I really hope the German government does something to make it more desirable for employees to want the Model 3 or similar cars as company cars.<p>Just to explain the involved costs:
There's two ways the government taxes company cars for employees, either you get to write a driving log, that then marks each route as either private or business and then you get the privately driven part taxed as income OR you just get 1% of the new car value taxed as income each month and don't have to provide a driving log. The company pays for leasing, gas and maintenance.<p>That's where electric cars savings on fuel and maintenance don't affect business customers, they don't care mostly because the company pays for the gas anyway and is used to do that so it will stay that way quite a while.<p>I just hope they give a tax break on the 1% rule, so it's just 0,5 or something similar that makes these cars more desirable compared to a similar priced gas guzzler.
Is there a HUD or do I have to move my eyes to the centre console to check my speed? Seems like bad ergonomics to me... and whereas the road ahead is perhaps still in my peripheral vision when I check my speedo, its less so if I am glancing at the centre console (which maybe has a bunch of other distracting things on it as well?)
Nice, but $59,500 as shown. Not $35,000. The real-world price has crept up. The base model has a small battery.<p>The Tesla Model S starts at $68,000. So the real-world price is down only 13% from the Model S.
If everything goes right, Model 3 can change the business model of cars. Shift to value add + functionality upgrade based pricing versus a sales and service oriented model.
I'm certain if I ever own a Tesla, it'll be a long way into the future.<p>I'm glad they keep pushing forward though, it's causing the infrastructure to advance to a point where I'm almost ready to go fully EV.<p>Where I am, a low-mileage (20-30k) 3-5 year old Nissan Leaf is the equivalent of around $12k with no road tax to pay. And it gets around 150mpg equivalent due to electricity prices.<p>Exciting times!
There's also a review up at the verge as well. He seemed to like the interior for its elegant simplicity. And mentioned that having the speed on the LCD was likely better for him than having in the usual place. The new prius is similar in that regard.
For a while, I thought Tesla lacked taste. This new interior proves me wrong. It is simply stunning. This strikes me as the obvious future of automotive design.
I'm <i>sure</i> it's a great car in person, but from a casual observer's perspective, the dash looks like they upcycled the trim from a 70s car/station wagon/boat by sticking a shitty Android tablet onto it. It reminds me of something they'd whip up on Mythbusters to remotely drive off a cliff, under tight budget constraints.
The Tesla Model 3 has the most minimalistic interior I've ever seen<p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/tesla-model-3-minimalistic-interior-2017-7" rel="nofollow">http://www.businessinsider.com/tesla-model-3-minimalistic-in...</a>
While I appreciate almost everything Tesla does, and I may be in minority with this opinion here, but damn are their cards ugly / generic looking. Especially so with the interior. I like spartan features, or lack of, but it's just - ugly.
What sort of maintenance are performed on these cars??<p>Seems like there is nothing to be maintained, given the all steel, aluminum, glass stuff everywhere.<p>Does it have any oil changes required, like in brakes or transmission?
This is impressive,<p>> associate road test editor Erick Ayapana had penciled me into a 2.0-liter Alfa Romeo Giulia to get here, and it feels like a wet sponge by comparison.
I'm curious about the risk of the center detached tablet becoming a loose, dangerous projectile in the event of a crash. I haven't seen anything so far on how they've attached it to ensure that's not a problem in hard collisions.
At this price I'm actually kind of interested in what the lease prices would be.<p>I realize the waiting list is going to be really long of course, but the lease prices (assuming no opportunistic markup at the leasing company) should come in at a price point that actually makes this pretty cheap when fuel is taken into account.<p>Hopefully Tesla have the good sense to embrace this wholeheartedly, as I suspect that's where the critical mass could come from (and due to the short timeframes on car leases, extremely rapidly).
> <i>Tesla’s trying to change the vocabulary we’re using to describe it, from “kilowatt-hours” to “range.”</i><p>I understand why they did it -- Tesla's cars tend to be the most efficient EVs around, often by significant margins compared to competitors. But for someone who was hoping battery size competition would be the new megapixel race, this is quite disappointing to hear.<p>I suppose "range" could be used in the same way, but range is less "hard factual", as they can twist it however they want, unless they actually use the EPA and WLTP cycles.
Nice but still not what I need. I need a long range electric car whose interior I won't be afraid to damage from time to time. I need something that moves me, my family and my stuff (skis, bikes, windsurf + sails, mountaineering gears, etc..) to where I need to be, not something for showing-off and asserting status.<p>The large screen in the middle of the car is a non complete non-starter - lots of the stuff I carry in my car are going to poke nice holes in it: what a joke.<p>Tesla (or anyone else), please build a cheap, high-impact plastic, no-large-screen interior car with front and rear seats I can fold for lots of room and I'll buy them for the rest of my life.<p>What I want is a long-range electric 4x4 Renault Kangoo that is not a utility vehicle. I'm sure it can be built.