Updated! Tesla Model 3 2024 review: Is the Highland EV the best new electric car you can buy?

whether you like it or not the Tesla Model 3 is the most important car to launch in the last decade not only because of its popularity but also because it's made electric cars so affordable and so accessible I think it will go down in history as our generation version of something like the Ford Model T or Volkswagen Beetle what we're looking at today though is its first major facelift yes the brand has changed things before but the car we're looking at here while it looks quite the same is actually nearly 50% new underneath so has Tesla addressed some of our major criticisms of the outgoing vehicle and is it much better this time around let's take a look the new model 3 follows the same range and pricing structure as before the popular entry-level rear wheel drive the one we've sampled for this review comes in at a little over $60,000 before on-road costs and state-based incentives while the mid-spec long range set to arrive in February costs $10,000 more the top speack performance has not yet been revealed expect to see that version rejoin the range before the end of 2024 and Tesla has promised something really special in stall for it this time around unlike when it first arrived in Australia the updated model 3 is under threat from multiple directions the refreshed Pulsar 2 has just launched with even more range in a similar set of Under the Skin improvements and it's at a similar price point too while the byd seal looks to make a splash with a similar form factor but bargain pricing if you're already familiar with the Tesla range not much has changed in terms of standard equipment this time around although some bits have received a major upgrade there still LED headlights and 18-in wheels with aerodynamic covers that massive 15.4 in central control panel synthetic leather seat trim this time with ventilation and upgraded designs dual wireless chargers up front a power tailgate and of course the brand signature best on the market software suite with always online connectivity and a Sleek app too upgrades for this year include extended soft trims throughout the cabin ambient interior lighting and a blind spot camera for use on both size while indicating and a rear touchcreen for climate controls and entertainment for rear passengers it's not all good news though still missing at things like apple carplay connectivity with the brand forcing you to use built-in versions of apps and there's no digital instrument cluster or Head Up Display you also have to delve into the accessories list to get things like a cover for the sunroof and a tire repair kit both things which should really be standard there's a whole lot more to this face than just those new light fittings in fact the model 3's redesign is more function than form this whole Bonnet piece has been redesigned and the car has been entirely reprofiled to reduce the drag coefficient and even reduce wind noise collecting on the Bonnet this continues across the silhouette of the car all the way to a new shapely boot fitting with a nice little wing finish to it while I didn't mind the Porsche style front lights of the outgoing carve the new slim ones really grew on me and other upgrades include a much more contemporary Set of Lights at the rear with with new Tesla badge work there as well as a bonus there's even cooler redesigned versions of the aerodynamic hubc caps for the base rear wheeel drives 18in Wheels on the inside of the new model 3 is where the majority of actually visible changes have occurred and they're really quite lovely the previous car it wasn't bad but the seats didn't breathe very well there were a few hard plastics around the cabin and some not so convincing finishes it was a nice minimalistic space but that's continued here as well there's a new steering wheel it's missing the big Tesla logo it's now got some sort of contemporary type face on there there's a nice carpeted finish in the doors and running across the top of the dash replacing that wood infill that was there and the Plastics that were in here and this is a really nice contemporary material a lot more manufacturers are moving to this material because it's a bit more genuine than fake leather and it's a bit better than hard plastic as well but in this car it's functional too because it reduces the amount of noise entering the cabin and these sort of soft materials have continued all throughout the cabin and even into the boot the hard plastics have been replaced by a carpeted finish so that's a really notable upgrade to the ambience in this cabin now the other thing that's been upgraded for this car this time around is a lovely ambient lighting feature this strip runs through the doors and all around the dash almost like in a Volkswagen id4 or something and it really does lift the ambience in this cabin to go with the the quieter higher quality finishes too so really like that about these upgraded features but the features that were in the car before have also been tweaks so you've got a better screen these nice roller covers are included again and have a tasteful sort of finish on them but one of the other biggest upgrades is the seats the key thing to know about these is there's been a focus on comfort and breathability this time around so the sort of straight finish of the previous seat has been replaced by a perforated finish in the center and there's also better slide bolstering this time around so these are much more comfortable to sit in they breathe better it's all around a much nicer cabin than it was before so how about practicality has it been upgraded at all well it's been tweaked a little bit but the essential offering is basically the same those two lovely wireless chargers are there for your phone and keeps this interior nice and cable free you've got a relatively large pocket in the doors here which is good for our largest 1 L Car Guide bottle and this slight open cover reveals two more cup holders in there too which have been tweaked a little from the previous ones they're quite nice in there as well you got a huge center console here as well and if you go under this roller cover there's quite a large space under there with a 12volt power outlet too you've got the glove box which is weird because you have to activate it through the multimedia screen again bizarre and then there are some major changes which I think no one was asking for it's like Tesla can't help itself it has to mess with the car formula this here is stalkless at least that's what Tesla calls it and that means they've removed the drive S color stalk that's now operated through the touchcreen it's pretty weird and the same goes for the indicators they've removed the stalk for that and they're now buttons on the steering wheel I was kind of worried about these changes because I thought I'd really dislike them just like I dislike other parts of this car like the lack of a dashboard however after about 24 hours of driving it I was really used to the button on the steering wheel setup it's actually not as bad as you think it's going to be and the drive selector it's nice and Slick although there has been the odd occasion where it's natural to pull a drive selector towards you to select drive and I've accidentally selected reverse because I pull the car towards me which actually selects reverse you push it forward to go forward and then there's a button for Park but honestly I didn't really mind these changes in my time with the car again I would love a cover for that sunroof well the tinted glass works fine at keeping the Sun out when you're actually driving around and you can preset the climate control via the app on a hot day forgetting to do that will mean an Absol absolutely boiling interior if parked outside in the Summer sun next let's take a look at the back seat okay back seat of the model 3 and this is one of the areas where this car has been again majorly upgraded those soft trims all continue the ambient lighting continues and there's actually an increase in other padded finishes in here again to reduce that noise and to lift the cabin Ambience up a lot as you can see behind my own driving position there I've got quite a bit of knee room so I'm pretty impressed with that as usual the floor is nice and flat so there's somewhere to put your feet making that middle spot kind of useful for an adult it is a little narrow in here though and these seat claddings have been redesigned to be more comfortable and let you sit a bit sort of nicer in this space as well and it's worked I I feel like this is much more comfortable than what I remember the previous car feeling like now again I'm 182 cm tall and Headroom is getting a little close to the danger zone there you wouldn't want to be too much taller than me to sit back here in relative Comfort but for me it's pretty good the biggest upgrades in this version of the car is a completely redesigned back of the center console there's now a screen back here and I know you might laugh because oh so they could put a screen there but they couldn't put one for a dashboard but anyway you've got one back here and it's got some cool stuff in it you've got the touchscreen uh thing to control the air vents this time around uh you've got some entertainment options which might be great if you've got kids back here um and a sort of a separate climate zone for control which is is really nice two USB ports continue on the backs of those seats and you got some clam shell finishes on these don't love those but they're fine other than those for storage you've got a decent bottle holder in the door with a bit of a pocket going on in there as well and this sort of clever armrest thing which has the headset integrated I love that um and there's two more bottle holders in there too but they are a little bit narrow they only just fit our big bottle here if I really push it there we go boot space is largely unchanged this time around but because it's a sedan unlike the Pulstar 2 which is more of a lift back it's a bit harder to get objects in and out to fit the whole cars guide luggage set for example we had to use the underfloor storage area for the smallest case there's also a pretty big frunk which measures at 88 l i don't find I use frks very often in the real world but it can be good for storing charging equipment if the boot is full now one thing that hasn't changed this time around is the model 3's motor and its battery and honestly they didn't need to change anyway they're already some of the best on the market the model 3 has always been excellent when it comes to driving range and this continues for the update this time around the base version can travel of whopping 513 km according to official wltp measurements although my car was showing more like 430 K when I charged it up I assumed this was to do with the excessive energy consumption during our video shoot and testing with the airon blasting for hours straight on a hot day hopefully we can bring you a more accurate range test at a later date the model 3 rear wheeel drive's quoted charge speed is 170 KW on a DC fast unit allowing 282 km of range to be added every 15 minutes according to the brand I charged up once at a 75 Katt EV unit which took me to 95% from 20% in about half an hour meanwhile on AC the model 3 scores a Max rate of 11 KW no matter which variant you choose there's no two-way vehicle to load system either so the model 3 does miss out on that particular electric car utility on our test we also overshot the energy Claim by about 2 KW hours to 100 km although with a still and video shoot on our hot day we were hardly giving the car the correct environment to shine the previous model 3 was actually lovely to drive it was fast it was agile it was effortless it was all those great things but it was also a little bit unpolished for all its great attributes it had some genuinely unpleasant ones and this time around the brand has gone to length to address them there's all new suspension in this car where the previous car was firm to a fault it was crashy it was noisy this version of the car is significantly different even the very mounting points where the suspension connect to the body have changed and the result is a car which is much more resolved when it comes to dealing with the everyday bumps of life it even deals with larger bumps well but maintains that kind of firm sporting character which made its predecessor so great to drive in the corners things that haven't changed this time around include that rear motor but you've still got hot hatch performance on offer here and it feels faster than the numbers suggest because you do have that instant application of the torque and the Really clever computer managed traction control as well which makes this car so quick and so much fun to drive the steering also seems to be largely carry over it's really lovely and it has so few turns to lock that it makes the car feel like really diry and kind of engaging to drive but the three modes are quite computer assisted so it is a little odd to drive at first but if you're coming out of another car it's something you have to get used to the three modes include Comfort standard and Sport and honestly I only really like standard and comfort even standard is pretty heavy sport is so heavy it's almost useless it is a little different in a Tesla if you've never driven one before I've driven enough of these cars that I'm quite used to the odd features in them like having to control everything through the touchcreen that off center Speedo and the lack of a digital dash now you also have to deal with the oddness of the indicators on the steering wheel and that drive selector on the screen which just sort of add another science fiction element to the drive experience in this car alongside that radar screen and that always on nav another major thing that's been addressed this time around is the amount of noise entering the cabin that's to do with all of those materials we talked about before but also to do with the new suspension and various other upgrades throughout this car for the most part the problem's been solved if you're driving around at City speeds it's really lovely and quiet in this cabin now especially with that new acoustic glass and everything going on but I have to say once you get up to those kind of freeway speeds you're starting to get a bit more tire noise into the cabin and I think that's less to do with the amount of sound deadening in this cabin and more to do with the fact that we're on firm efficiency based V Tires now these tires go a long way to increasing the range but they obviously have the downside that they are a firac compound and therefore they don't quite have as much grip as maybe some other tires might have but also that increase in Rolling noise now the other thing definitely worth mentioning about the Tesla Drive experience is the excellent autopilot Suite now don't treat it like it's a true autopilot because it's not but it's one of the best systems on the market in terms of adaptive cruise control control it's disturbingly good at staying in its Lane and it's disturbingly good at keeping a really accurate distance from the car in front so while yes it's not the true autopilot experience even if you opt for the full self-driving which is questionable of whether it's actually full self-driving or not it's still one of the best computerized Cruise systems to have as your pal on a long trip it's not without its weirdness and it's not without things that you'll need to get used to and it's not without small flaws but this car has improved out of sight I'm really pleased with the changes that have occurred under this car to make it so comfortable and so much better to live with than the previous model 3 these are the kind of changes which are going to go a long way to keep Rivals off this car's back because as you probably know and you might want to watch our Pulstar 2 review that car has also been upgraded with a better ride and more range and the same goes for the byd seal that's a new competitor in this space that's even more affordable so the Tesla really did need these upgrades to stay stay ahead of the pack now you might think Tesla could just rest on its Laurels and keep the same safety equipment that it had before because it really does tick all the major boxes but this car has been upgraded yet again so a new safety test over in America for side intrusion has meant that there's new sort of lips in the doors to make this car even safer in the event of a side impact and the Safety Systems have been upgraded so you've now got a a blind spot camera when you put the indicator on that's a nice additional touch and of course you've got the usual Auto emergency braking at freeway speeds and all the other safety systems that we really do expect at this price and in this category there are now seven airbags in the cabin with the addition of a front center airbag this time around and as the model 3 is an update on an existing car we expect it to be able to carry across its maximum five-star anap safety rating it achieved in 2019 one area where Tesla really lags the competition is its warranty which comes in at 4 years and 80,000 km this is a full year less than what we like to see as a minimum and most automakers are also offering unlimited kilm during that period however the high voltage battery and Drive Unit are covered by a separate and more industry standard 8year and 160,000 km warranty Service pricing is computer determined meaning the car will tell you when it's time to visit a shop from what we can see Tesla's service items are reasonably priced but the big thing to look out for on EVS is tires because they affect everything from your efficiency to handling because these cars are much heavier than their combustion [Music] equivalents so there you have it Tesla's model 3 upgraded while it's still got some quirks and the competition is closing in I'm really pleased with what's changed this time around to keep this car ahead of the competition it really is still King of the EVS at least in this size bracket what do you think would you buy buy a Pulstar 2 or a byd seal instead tell us in the comments below and don't forget to check out our full written review over at carsguide AU

Channel: CarsGuide

Views: 80,169

Keywords: CarsGuide, CarsGuide.com.au, Tesla, Model 3, Review

Id: 2DdDx1f3_Po

Length: 17min 35sec (1055 seconds)

Published: Fri Dec 22 2023