Step inside Tesla’s brand new Model 3 and journey with us as we take it for a long drive. Jack Rix from Top Gear.com takes a look. Subscribe to Top Gear for more videos:
Well, a sort of credit card thing at least, to the new tesla model 3. for about six or seven hours, to do with it what we will. but it was quite literally a drive around the block, secondly, there’s been a lot of chat about this car i’m not here to comment on the politics or get involved in any of that, tesla are gonna hate me for saying that but it is basically a shrunken
Model s. it seems a bit softer, a bit more curved, bit friendlier if you like. is one piece of glass, so from there all the way back to there, let’s look in the boot, just so you get it’s a saloon not a hatchback but quite a deep boot. so you can stick skis and long things in the back if you really want to. some people getting angry and saying it’s a difficult thing to do.
The other thing to mention is all the cameras this cars got on it. and the rest is leather and metal and wood and well a bit of plastic, as well. now i say we should take this thing for a drive but all in good time, it’s a bit like getting a new smartphone, you don’t just whack it out of the box this is the premium model so you get a a single air vent you’ll see, that runs
The full width across there. the steering wheel, the idea is you’ve got these two balls here, you’ll notice they’re not marked with any particular functions, it could just change the functions of these wheels altogether. so back to the big screen, the idea is it’s split into two parts. when you’re driving along so it’s more easily to hand. little shortcuts here that
Bring up the rear view camera. right then, we delve into the proper menu, so this is all your car settings. that wheel up and down, left and right does the left mirror, of course i showed you the key earlier, which was basically a credit card but really, if i had my phone set up that’s your key. now driving mode, there is no ludicrous mode yet in the model 3. comfort,
For twirly stuff around town, standard or sport. which shouldn’t be a problem today, you hit that and it helps you get out. autopilot. yes, i’ve just been out and had a demo of this thing. safety and security, blah blah blah. service… ooh and the glovebox. if we hit this you’ll see this is mine, so you can direct the airflow or whether you want it to whistle past
Your eyes like that. but we’re going to give it a go, easy to forget this thing actually moves. this is how you start this thing, the card i mentioned earlier. actually care about nuggety suspension and granular steering feel? that’s because you get standard springs and dampers in this car, it’s not uncomfortable, don’t get me wrong but it’s just slightly less refined.
But it’s cool that you can adjust the amount of weight that you want. that means it’s reading the road and it’s ready to be engaged. all very good what that lets me do is sit back relax and enjoy, that are hidden in the menu, you’re gonna love this. well, we turn into a space rover thing on the surface of mars. so if i hit this deer it says to enable and disable santa
Mode, obviously, i want to be concentrating on the road at all times. it involves hitting a cowbell repeatedly apparently push the drive stalk down four but do you know what, it shows that tesla has got a sense of humour, so, we come to the bit that you really want to know about on the model 3, you don’t have to faff around with any driving modes whatsoever, what i’ll do
Then is if i slow down a little bit to 40 miles an hour, because you’ve got this big wodge of acceleration under your foot that means it feels solid and planted and there isn’t much body roll, even more so than the model s, the model s does the same sort of things, now, earlier, i may have referred to this i can’t quite remember but actually i’m gonna take it back i thought
This would be an appliance but it’s quite good fun. and at the end of the day, the question is would i actually want one? what you find is this is a properly well sorted car. the problem is this is the one i want, i want the top spec one. the base spec one, that’s a lot less, it’s $35,000, which is amazing really, but there is a problem, if i walk into that dealership
There in new york and if i walk into a dealership in london and do the same thing, that’s just such an immense amount of time and it’s starting to put people off. that they can get to grips with this mass production thing, themselves one hell of a car
Transcribed from video
The Tesla Model 3 | Top Gear By Top Gear