I've had my Tesla Model 3 for six months now and I love just about everything about it - except this one thing.
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Tesla Model 3 RWD - What I Love
I've owned my Tesla Model 3 RWD for about 6 months now. It is the lowest cost Tesla with the least range, the least performance, and it is still an incredible car. I love that it feels like a spaceship and that I can charge to 100% because of the LFP batteries.
I love that it has software updates that continually come in. Tesla is constantly improving the experience with the vehicle. For example, I don't have to remember to turn the blinker off when changing lanes. Tesla's software just does it for me.
I love the safety features. It's a tank compared to my previous car, a Honda Fit. I know that if I get in a crash, I'm protected by thick steel and aluminum that has been crash tested again and again. There are two stories that show the Tesla Model 3 safety:
* A family of four dropping hundreds of feet survived a fall and crash
* A large tree fell on top of a Tesla vehicle and the car was damaged, but the occupants all survived
Tesla vehicles are incredibly durable.
I like that my car is all electric and is saving the environment with fewer emissions. I understand that the process of getting the materials for the battery of the car have an upfront cost to emissions, but over time, the car will have a net positive effect on the environment with fewer emissions over its lifetime.
The car requires very little work to maintain. One item is I have to fill up the washer fluid ever 3 to 6 months. Another is I will take the car to Discount Tire to get the tires rotated for the first time tomorrow morning. It looks like that will be every 6 months. I'm sure eventually I will have to replace the air filter. I'll probably never replace the brakes due to how little I use them.
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Tesla Model 3 RWD - The One Thing I Hate
With all the amazing things about my Model 3 RWD that I love, there is one thing I don't like about it. And that is how the range is impacted in the winter time. For those who have home charging, this is a non issue - but for me, without home charging, this is a bigger issue.
During the summer, I was able to push my vehicle's range beyond the 272 EPA stated range. I could get over 300 miles of range with some careful driving. It is now winter here in Utah, and no matter how careful I drive, I get anywhere between 10 and 30 percent less range, depending on how cold it is.
This gives me a real world range of about 150 to 200 miles in the cold of winter here in Utah. There is charging close by to me, so I simply just go there more often. There have been weeks when I've had to charge twice a week when I'm doing a lot of driving.
The cold winter months also affect the regenerative braking of the car, meaning that I will have to use the brakes more to stop the car. I drive in a way that avoids this for the most part, but still end up using the brakes more in the colder months.
During the summer months, I could go a week or more without charging. When I look at the odometer for my Tesla and see that it is about 6,400 miles, I have to take into account that the battery has used more "miles" of range than that. I probably need to tack on another 10% to get the true usage of the battery.
That's the only thing I hate about my Tesla, though. It's a marvel of engineering and like a computer on wheels. Tesla should have a battery section in the Energy tab of its center console screen. This should show degradation of the battery along with the true "miles" that have been used when you take into account battery preconditioning, climate controls, and anything else that wasn't used to make the car move.
Do you have a Tesla? Is there anything you hate about it?
In Related News: Production Beta View of Tesla's Cybertruck
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Jeremy Johnson is a Tesla investor and supporter. He first invested in Tesla in 2017 after years of following Elon Musk and admiring his work ethic and intelligence. Since then, he's become a Tesla bull, covering anything about Tesla he can find, while also dabbling in other electric vehicle companies. Jeremy covers Tesla developments at Torque News. You can follow him on Twitter or LinkedIn to stay in touch and follow his Tesla news coverage on Torque News.
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