Reviews of the Tesla Model 3

Buzz is pouring out regularly for the new sedan from Tesla. The new all electric car's base price begins at a modest $35,000 U.S. and that is without any government incentives.

  

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CEO of Tesla, Elon Musk hopes the car will take over first place in the market edging out the Chevrolet Bolt EV that ranges in price form $37,495 to $41,750. The higher end model of the Tesla will be about the same price as the high end Bolt. In 2nd place is the Volkswagen e-Golf and third the BMW i3 and next the Mercedes-Benz B-Class Electric Drive. Production started on the model 3 just this July as described in a recent Digital Journal article.

The new Model 3 owes a great deal of its styling and features to earlier Tesla models. It looks like the Model S but smaller and has a tall roof and a bobbed nose and tail. The snout reminds one of the original Tesla Roadster and the front of the Model X. Like most other Tesla models it has both a front and rear trunk. Tesla CEO Elon Musk said to a crowd when he first revealed the car: “For all of you who bought an S or an X, thank you for helping pay for the Model 3. With any new technology, it takes multiple iterations and economies of scale before you can make it affordable,” Musk said. A mass-market car “was only possible to do . . . after going through the prior steps.”

Motortrend`s review claims that this is the car the will either save Tesla or kill it. Many other analysts take a similar view. Tesla will need to ramp up its production tremendously to provide for the over 500,000 vehicles that have already been reserved. All production units will be larger and if there is a large recall the results could be disastrous. The stock market has been favorable to the release of the Model 3 with Tesla valuation now being more than that of General Motors and Ford.

Billionaire investor David Einhorn, has been shorting Tesla for some time suffering considerable losses but he insists that the company is over-valued and will soon need more capital as it has used up $2 billion so far this year mostly on the Model 3. Einhorn has been wrong so far not just on Tesla but Amazon and Athenahealth Inc. that he calls his bubble basket stocks. Most of the reviews of the car are positive some very much so but should there be production problems or recalls Einhorn could perhaps recover some of his losses and even post gains on his bets. Those who have reserved their Model 3`s will not likely receive them until the end of 2018 according to Musk.

Among the innovations in the Model 3 is the back single-piece panoramic window. Kim Reynolds, testing director of the model said: . “That Mammoth wrap-over rear glass is wild. It’ll adequately protect against sun problems due to high UV resistance — don’t worry about that. But some folks may not like being so exposed — you’re really in a fishbowl.”

An early Consumer Reports review of the Model 3 summarizes the pros and cons of the car. One of the pros are its range of more than 200 miles. The premium model goes much further even. The car also has quick acceleration. There is room for for five. However the associate Edmund`s editor Christian Seabaugh said he was literally squished when he sat with 3 people in the back although he said his leg room was satisfactory even though he was over six feet tall. Another plus was the front and back storage spaces. Finally, the Model 3 is able to use Tesla`s high-speed Supercharging network. One con was that the car was not to begin construction until late 2017. However, construction has already begun in July. Consumer Reports also noted that there had been reliability problems with other Tesla models.

More details on the features of the Model 3 are to be found in the three different reviews selected from You Tube. If Tesla is able to produce the Model 3 in the numbers required to satisfy demand and there are no serious recalls the model may establish Tesla as the electric car maker to beat.