Tesla Model 3 Review: The TRUTH After 26,000 Miles

almost one year ago I took delivery of my Tesla Model 3 and since then I've driven it over 26,000 miles so is it still the best car I've ever driven or was it a $50,000 mistake let's find out big thanks to audible for sponsoring this video now in my original model 3 review video that I did last year I mainly went over the features of the car because I had only owned it for two months at that time now in this video I'm gonna go over my experience of owning a Tesla Model 3 for almost one year and focus on the three most important things that I think people look for in a car which is reliability cost and enjoyment when I first got my model 3 I was a little skeptical on how reliable it would be because it was the first generation of its kind and there were a couple horror stories online from early adopters who were experiencing software or hardware issues and my model 3 was one of the first 15,000 or so that were produced so I was a little nervous not to mention the big lifestyle change from going gasoline to a fully electric vehicle well I can honestly say that my model 3 has been 100% reliable so far and yes even though that should be expected from a brand new car it's still a nice surprise just because the fact that Tesla is still relatively so young compared to all the other car manufacturers right now and since the Tesla Model 3 is still just a very unique car in itself I have never been stranded valois battery I think I've ever had was 12 miles of range left when I returned home from a road trip so yes range anxiety does exist but the model threes energy graph is extremely accurate and predicting the estimated range left when driving so as long as you pay attention to that and plan ahead you'll be fine and should never have to worry about running out of battery I've never had any major software or hardware failures I think the worst things that I probably experience so far are minor things that are related to software somehow so for example one time my sound system was completely frozen it was muted everything you know you couldn't hear sounds from music playing from Bluetooth or streaming or even the sound effects from things like the turn signal I was long muted and frozen luckily things like that minor software bugs can easily be fixed with just a soft reboot of the screen which takes about a minute to do I've never had any major reliability issues it's pretty much been perfect so far for how heavily integrated the model 3 with software I'm actually surprised it's worked this well so far I was expecting a little bit more issues because it's so software focused but luckily you know I haven't run into any major issues over the first twenty six thousand miles and there have been two repairs done on my model three sparse hardware goes both of those times the Tesla mobile Ranger came out to my location and fix the issue on the spot within an hour or so and the first repair was a my my driver door handle wasn't closing just wasn't closing fast enough it took a little bit too much time so he fixed that and then the Oh time it was just a click in my windshield wiper was making a clicking noise so those were both very minor those were fixed like said for free covered under the warranty which brings me into the next category which is cost and surprisingly this is one of my favorite things about the model 3 now my biggest and really only complaint about the cost of a model 3 is the upfront price yes there is a thirty five thousand dollar base model now that is finally released and yes it's the cheapest out of all the Tesla models however with all the desired add-ons that you'd want in a Tesla the model 3 is still too expensive for most people however if you can afford it and it fits your budget I honestly believe the model threes high upfront cost is totally worth it in a long run my model 3 is a long range or rear-wheel drive with Aero wheels and it was around $50,000 however if you compare it to a similarly priced gasoline vehicle the model 3 is one of the cheapest cars to own now since getting my model 3 here's how much I've spent on gasoline oil changes repairs and maintenance and tire rotations now out of all of those things during the first twenty five thousand miles in a Model 3 you really only need to do one which is tire rotations now the reason I haven't spent anything on tire rotations is because I got lucky there's a local tire shop that gives free rotations to Tesla owners just another perk for owning a an electric car so your situation might be different but that's the reason why I haven't spent anything on any of those things so no more buying gas or paying for oil changes or anything that pertains to an internal combustion engine vehicle my insurance went up by about five hundred dollars a year however I believe that my insurance would have went up by that much anyways with any brand-new car in a similar price range really the only thing that has cost me money to drive my model 3 has been the electricity to charge the car and that electricity comes from two sources either my home electricity or Tesla supercharger now where I live my charging cost is cheap at 6.8 cents per kilowatt hour and my model threes average watt hour per mile is 248 which is really impressive because I live in Louisville Kentucky where we experience all four seasons it gets below zero in the winter gets above 100 in the summer and with an average of 248 watt hours per mile over all four seasons it just goes to prove that the long range model 3 is one of if not the best and the most efficient electric car out right now so it took six thousand four hundred and fifty seven kilowatt hours to drive just over 26,000 miles and based on my calculations from a previous video the model 3 gets about 80% energy efficiency so it actually took about eight thousand seventy one kilowatt hours and at my current electricity rate of six point eight cents per kilowatt hour that comes to five hundred and forty nine dollars that are spent on electricity to drive my model three over 26,000 miles however some of that electricity was obtained at superchargers where I spent a total of fifty four dollars also keep in mind that I've charged basically for free at certain charging spots like parking garages and hotels and even at family members houses when I visit them so my total cost to drive my Model 3 over 26,000 miles has been less than $600 and my electricity bill has only gone up by an average of 36 dollars per month that is absolutely incredible to put it in perspective a car that gets thirty miles a gallon at an average gas cost of two dollars and seventy five cents a gallon would cost two thousand three hundred and eighty three dollars to drive twenty six thousand miles and if you add a fifty dollar oil change every four thousand miles that would be an additional three hundred twenty-five dollars so that's a total of two thousand dollars of savings in less than a year of course these numbers are personal to my situation it's different for everybody however this is still a real-life example of how much a person can save by going all electric especially going to a Tesla Model 3 now we're entering the last category which is enjoyment and this is also one my favorite categories of the Model 3 I can have two favorites right it's no surprise that the model 3 is an absolute joy to drive but I'm gonna quickly go over some things that I don't like because after all nothing is perfect first off the windshield and window was fog up more than any other car I've ever driven and I don't know if that's just me I don't know if it's just the area I live in if it's my car I don't know what it is if you have a model three let me know if you view if you experience this but luckily I just got some like cheap fog reducer on Amazon that I put on the windshield inside the windshield which helps a little bit but it's still kind of annoying how easily it fogs up I also wish the Franck had a different closing mechanism I used the Franck a lot it's a perfect size for a gimp bag and some shoes and a basketball so whenever I close it I have to put my hand on it or maybe sometimes both hands and it leaves some handprints on the hood so I wish I could like close automatically or just had a different closing mechanism and also the lumbar setting does not get saved to a driver profile so I don't understand that either like every other seat setting and steering wheel and mirror setting gets saved to a driver profile except the lumbar setting which I don't understand it's kind of strange however luckily that is able to be fixed through a software update which leads me into the plethora of things that I absolutely love about the Tesla Model 3 one of them being the premium sound system now listening to music is an awesome experience but do you know what I truly love to listen to in my model 3 which I was - all the time audiobooks and today's sponsor is my favorite audio book service audible audible has the largest selection of audiobooks on the planet and now they have audible originals which are exclusive audio titles created by celebrated storytellers from many different genres now as an audible member each month you get one credit that can be used for any audio book of your choice plus two audible originals that you cannot get anywhere else of course audible does have the Elon Musk biography and if you want to learn more about Elon Musk and his story of how he became the leader of Tesla and SpaceX you can get that or any other audio book for free when you try audible for 30 days by visiting audible.com slash Andy sly or text Andy sly - 500 500 so if you're like me and you enjoy listening to books more than reading them audible is the best for that I love being able to be entertained or learn something while I do one of my favorite things in this world and that is Drive my model 3 get your first audio book for free by trying audible free for 30 days by going to audible.com/smarter in minimal lists yet packs so much power and torque is something I'll always be impressed with the instant torque and quickness makes driving especially things like merging and passing effortless and fun it handles as well if not better than other sporty cars in its price range because of the better traction control from it being in evey and the low center of gravity and balanced weight distribution due to the battery being underneath the entire length of the car but there's one thing that turns a lot of people off and it's actually one of my favorite things about the Model 3 it's the clean minimalist design of the entire car driving a Model 3 makes you realize how useless and unnecessary most other cars buttons and dials are autopilot is an absolute lifesaver like literally yes there are times when it will phantom brake but if you're using it as it's designed and you will always have a hand on the wheel ready to take over and I love knowing that each time I use it it's getting better through the neural network it just removes the burden of having to endlessly stare out of the window at the same spot and allows me to be more aware of my other surroundings which has honestly made me feel safer and when it comes to it the model 3 is just smarter than any other car I've ever had the experience of driving or interacting with it just automates basic things which allows me to worry less my phone is my key so ever since I got a smart lock at home I stopped carrying keys altogether all I carry is my phone and wallet my model 3 automatically unlocks as I approach and it locks as I walk away it's always on and ready to drive and it's utterly quiet when driving if it's raining the wipers turn on automatically if it recognizes a car ahead it automatically turns off my brights then turns them back on after it charges overnight while I sleep it stops charging when it reaches whatever lemon I have set and I wake up to an 80 percent charge every day or a hundred percent charge if I'm about to take a road trip no more stopping at gas stations I can press a button tell it to play a song and it plays it I can tell it to drive somewhere and it gives me real-time step-by-step directions on a beautiful response of 15 inch touchscreen which is the best screen in any vehicle right now in my opinion the model 3 gets better over time through free software updates that it automatically downloads and installs itself when I got my model 3 almost a year ago it had a maximum rated range of 310 miles on a full charge now after a free software update and even after any battery degradation from driving 26,000 miles my model 3 gets 320 radio miles on a full charge it actually got better over time and Tesla is constantly releasing these software updates with new features like recently had mode and sentry mode and a 5% power boost so no other car is doing this right now it's absolutely amazing it's really comfortable even for a tall guy like me the front seats are some of the most comfortable I've ever sat in the back seats a little bit firmer not as comfortable however Tesla has to fix this with updated seating I'm six foot four and I can sit in the back fairly comfortably without my head hitting the roof Oh in the roof it's pure glass and it's seriously one of the things that impresses riders the most I'm so glad that Tesla has included that glass roof on all the models even the base model and the manual door handles are a little funky for new riders however as an owner they're fine I love having two trunks and of course the ability to control my car from my smartphone like summon it or preheat it in the winter it really satisfies my inner geek so after all that was the model 3 a $50,000 mistake my biggest mistake was probably not buying one for my wife before the model Y was announced bottom line the model 3 is a beautiful car full of the latest technology and it's much better for the environment than any other brand new gasoline car would ever be yes the model 3 is still the best car I've ever driven and it's ruined all other cars for me except maybe the future Tesla Roadster so what do you think do you own a model 3 are you looking to get one what's your favorite thing about it do you think it's worth it let me know leave a comment down below thank you so much for watching my name is Andy if you want to see more Tesla videos and tech related videos in the future make sure you subscribe hit that subscribe button if you haven't already and I will talk to you in the next one bye

Channel: Andy Slye

Views: 1,830,493

Rating: 4.7332602 out of 5

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Id: g6r5SRM2H3A

Length: 12min 32sec (752 seconds)

Published: Tue Mar 26 2019