Tesla Model 3: Specifications And What’s Next?

It’s April 1st, and the hype from the Tesla Model 3 has settled down.

More from Art of Gears

• 3 Reasons the 2024 Mazda CX-50 Is Among the Best Small SUVs
• The Jeep Renegade Is Discontinued: Here’s a Look at Its Legacy
• 2023 Nissan Armada: A Decent Full Size SUV With 1 Glaring Issue
• Best Minivans: 3 Options for Families With Solid Performance
• Here’s Why the 2023 Ford Mustang Mach-E Is So Popular

We finally got a chance to see the car.  Is it what you expected?  Fellow editor Paulo Acoba put all the details up on twitter, while the rest of the information was already laid out here.  Elon Musk went through quite a few details yesterday, highlighting the amount of CO2 pollution around the world, and imprinting the idea of creating sustainable transportation in the future.  The Tesla series of cars executes those ideas.  The Tesla Model 3 has quite a few highlights:

1. Economies of scale to make the car affordable
2. 5 Star safety in all categories
3. 0-60 less than 6 seconds with base model
4. Range EPA rated 215 miles with base model
5. Standard autopilot, autopilot safety features standard
6. Seating for 5 adults
7. Roof, continuous glass
8. Supercharging standard
9. Double the number of superchargers throughout the U.S. within a given time period.  End of 2017 7,200 total.
10. Expansion to 441 locations worldwide
11. $35,000 base price

Is it me?  Or did anyone else feel the Tesla Model 3 felt a bit, incomplete?

Tesla did run pre-production models yesterday.  They have projected ahead of time into 2017 for a finished product before selling the car out to the public.

But, what else does it need?

The front end of the car is undefined.  Just between the signal lights, it looks like there could be a cut out for an Aston Martin-like grille.  Maybe Tesla will replicate a similar front end of the Model S to the Model 3.  Maybe it’ll be a redesign.

The interior looked a bit bare.  While it’s great that Tesla has stuck to a huge 15″ touch screen for the controls of the car, it’s difficult to find any kind of speedometer, tachometer, or remaining range left.  There’s nothing behind the steering wheel that indicates anything of an instrument panel.  Perhaps, one will be added down the line.  It would make the most sense.  Maybe, they’ll use the windshield to create an informative display.  That would keep the interior minimal, yet sophisticated.  It has been mentioned that the speedometer was indicated on the upper left hand corner of the screen, but, doesn’t that just seem out of the way?  A heads up display would do quite well here.

Are those the wheels that are going to be used?  The shape of the car is just large enough to handle 18″ wheels easily.  Perhaps 19″ wheels may become an option.  If that is the case, it would make sense to use the wheels straight from the Model S, like the 85-series cars shown in the photo above.  There were several wheel designs shown during the reveal, but it’s tough to say if all three designs would be available.

More cars: Tesla Model 3 POV Ride Along, First Impressions

While the Tesla Model 3 may be a bit unrefined for now, Tesla has plenty of time to sort out the kinks and complete the design.  The car is attractive and has features appealing to consumers, even if it weren’t an electric car.  Just think, it has aerodynamic styling, the promise of five-star crash ratings across the board, with autopilot features being standard?

BMW, Mercedes, Lexus, and Audi will have a hard time competing against that.