a built-in wireless charger sentry mode drive and port hidden in the glove box two usb c ports inside the front of the center console and two in the back four rear passengers above you is the headliner with a few lights hazard button and sun shades with mirrors there are cup holders and additional storage located underneath the armrest as well as door pockets in the back you have three seats with a fold-down armrest cup holder from the middle seat if you prefer this seat's headrest is adjustable but the rest of the headrests are fixed right next to those usb-c ports i mentioned earlier are your rear vents and the only extra storage space back there would be the door panels unless you want to put something behind the rear seats near the speakers once inside something big you'll notice is just how spacious this small car feels and that's largely thanks to the glass roof the glass roof is in two pieces with a beam down the middle that has two lights on it it comes heavily tinted to avoid you getting too much sun but provides amazing views and again adds to the spacious feel of this car the roof is the only part that comes tinted on the model 3 so none of the passenger windows nor the windshield come tinted from the factory i own a model y as well and the model 3 actually has much better visibility out of the back when driving which is very important to many people the model y has a pretty small sliver due to its hatchback design whereas this more standard trunk design compiled with the two-piece glass roof on the model 3 gives a better view still however out of the rear the visibility isn't as prominent as many other vehicles you sit low in the model 3 so that could be an issue if you have difficulty getting into vehicles but it feels great and really connects you to driving it feels like everything is right there and it's a great compact vehicle feel for passenger space i'm five foot ten and i feel comfortable in the front and back of this car with a couple inches to spare before my head hits the glass roof for cargo space the frunk up front isn't particularly deep but is larger than you find in most electric vehicles and larger than any gas vehicle and it's a great place to store certain items i like to keep long-term items up there that i won't be needing regularly and also put hot food up there since it's sealed away from the cabin the trunk is very spacious again it has a powered lift gate and is very deep with one side pocket on the left side additionally there is a cover that you can lift to access even deeper under storage space and again the trunk is very deep going into the car and there's a lot of space back there but if you need to carry larger items you can fold down the rear seats and pass items through it's actually a very large amount of pass-through space as well but of course since this isn't a hatchback you can only fit objects so tall and are dealing with that fixed trunk around the car are a ton of speakers which contribute to the fantastic sound system included in this car there's a speaker bar up front speakers above you in the doors and in the very back this is the first feature that is limited in the standard range version as compared to the more expensive versions of the model 3. even though it includes all the same speakers they are actually not activated unless you buy the more expensive long range versions there are third-party kits that you can buy to activate these speakers but i've actually found the sound system in the standard range to still be great not as good as the full system but still great for most people as with any tesla you are given two key cards to tap against the side pillar but the real key is your smartphone using bluetooth to automatically unlock when you approach the car and lock when you walk away within the app you can do all basic key functions as well as adjust the climate vent the windows honk the horn pop the trunk change charging percentages find your car's location get roadside assistance and even buy software upgrades for the car the funniest software upgrade to me is the rear heated seats they are there but only come activated on the more expensive model 3s in the standard range you can buy them for a 300 software unlock for climate controls this comes in especially handy for preheating or cooling the car on an extreme weather day it has zero emissions so you can preheat it in your garage with no concerns i particularly appreciate this on hot days in los angeles because i can cool down the car within a few minutes before heading out additionally you can keep your climate setting on when running into the store real quick or even enable dog mode to keep your dog safe and cool on a hot day now driving the model 3 is the best part about it even the cheapest rear wheel drive standard range plus version gets a 0 to 60 in 5.3 seconds it's not stomach dropping fast for most people but it's plenty fast for normal use and is super handy when needing to merge quickly on freeways it's all electric so there is instant torque no gear shifting and accelerating is the smoothest experience you can have in a car you also have one pedal driving which continues to be one of the most underrated features of these cars in my opinion this is enabled thanks to regenerative braking which takes the energy from braking and puts it back into the battery when you let off the accelerator the car automatically begins braking it takes a little bit of time to get used to after coming from a gas car but once you get the hang of it you hardly ever have to use the brake pedal and it's super nice i especially love this on mountain drives and stop and go traffic since my foot can stay put and i'm handling all of the frequency slowing down and speeding up with one pedal now for ride quality i've been driving the model y for over a year now and the model 3 suspension so far has been a night and day difference it's not only much quieter inside the cabin but every bump is a much softer feel you definitely feel each bump in the road and you'll know that you're on a bumpy road but it's very soft could it be softer sure but i actually have no complaints about the model 3 suspension and ride quality comparatively the model y ride quality is my biggest complaint so now let's talk about the bad when the model 3 first launched tesla was dealing with a large amount of quality control issues and this has been a theme in the launch of all of their vehicles now that this car has been out for a number of years things have improved drastically but it's still not 100 perfect for a picky buyer when i took delivery i had tesla fix a small scratch right near the door handle in my inspection there were no other real issues besides maybe a couple of panel gaps that are less than perfect these don't really bother me and don't affect the experience of the vehicle whatsoever the interior is overall great but there are still some alignments that are less than perfect and i'd still argue shouldn't be present on a 40 000 vehicle the headliner in the rear has a weird gap that they set as normal the trim has some odd folds and doesn't appear to have been fitted properly around the windows lastly the rear passenger side seat also has an awkward fold in it they said tesla will fix this at the service center likely replacing the entire back seat free of charge but i'll see if i actually end up going through with that since it's a minor issue none of these things bother me and it's just a part of the package when getting a tesla the main surprise for me was that this vehicle was kind of dirty at delivery at a distance it was perfect and still felt like a new car but there was a dirty spot on one of the headliners some dirt and dust on the side of the seats and then a large amount of residue all around the car this was mostly on the windows and was likely from a protective covering that was removed shortly before picking up the car none of this matters long term because i can simply clean the car to get rid of all of this but it just feels wrong to buy a brand new car that needs cleaning part of this is due to the fact that tesla now does a touchless delivery experience we picked up the model 3 at tesla's buena park delivery center which has now taken over a large parking lot at knott's berry farm you are notified via text where your car is located you accept delivery in the app fill out your paperwork drop it in a drop box and head on your way and if everything goes well you never have to talk to anyone we arrived early so that process wasn't as seamless for us but they did take care of as well and we were done within 15 minutes including the time that it took for them to fix the scratch on the door in my opinion this is the easiest and best possible design for buying a new vehicle but it's kind of designed for a car that is going to be 100 perfect asking them to fix issues kind of throws a kink in the system but it's important to do so in my model why i had a number of issues early on in rattles that needed fixing but i haven't had any issues even close to that on this new model 3. as you'll see i still 100 love these vehicles but i think it's important to be honest that you may have some weird quality issues that shouldn't be present and it's important to look out for them and have them properly fixed by tesla but now back to the good so driving the model 3 is super fun it's great on corners agile fast and has less body roll than most cars its size thanks to the large battery pack on the floor but when you're tired of driving yourself autopilot is included by default autopilot uses the eight cameras around the car along with a few sensors to enable traffic aware cruise control press the right drive stock down once to go into this mode this adjusts your speed according to how fast the cars around you are going and speeds up and slows down for you as needed auto steer adds on top of that and will keep you centered in your lane and is enabled with a double press down on the right stock there are speed adjustments following distance adjustments and more and if you want to take over you press up on the right drive stock press the brake or simply steer out from what autopilot is doing there's no included automatic lane changing but if you initiate your blinker it's a little easier to take over steering and then re-engage autopilot for your new lane autopilot still requires your attention and it shines best on long stretches of road in my experience it can handle many tricky scenarios and does a fantastic job overall but the best experiences i've had have been on long road trips where autopilot drives for me for several hundred miles i'm still there paying attention and ready to take over but it's less taxing for long journeys like my road trip from los angeles to washington and back last year you'll likely have some cases of phantom breaking where it breaks on the freeway for seemingly no reason and that can be frustrating and even scary but the majority of the time it does a great job and you'll figure out what works best for you and just know when to take over if you want auto lane changing smart summon navigate on autopilot and the promise of even more advanced self-driving software you can upgrade to tesla's full self-driving package for ten thousand dollars tesla has repeatedly said that the included hardware will be capable of full self-driving driving you anywhere without needing to take over and it will be enabled with a software update tesla's full self-driving beta has been out for a while and is impressive but still has a long way to go in my opinion and has no official release date from tesla and they've been talking about it for a while so i personally wouldn't recommend buying this 10 000 package auto lane change is great but at the moment this isn't worth the cost and can be upgraded at any time through the app as a software update if it proves valuable in time the necessary hardware is included on every tesla by default and elon musk tesla ceo typically lets customers know on twitter before there is a price increase of this package additionally tesla plans to roll out a subscription model for this package soon that could be the smarter option this ten thousand dollar package sticks with the vehicle cannot be transferred to a new tesla and usually doesn't even raise your trade-in or sale value i have it on my model y and didn't even question my decision not to get it on the model 3. now back to the tech of the model 3 largely located on the center display one of the best features of a tesla is that it receives regular software updates just like your phone does this adds features improves efficiency and fixes bugs without you ever needing to go to a dealer they simply install over your home wifi in around 15 minutes or so and then your car has new features which typically are a large improvement over previous software interestingly my model 3 was actually delivered with an older version of software tesla has since changed the left side of the screen and once i upgrade mine will change to this as well this is the first update tesla has done that i'm actually not a big fan of because i actually prefer the older speedometer and larger maps view on the right but tesla is planning another version soon that will hopefully update these things the software can change over the life of the car making your car feel brand new even after six years with the latest controls and ui as opposed to being stuck with the same physical buttons and just to note for those worried about this slowing down over time like phones do this did happen with the original model s but it happened after a number of years and was able to be upgraded by tesla service the model 3 has not seen any slows in the software through four years of the updates and will likely stay that way for a while for example a 2017 model 3 center display is just as fast as a 2021 center display the only potential issue with software updates is when you don't like the new user interface but don't really have a choice if you want the latest features in any case the standard features have been largely unchanged in the model 3. the main right two-thirds of the screen is navigation linked to google maps it's super responsive and easy to navigate to where you need to go the only feature lacking here is multiple waypoints that tesla should be adding in a future software update you have live traffic automatically updated via the car's lte connection however this feature is only included with the premium connectivity package at 10 a month the standard range model 3 includes a 30-day trial of this whereas the more expensive models include a one-year free trial after that you have to pay month to month for this feature as well as music and video streaming through the display also on the display you have your settings which includes quick controls lights locks display settings driving settings that includes different steering modes autopilot settings navigation safety service and software settings at the bottom there you'll see your glovebox button and this is the only glovebox button in the car besides using a voice command music integration is one of my favorite parts of this car i still feel like the ui could be ironed out but you have built-in integration for fm radio your phone streaming from slacker spotify karaoke and tune in spotify was improved a lot last year over software updates and added the ability to see your recently played user playlists and have a full spotify experience without ever needing to touch your phone if you prefer to use your phone or use apple music or another streaming platform phone integration is very simple and quick although you only have your basic controls on screen you can also connect your phone to sync calendar events sync calls and receive and send text messages with a pretty robust voice command system i tend not to use this feature too much but when i need it it does do a good job apple carplay or android auto are not included in the model 3. also included on screen is this very large backup camera that includes two side cameras for extra views when driving because you can pull it up at any time or parking you also have your energy consumption display charging display web browser and a variety of entertainment options the model 3 includes tesla arcade with a number of games and more added periodically through software updates as well as tesla theater for netflix hulu youtube and twitch these apps are cool to have in your car when charging or simply hanging out in your nice electric car but they are definitely not the best experience and are very slow to navigate around this is probably the slowest part of the entire vehicle but once your show is selected you can play it without issue then a tesla being a tesla includes fart mode tracks to make beats in your car romance mode a sketch pad mars santa mode and rainbow road the most recent feature they added here is boombox which lets you use the external speaker on the model 3 to play music or change the horn sound to a variety of funny things you can also upload your own custom sounds if you want speaking of that external speaker when reversing the model 3 has this weird alien noise that is required to play in order to warn pedestrians that you're there since this car is so quiet [Music] speaking of how quiet this car is the next best part about the model 3 is that it is fully electric there's no rumbling engine and it's nearly dead silent at a stop the only real noise you hear when driving is road noise air vent noise and the tiniest bit of a motor noise when accelerating there's no exhaust pipe since there are zero emissions which is something people tend to forget as well i can run this car all day in my garage with no concerns because it is not polluting then you never have to fill up with gas you charge at home which is the best option and you'll find it to be far more convenient than filling up with gas and actually save you time just keep in mind that you may have to install a faster plug in your home if you drive a lot and need it to be charged up each morning you can also charge a local city charger or if you need to charge out on the road you can charge at one of tesla's over 2000 supercharger stations this is one of the biggest advantages for tesla at the moment because you can take a road trip to the vast majority of locations and have confidence that you are going to find superchargers along your route tesla automatically routes you to supercharges along your route if it calculates that you need to fill up charging typically takes around 15 to 25 minutes or so depending on your needs and it's a bit of a different mindset from gas since it takes longer to fill up more if you don't need to charge up to 100 to make it home then don't charge up to whatever percentage you need to complete your journey and then charge up at home or at your destination if there is a charger there it's recommended to only charge up to 80 percent for normal use and only go above 90 if needed for a road trip since the ranges of these vehicles are fairly high most people don't need 100 of their charge on a daily basis and this is why i went with the standard range plus model the epa estimated range for this model is 263 miles but as always keep in mind that that's the range in a perfect scenario driving faster than the speed limit using climate controls and more will reduce your range i'm expecting closer to maybe 220 or even 200 miles on a given day based on how i drive and blast the air conditioning the long range all-wheel drive model 3 gets an epa range of 353 miles 90 miles more than the standard range and if this is your solo vehicle and you plan to do some road trips with it that's what i would recommend if you can swing it the standard range is still capable of most trips thanks to tesla's supercharger network but you'll be charging more frequently and for longer with a max charging speed of 175 kilowatts in the standard range compared to 250 kilowatts on the long range for safety included in that standard autopilot package i mentioned earlier is a number of safety features to prevent an accident all teslas include automatic emergency braking front collision warning side collision warning obstacle aware acceleration blind spot monitoring and lane departure avoidance these all reduce accidents significantly according to tesla's published safety data and using autopilot to drive for you reduces accidents even further then if you still get into an accident the model 3 actually has the lowest probability of injury of any vehicle ever tested by nitsa with 5 stars in every single category the battery pack on the floor actually helps reduce rollover risk and gives the car a low center of gravity additionally the model 3 has a rigid structure with the roof being able to resist four times its own mass according to tesla that's with the all glass roof i'll do another full video breaking down my true cost of ownership so make sure you subscribe to see when that video comes out as well as the other videos i'll be making with this car the tesla model 3 doesn't look much different than it did when it launched but the large number of improvements over the years have added up to make the 2021 version feel like a much nicer car than before so far i love driving this car and can't wait to experience it over the next few years i'm also curious to see what it's like owning the standard range version since it's the cheapest but often seems like not the best option due to its lower range if you've followed my channel you've probably seen my struggles with model y quality control issues especially early on so i'm very happy to see that this car does not have those issues overall the experience i've had with this car seems to be the experience of most new tesla owners it's an awesome car with tons of great features everything feels super clean and driving is super quick and fun you may just have to put up with a couple dumb issues for things that don't really make sense getting delivered on a car in this price range in the meantime if you want to check out my experience owning the model y for the past year you can check out that video linked over here or in the description below thanks so much for watching and i'll see you on the next one

Channel: Ryan Shaw

Views: 302,993

Keywords: tesla, tesla model 3, tesla model 3 review, new tesla model 3 review, 2021 model 3, 2021 tesla model 3, 2021 tesla model 3 review, model 3 standard range, model 3 standard range plus, 2021 model 3 review, model 3 vs model y, model 3 2021, model 3 updates, model 3 features, model 3 refresh, new model 3, new model 3 interior, new model 3 update, model 3 issues, tesla issues, tesla review, cheap tesla, cheapest tesla, model 3 standard range plus 0-60 range plus review

Id: yWETD_mN87c

Length: 22min 38sec (1358 seconds)

Published: Sun Apr 04 2021