Elon Musk Rolls Out Tesla's Model 3

Megalith

24-bit/48kHz
Staff member
Joined
Aug 20, 2006
Messages
13,000
Tesla has released footage of the first Model 3 handovers for those who missed the livestream. I am seeing a ton of coverage on the sedan right now, but I thought this video with Musk was the most entertaining. A rundown of the official specs, which includes a range of 220 to 310 miles and a starting price of $35,000, may be found here. Another piece discusses the vehicle’s ultra-minimalistic interior.
 
Really not a fan of that interior.

Speaks to just how expensive the core parts of the car are that they have to cut corners on the interior, seats, and other non-critical areas. I mean, does it even have air vents for A/C or a glove box? I'm surprised they even have cup holders at that point.
 
Motortrend review is out:
http://www.motortrend.com/cars/tesla/model-3/2018/exclusive-tesla-model-3-first-drive-review/
The Model 3 is so unexpected scalpel-like, I’m sputtering for adjectives. The steering ratio is quick, the effort is light (for me), but there’s enough light tremble against your fingers to hear the cornering negotiations between Stunt Road and these 235/40R19 tires (Continental ProContact RX m+s’s)

Looks like they were impressed.
Have I ever driven a more startling small sedan? I haven’t. At speed, it gains a laser-alertness I haven’t encountered before. By happenstance, 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.
...
With the Tesla Model 3’s performance, slinky style, fascinating creativity, and, critically, its Supercharger safety net, I think this is truly where it begins. Here at the corner of Mulholland Highway and Old Topanga Road.
 
Really not a fan of that interior. Speaks to just how expensive the core parts of the car are that they have to cut corners on the interior, seats, and other non-critical areas. I mean, does it even have air vents for A/C or a glove box? I'm surprised they even have cup holders at that point.

It's hard to know this stuff from pictures, but yes on the AC, and as for controls, according to MT (Linked earlier):
Interior air (from subtle vents) is aimed by moving spots around on the display, even dividing the airflow to send it past each ear.

As for the glove box, I saw it in this video, nothing unusual (around 3:40):


But was surprised by the amount of hidden storage space between the front seats, there's like a whole ice-box sized area under the middle compartment (around 2:30).

And yes a pair of cup holders in the front, and another pair for the back.
 
Last edited:
does it even have air vents for A/C or a glove box?

Did a bit more digging on the A/C thing, and found this clip that was interesting (Skip to around 11:40):


So the short is:
The A/C in the model 3 is basically setup as that entire slit in the front spanning the entire width of the console, and the driver has somewhat fine grained control over the behavior of the cooling setup, stuff like balance, direction or strength etc, kinda like setting up surround sound but for air conditioning.
 
Yeah, I figured the vents were under that whole top part and just above the wood finish.

It just makes the whole thing look odd. They justify it by saying they wanted it that way to make the small interior feel bigger than it is which is fine. Still looks weird to me.

That review from motortrends does hit on what I care about more though: that it seems to be a great far to drive for the price.
 
An then there's the spare tire..
Opps, Tesla doesn't think you need one.
Maybe they figure you will never go too far from home due the limit range.
 
Yeah I would have preferred a wide thin basic screen readout where the dials used to go, the same depth as the wood strip and then a smaller vertical touch screen in the console.

Being different for different sake doesn't always work for me.
 
Yeah,

As I mentioned in the old thread on this, that interior has me considering cancelling my reservation.

I thought the early prototypes without an instrument cluster and just a big swiveling screen in the center were just that, concept vehicles, which always get made more sane before they make it to production, but apparently Tesla is sticking with that idiotic design.

I'd want at least a speedometer, odometer, battery charge indicator, and estimated remaining range indicator in the traditional instrument cluster location behind the wheel. Having to look down and to the right for these basic things seems absolutely idiotic and dangerous.

Musk explained it away saying that a traditional instrument cluster is less important as vehicles become more autonomous. Maybe I'm different than the other people interested in a Tesla, but I have absolutely no interest what so ever in autonomous driving features. I'd buy it without them all together if I could. I just want a good solid electric car. I'll drive it myself, thank you very much.
 
My friend sent me a message last night saying he was on TV. Watching the footage now and asking him some questions, confirmed Musk wasn't at the Gigafactory. So I'm not sure what he was talking about. Maybe they just had tons of cameras and he thought he was on the stream.

As far as the car goes, meh. I could care less about vehicles.
 
Looks like the car even lacks most (now) standard thumb controls on the steering wheel... Don't see where they are going with this, need to use the screen for basic functions is a distraction.
 
My friend sent me a message last night saying he was on TV. Watching the footage now and asking him some questions, confirmed Musk wasn't at the Gigafactory. So I'm not sure what he was talking about. Maybe they just had tons of cameras and he thought he was on the stream.

As far as the car goes, meh. I could care less about vehicles.


Musk was in the Freemont plant, but they had a simultaneous event at the Gigafactory, and the two were tied together so that the people at the Gigafactory could see Must on a big screen. At one point when discussing the plants, they put the Gigafactory camera on the big screen in Freemont, and the people at the Gigafactory did make it into the live stream.
 
I'd want at least a speedometer, odometer, battery charge indicator, and estimated remaining range indicator in the traditional instrument cluster location behind the wheel. Having to look down and to the right for these basic things seems absolutely idiotic and dangerous.

For me I'm loving the clean simplicity of it, and I'd rather see the speed on the side by the GPS rather than through a hole in the steering wheel, plus they seemed to have positioned it at a reasonable height for my taste. I've been in cars with dashes like that before and it was comfortable.

Tesla-Model-3-Interior.png


I'm a fan of clean spartan design, easy on my eyes and gives me the feel of more spaciousness, the lack of clutter appeals to me. But that is subjective of course.

My personal dilemma is more about the dual motor option scheduled for later release, was hoping to get one of those, but that may have to wait.

I might just end up buying the most convenient option available and then re-sell and get another one with the dual motor option later on, I doubt the market value of these things will go down much for the next couple years while demand is high.
 
Last edited:
Strongly dislike the big giant screen in the center of the dash; it's poor ergonomics and a distraction to the driver who should be looking towards the road and not to the lower right.
 
I'm pleasantly surprised by this car, damn it is beautiful. The Motortrend review is just glowing too, it sounds like a dream to drive. For where I live the range isn't going to cut it yet, and they'll need more supercharging infrastructure before it makes sense. Tesla is fully on my radar now for my next car if this stuff improves in the next couple of years.
 
Yeah,

As I mentioned in the old thread on this, that interior has me considering cancelling my reservation.

I thought the early prototypes without an instrument cluster and just a big swiveling screen in the center were just that, concept vehicles, which always get made more sane before they make it to production, but apparently Tesla is sticking with that idiotic design.

I'd want at least a speedometer, odometer, battery charge indicator, and estimated remaining range indicator in the traditional instrument cluster location behind the wheel. Having to look down and to the right for these basic things seems absolutely idiotic and dangerous.

Musk explained it away saying that a traditional instrument cluster is less important as vehicles become more autonomous. Maybe I'm different than the other people interested in a Tesla, but I have absolutely no interest what so ever in autonomous driving features. I'd buy it without them all together if I could. I just want a good solid electric car. I'll drive it myself, thank you very much.

I am having the same thought. Having the instrument display and control to the right is just downright dangerous. How much more does it cost to have a smaller LCD screen behind the wheel? And charging me $1000 for any color other than black, that's just downright ridiculous. I just want a safe and reliable electric vehicle. This might not be what I want and I am thinking about cancelling the reservation.
 
I just want my car to work. It looks like this one does well and has enough features to get me to want to buy it.
 
I think it looks great but not in a position to buy a new car right now. It would make a great daily driver as im in the middle of going solar.
 
looks not too bad ... kine of like it. A bit Apple'ish. Just hope the display can be moved a bit towards the driver. Plus the version for right-side-steering comes in 2019. Still some time to wait.
 
Will test drive it first to see how I like the center screen before canceling my preorder.
 
For me I'm loving the clean simplicity of it, and I'd rather see the speed on the side by the GPS rather than through a hole in the steering wheel, plus they seemed to have positioned it at a reasonable height for my taste. I've been in cars with dashes like that before and it was comfortable.

Tesla-Model-3-Interior.png


I'm a fan of clean spartan design, easy on my eyes and gives me the feel of more spaciousness, the lack of clutter appeals to me. But that is subjective of course.

My personal dilemma is more about the dual motor option scheduled for later release, was hoping to get one of those, but that may have to wait.

I might just end up buying the most convenient option available and then re-sell and get another one with the dual motor option later on, I doubt the market value of these things will go down much for the next couple years while demand is high.

I agree. I have found most modern car dashes have become a cluttered mess. This looks great!

I think concerns about it being off center for the driver, are way overblown. The driver info is in the upper left corner, which is is high and practically in your perfipheral vision with you you eyes on the road, and vice versa.

I drive an older car with radio and climate controls that need eyes on to adjust and they are way lower in the center console-dash, than even the bottom of that screen.

My only concern would be glare off that big touch screen, since those things are usually glossy.
 
Musk explained it away saying that a traditional instrument cluster is less important as vehicles become more autonomous. Maybe I'm different than the other people interested in a Tesla, but I have absolutely no interest what so ever in autonomous driving features. I'd buy it without them all together if I could. I just want a good solid electric car. I'll drive it myself, thank you very much.
I couldn't agree more. I already have a hard time trusting rear view cameras and parking sensors on current cars. I learned to drive manually checking my blind spots and actually turning my head around and that's muscle memory I doubt I'll ever be fully comfortable breaking. I know I won't feel comfortable with letting my car drive itself so might as well not even pay the money for the features no matter how interesting they sound.
 
Please tell me im not stuck with a small car running on 19" rims as a "every man's car". At least with my mid size, it came with 18's, but i could put big squishy 16's on it for winter for pot hole season.
 
Don't understand why they think a giant iPad in the middle of the car is better than a normal console and physical knobs to control climate, etc.
 
Don't understand why they think a giant iPad in the middle of the car is better than a normal console and physical knobs to control climate, etc.

And then the giant iPad breaks or fails...

You know if a knob drops off in my car...it's probably still usable.
 
Don't understand why they think a giant iPad in the middle of the car is better than a normal console and physical knobs to control climate, etc.

You need to embrace silicone valley my child for you exist but by the grace of tech billionaires. For they are the shepherd that will guide all facets of the life of us lambs. Is there no aspect of our lives that the saviors of silicone valley cannot place their divine intervention? The answer is no according to the tech horny media.
 
Don't understand why they think a giant iPad in the middle of the car is better than a normal console and physical knobs to control climate, etc.

Agreed.

You can reach your hand out and adjust a knob without looking. It is impossible to operate a touch screen without looking. This is not the best design. I guess they are counting on people using autopilot all the time :(
 
Agreed.

You can reach your hand out and adjust a knob without looking. It is impossible to operate a touch screen without looking. This is not the best design. I guess they are counting on people using autopilot all the time :(

Same people said the same thing for Model S, but car reviewers, and even ultra picky Consumer reports said it was fine. Tesla does the best touch screen + steering wheel controls in the industry.
 
Agreed.

You can reach your hand out and adjust a knob without looking. It is impossible to operate a touch screen without looking. This is not the best design. I guess they are counting on people using autopilot all the time :(

Not only that but knobs don't require power to work. I think about my car now with regards to knobs, buttons, etc. and can't imagine having to drive and adjust things and look at a screen all the time to do it. Now obviously a touchscreen doesn't use much power compared to the heat/AC/motors but still when I drive at night I want the inside to be as dark as possible - seeing a friend's Tesla with the night-blinding screen really opened my eyes as to how unsafe it really is like that.

Same people said the same thing for Model S, but car reviewers, and even ultra picky Consumer reports said it was fine. Tesla does the best touch screen + steering wheel controls in the industry.

Funny thing was when I went to look at a Tesla recently in a showroom most of the other customers were fumbling looking for controls, etc. The problem with touchscreen is there's no feedback mechanism to let you know what you're doing without physically looking all the time so I'm surprised CR gave them a pass on this. The CSRs tried to sell me on one but I told them I would refuse until Tesla offers a version without the screen and with normal ergonomically safe controls.
 
Funny thing was when I went to look at a Tesla recently in a showroom most of the other customers were fumbling looking for controls, etc. The problem with touchscreen is there's no feedback mechanism to let you know what you're doing without physically looking all the time so I'm surprised CR gave them a pass on this. The CSRs tried to sell me on one but I told them I would refuse until Tesla offers a version without the screen and with normal ergonomically safe controls.

I don't mind having a screen in the car. There are tons of useful things you can put on a screen. Android Auto + Waze comes to mind.

I just don't want there to be ONLY a screen and nothing else.
 
Oh god, they actually kept that design. "Oh shit, we forgot to put in some controls. Guess we'll just put this screen in the middle of it all to control things."

Can't wait to see the reliability issues they'll have with all the controls through that single screen. You know, like they did with their other cars and people not being able to do anything cause the screen crashed from overheating.

Funny thing was when I went to look at a Tesla recently in a showroom most of the other customers were fumbling looking for controls, etc. The problem with touchscreen is there's no feedback mechanism to let you know what you're doing without physically looking all the time so I'm surprised CR gave them a pass on this. The CSRs tried to sell me on one but I told them I would refuse until Tesla offers a version without the screen and with normal ergonomically safe controls.

I bought a Sony touchscreen double din stereo for my car. Only physical buttons is the rotary one for volume, which you can press to turn on/off. Also a menu button. Everything else is on the screen. I have to keep looking down just to skip to next song. Dumbest decision I ever made for a stereo.

I would hate to have things like climate controls on there.
 
I'm glad I never bought any replacement stereos with screens on them. All I want to do is plug in my USB flash drive and be able to turn the volume up/down and skip forward/backward on the tracks. In this sense the more minimal the display the better I like it.

I've rented a few new cars recently and the big giant screens for the entertainment systems really annoyed me with how bright they are at night.

If Tesla offered a "classic" dashboard without the big screen, normal instrument cluster, and normal audio/climate controls I would likely consider buying one.
 
The screen auto-dims when I turn on the lights. It's not real noticeable, but it can be annoying when you're driving around during the day with your lights on. You can't really make it out. Well I bluetooth my phone to it to play music, so I just change it there during then. My phone is mounted near my gauge cluster.

Well, next stereo I'll go with something with more physical buttons. Maybe go back to a single-din.
 
Agreed.

You can reach your hand out and adjust a knob without looking. It is impossible to operate a touch screen without looking. This is not the best design. I guess they are counting on people using autopilot all the time :(

They actually have two multi-directional knobs on the steering wheel. Saw in one of the vids you can adjust lotsa things with those so they appear to have moved that kind of functionality there.



You can have multiple profiles for different drivers - for example spouse or kid etc, maybe they prefer diff mirror and steering wheel adjustments and such - and my understanding is you can setup "quick access" stuff through those knobs so that's how that's handled.

Basically instead of a dozen knobs there's two flexible ones that do the same thing, and those functions are controlled more precisely in this fashion - mirrors, sound vol/balance, air conditioning direction/power etc.

It doesn't have to be a WW2 bomber's cockpit to work lol.
 
Last edited:
i am excited for cars like the model 3, but ill be sticking with my used chevy volts for a few years. We got a loaded 2012 with low miles for $10,500 and i can just barely make it round trip to work and back on a single charge. Absolutely love stopping for gas once every few months instead of every 4 days like my RT charger...
 
Back
Top