- Yo, I'm impressed. I am very, very impressed
with this car right here. This is the Tesla Model
3, the 2024 refresh. A lot of people are
calling it the Highland, that's not actually in
the name, but this car, I've only been testing
it for maybe a week now, but I've noticed a lot of
little things different. The main way you're gonna be
able to tell this car different from the already very
popular Model 3 that's out, is the new distinctive angular headlights, the new point-to-your-face. But there's a lot more
that's new to this car that sort of add up,
to me, to feel like a, honestly a worthy flagship. I know the Model S is,
you know, higher end and it has the Plaid variant
and all the performance and all that fun stuff. But this is the car that
people are going to know and see the most often as a Tesla, it's the Model 3 and the Model Y. So you could argue this is
their most important car and it kind of feels
now like a mini Model S. So let's look at everything that's new. So first of all, like I said, aesthetics are actually
one of the big things. So when you see these new
sleek slim headlights, that's how you know you're
looking at the new Model 3. But also this is actually
a new paint, Ultra Red, and I kind of feel like the
Canon R5 is getting the color. I can actually appreciate it. There's also a new Stealth Gray color, but I like the Ultra Red. And just right off the bat it's a little bit of a further
down slope on the nose, and it's always been a really simple car, but you can actually tell now it's a little bit more aerodynamic, which is gonna give you a
little bit better range. I've been driving this car
for a couple days getting, averaging well under
300 watt-hours per mile, and at a full state of
charge, 330 miles of range in the cold, this weather. Now it's Tesla's 330 miles of range so you're probably gonna
get more like 290, 285, something like that, but still the fact that
it's getting the same range as what my Plaid was getting
is pretty impressive. So officially the new
drag coefficient is 0.219 and that's mostly gonna come
from the front of the car and the places that are
hitting the most air. From the side it's still gonna look just like a normal Model 3, maybe you can tell that little front shape is slightly different with
a slightly lower nose, but slightly updated wheels too. I'm really liking this Ultra Red color. But yeah, it looks like
a Model 3 from the side until you get to the back, which is where you'll
see the new taillights. And they are also pretty
distinctive and angular, and I think pretty nice. Here's a maybe hot
take, the no Tesla logo, it just says Tesla in
text now on the back. And at first I didn't really love that, but I've started to get used to it. So the only Tesla logo is
actually on the front hood and if I wanna open it up, that power liftgate is the
same as it's always been and you've got a pretty
decent sized trunk. But now you'll notice that
those taillights are one piece, so if I close this again,
you'll see that entire taillight is uninterrupted on the back trunk piece. So it doesn't have any gaps at night, you just see one continuous
light and I like that. An AC dual motor. This is not a performance trim, this is just a standard
Model 3 for right now, and that's the back. But most of the things that
are new with this car, again, are very subtle things and a
lot of them are on the inside in quality, in materials, and
in making it feel and drive like a much more comfortable. It's just better, just
quality all around is higher. So I'm gonna start with the door because that's actually the
first thing you'll notice. So the handle's the same and
the way you get in is the same, but if you've seen German cars, you might have seen
this little notch before and this little part here
that plugs into the door. In general, there's a better
seal to the entire door all the way around the cabin and that makes this a much
quieter car when driving and even when getting inside. I'll close the door behind me. You probably can't tell,
but it's pretty quiet. And so in general, this really still feels very recognizably just
like previous Model 3s, but everywhere you look, there's lots of little things
in the direction of premium, in the direction of comfortable, and in the direction
of luxury a little bit, not so much sporty. And we'll talk about
what I think might work for a performance Model 3 version of this maybe a little later,
but let's look around. So first of all, this is
the new steering wheel. This I think is the only thing that anyone may have complaints about because as you can
probably notice right away, there's no more stalks. So the Model 3 always had the stalks while the Model S and X didn't. Now there's no more blinker stalks and there's no driver stalks so if you want to switch to drive, you put your foot on the brake
and swipe forward or backward just like the Model S. Or, fun fact, actually,
there's your PRNDL up here if you really, I don't think
most people are gonna use that, but in case of the screen not being on, that's how you change gears. But then the rest of the steering wheel is your buttons on the steering wheel. So here on the right hand side, that's gonna be your windshield wipers, which you can also switch to automatic, your voice dictation. And then this will turn on autopilot and if you wanna turn up
or down, that's gonna be the distance between you
and the car in front of you while on autopilot. Then on the left, that's your blinkers, left or right blinkers are on the steering wheel in Model 3 now, and your high beams, and of course, your your media and volume. But that does mean the
middle is a regular horn, not a button on the steering wheel, and it is a pretty
close to circular wheel. So there are some things
that people are gonna like and there are some things that people are definitely
gonna have to get used to like the no stalks. But again, this is in the
theme, it feels like to me, of mini Model S. So then everywhere else you look, improved materials and build quality. I like this Alcantara, it's nice and soft. You've got all the same
switches you normally do and the door to get in and out. Up here it's just your air vents, but it's kind of like this fabric here, it's a pretty unique look. Obviously you're gonna have a lot of cars have your screen back here, so this is just a very
obvious plain open space, but I kind of like this
sort of a gray fabric. And then all the way around the car, which you'll notice
especially when you're driving is this LED lighting. So this light strip goes all
the way around up at the front, all the way around the side of the car, and yes, you can change the look of it just by dragging around and
changing the color of the LEDs. There's purple, there's red, yellow. It looks pretty good at night
just because it's, again, pretty continuous all around the car. And then of course here is
the main center console. This screen has a faster computer and it is way more responsive. Like all of the software and everything that you do in this car is just as fast as ever and often even faster than I
remember, which is awesome. And that's always good to see because Tesla's literally been
the best software in any car that's not CarPlay or
Android Auto for years now. Also, you may have noticed I've got this new view of
the parking spot I'm in, which if I pull forward a little bit, you'll notice zooms out. That is the new High Fidelity Park Assist. It's not a 360 camera,
but it's pretty close. It gives you sort of this heat map of the things that are around you. You can see the parking lines
in the parking lot you're in, and then you'll see this little heat thing based on how close you are
to the thing behind you. So I'm right against the curb
now, so that's why it's red. It's decent, I mean that's
all-improved with Tesla Model 3. These are also now softer,
better seats in the front, they are heated and ventilated, and the back seats are also heated. But I'm gonna show you something
else in the backseat now that you might like even more. So this is the backseat of the Model 3, it's about the same
amount of space as before so if I'm getting behind a
six three driver's position, that's, it's not a ton of space but the floor is flat through the middle. But look at that, a nice flush touchscreen with, actually, some pretty
thin bezels right on the back to control all of the
airflow and the HVAC stuff, and even a little bit
of media if you want to, on the back of this car. This is a way better backseat experience. Honestly, this makes
such a huge difference as a backseat passenger in this car. I've been in the back of a lot of Model 3s that have been Ubers and things like that. You still have also this
LED lighting back here, again, I like that these
backseats are heated if you want them to be, and then the glass over your
head with plenty of headroom. It's not quite the uninterrupted glass from the Model S and X, but it's what we're used
to from Model 3 and Y, which is still a whole lot of glass. Let me get back up to the driver's seat because there are a couple things too that are upgraded significantly
just when driving this car. Model 3 has been an easy car to drive, I think it's very simple. I know there's no stalks now, but in general, as far as electric cars, this might be the easiest one to calibrate to one pedal driving-wise, charging network-wise, just in general. But two things, one is acoustically it is so much quieter in
here when you're driving, which is awesome. And then it's a softer
suspension, noticeably softer. This comes at the expense of maybe a bit of a sporty feeling. I honestly think the old Model 3 was, coil suspension was a little
harsh, a little firm sometimes, and I think a lot of owners
would agree with that. And this has made really big strides to be way more comfortable to drive and it also has a notably
tighter steering radius that wasn't really advertised at all, but that's really cool to see. And then there's also a much
improved speaker system, so the speakers in this car, just driving around in this quiet cabin listening to the better speakers is way, way better than previously. This really feels like a mini Model S. But still, if you're a Model 3 fan, you're gonna have some of the hits that you've always been used to. The wireless charger's up
here, the key fob card, and then this is the
center console storage, which is a big center console spot. And this one doesn't move like Model S, but there's your two cup holders that you can always close
just like that and like that. So you still got the front
trunk space you're used to, still got the rear trunk
space you're used to, and honestly, even the camera quality, these cameras when you look at
the camera feed from the car, looks much better. I can actually see raindrops
much more higher fidelity when I'm driving this car
and the blinkers come on. This is good, man. This is a good car. So I think the general question
you might be wondering is, should you get this car? And the only thing I would
say is if you're considering something like a
performance version of this, consider what you want to do
most of the time when driving. I think when street
driving this thing's great. Most of the time with street driving, this thing is great and it's
quick, it's really quick. I'll try to find an
official zero to 60 time, or some horsepower numbers if I can, but for a car with this much range and with a great charging network, like this is a very quick EV. A performance version, for me, would really only gain maybe two things. Obviously the ability to have track mode and be able to dial, you
know, your traction control to be front wheel driver,
or real wheel driver, or change the slip, or have a little bit
more fun while driving. And then maybe getting
back to a firmer suspension for that, sort of, track oriented driving. But for the non-performance
version, which this is, it's complete, it's
great, it's a flagship, it's a mini Model S, it's
refined, it's well-built. I'm very impressed by this new Model 3. Let me know what you think. Is this the car that you've
been looking forward to? I've been looking forward to seeing it in the US for so long. It was like Europe first and then slowly making its way here. Now it's here and I'm
happy I got to test it 'cause this thing's good, man. This is the car I would
recommend so easily to anyone just looking for a first EV. That's where I'll leave it. Let me know what you think. Thanks for watching, catch
you in the next one. Peace.
