Before you even read this story, we’re certain you already have an opinion on Tesla. See, Tesla is in the headlines for rather eyebrow-raising reasons, chief among which is its CEO, Elon Musk.
The thing is, Tesla’s cars—at least from a road tester’s perspective—are actually good. Reviews from abroad have generally good things to say about them, but again, it’s hard to escape the cloud of controversy that follows the brand.
Tesla landed here earlier this year with a pair of two models. These are the Tesla Model 3 and Model Y. More recently, the new Model Y Juniper made its local premiere.
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What we tried out was the Model 3, serving as the entry point to Tesla ownership in the country. That said, the version we drove is anything but entry-level. It was, of course, the Performance.
How fast is it?
The Model 3 Performance we drove punches out 510hp and 610Nm. Those are serious numbers and good enough to get to 100kph in the sub-3.5sec range. The advertised horsepower and torque rating are very much felt on the road, so there’s no doubt about its speed.
If anything, it’s the performance that made Tesla a household name over a decade ago. There was no shortage of viral videos of owners doing acceleration pulls in them, and these showed that EVs can be livable and, in some parts, even fun.
Has the novelty of its rapid straight-line performance worn off? In the local context, at least, it hasn’t. We admit we let out a giggle or two when we prodded the accelerator.
What’s the range of the Tesla Model 3?
Ah, yes, a very important question. In the case of the Performance version we drove, a single charge can get you up to 514km. That comes courtesy of the 81kWh battery pack. From our observation, during the short drive, battery efficiency is good. Thirty minutes of driving yielded a loss of just 2-3%, which isn’t bad considering it mostly involved driving around traffic and a fair bit of idling.
That’s cool and all, but does it turn?
One of the accidental benefits of EVs is a low center of gravity. Those heavy batteries are mounted under the seats, planting the vehicle to the ground. We’ll admit we didn’t feel the Model 3’s supposed handling prowess in our short drive, but we can tell you that the chassis feels buttoned-down and composed. While you’re aware of its weight, it’s not cumbersome on the road.
But what surprised us was its feel and feedback. There’s bags of it, almost like a...well, a car with an engine. It reacts like a proper sports sedan with just enough heft in the steering to make it feel almost natural. The steering effort can be increased artificially, but leave it in its default setting and it’ll satisfy most.
Is it comfortable?
We’ll make one thing clear: If you want a comfortable midsize sedan, there are cars out there that will offer a cushier ride. Don’t get into this car expecting a magic carpet ride—you’ll be disappointed.
Instead, approach this as a sports sedan. The ride is on the firmer side, at least for the Performance version, and can be made stiffer by digging through submenus. More on that later.
Yes, you’ll feel a fair bit of the road surface, especially from the back, but not in a spine-jostling manner. It’s not what we’d call choppy, and there are no unnecessary extra movements that will upset passengers. That said, we’d say the BYD Seal is a touch more comfortable.
And what about the ergonomics?
So, it drives well, goes like stink, and is kinda comfortable. So far, so good. However, the Model 3’s ergonomics might be its biggest dealbreaker. Forget everything you know about basic vehicle ergonomics—Tesla threw all of that away in this one, for better or worse.
Buttons? Gone for the most part. Dials? Nada. Stalks? Forget about it. We usually say that a lot of cars have shoved every basic function into the touchscreen, but it’s done to the extreme here in the Model 3.
To turn on the wipers manually, you’ll need to dig into the menu. Ditto the headlights. Sure, there are automatic functions, but it’s a solution to a problem that shouldn’t even be one. Oh, and you can’t even adjust the direction of the air from the vents by yourself. You’ll have to do that via the screen, too. It makes you stop, take a look at it, and say ‘What for?’
The madness doesn’t stop there. Because there are no stalks, you’ll have to activate the turn signals differently, via buttons on the steering wheel on the left-hand side. At least they’re not in the screen, right? And there are two ways to select Drive: You can either swipe it on the screen or use the ceiling-mounted buttons. Yes, ceiling mounted.
While you can get used to it, we had to constantly remind ourselves that the user interface in this car is very different. Having told this to one of our friends, he simply said, ‘Mababangga ako diyan.’ At least the car comes with advanced driver assists.
Thankfully, we had a product genius from Tesla on board to help us out, but we can only imagine the confusion when other people try it out. And we thought the Volvo EX30 was already too much when it came to shoving everything in the infotainment.
Seriously, why reinvent the wheel? If you do want a Tesla with turn signal stalks, you’ll have to go for the Model Y Juniper.
About the elephant in the room...
As a car, the Model 3 isn’t bad—it’s one of the nicer EVs we’ve driven this year. Prices are hugely competitive, too, with the base variant starting at P2,109,000, making it even more affordable compared to, say, a Toyota Camry Hybrid. The Model 3 Performance we sampled carried a price tag of P3,099,000, so it’s effectively one of the least expensive ways to get over 500hp.
The trouble is, Tesla’s CEO isn’t exactly making the company endearing following controversial statements and actions. We’ve heard of what’s going on over in the US, and sales in Europe have practically cratered. Simply put, Musk’s recent actions, whether you agree with him or not, have caused issues for the brand. It’s almost as if it’s undone the hard work of the company’s engineers to build a competent electric sports sedan, but that’s a story for another day.
That said, the headlines surrounding the company haven’t really affected sales here. Tesla Philippines sold 211 units in the first quarter of the year, or about 70 cars per month. That’s more than two per day. It will be interesting to see how the electric carmaker fares in its first full year of local operation.
