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You call it boring. I call it clean, open and refreshing. My immediate thoughts were positive, although I'd still want some sort of instrument panel or HUD right in front of me.
Ok when I say boring I don't mean I want a lot of buttons and chrome everywhere. But right now it looks like board of white/beige plastic with a 15" monitor in the middle. Looks uninspired.
 
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I disagree. YMMV, but most drives reference the front fender to stay in the lane, not glancing over the side to verify their position in the lane. Instruments in front of the driver are way to read with a quick glance, provided they aren't displayed as digits, and much better from a human factors standpoint. If the real display is as cluttered as the one shown, you're setting the driver up for an accident.
Im pretty sure last time i looked the fender is to the side of the car, and thats exactly what i said.
 
I honestly don't understand all the hype with electric cars. They aren't a viable solution right now; batteries have such heavy materials that we might be better off with petrol. Not that I'm in favour of the current model (I hate it) but this isn't a solution either.
I agree with you, actually, and I consider myself an environmentalist. We still haven't cracked the problem of having to burn dirty coal in order to charge these things. And the battery disposal is horrible for the environment as well. I like the steps Tesla is making, but a lot of this electric car stuff is BS. If it's not solar powered, I'm not super interested.
 
No, the interior of this Tesla is much better than the previous Model S. The entirely clean simple lines are really well done. Just the essentials, with none of the unnecessary bling. Out of interest, what car interiors do you prefer?
Right now I'm driving a Honda Civic which I really like. No chrome (I hate chrome) but also not a boring slab of beige plastic with a 15" monitor stuck in the middle.
 
Tesla cars always look weirdly generic to me. Like they needed to make some no-brand sporty car for a video game or something, so they took a jaguar and stretched and tucked it a little.

This one continues that trend...except for that snout (ugggh). Looks like an upturned nose.
I think they design the cars with aerodynamics in mind so the battery lasts longer, all in all i think it looks sleek and modern.
 
Agree. It just doesn't have the look of its own. If someone tell me that's a Japanese car I'll believe him. It's kind of look like some model of Mazda. On the other hands BMW car design is always unique to its brand.

I tend to agree about being boring, but that's no longer a Mazda trait. The Mazda CX-5 & 9 are two of the better looking crossovers on the road today. VW/Audi/Porche have the best design imo. All lines. I grew up loving bmws but the I line is a complete abomination.

Fun fact, Tesla's lead designer came from Mazda.

Zoom zoom, baby!
 
No, the interior of this Tesla is much better than the previous Model S. The entirely clean simple lines are really well done. Just the essentials, with none of the unnecessary bling. Out of interest, what car interiors do you prefer?

I think they desperately need to add an instrument cluster, I hate the straight line with instrument placed in the middle screen.
 
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The highly anticipated Tesla Model 3 electric car was unveiled by Tesla CEO Elon Musk on Thursday night in a converted hangar in Los Angeles, California.

The company's first mass-market electric car was driven onto a foggy stage in an extravagant unveiling, where Musk revealed that the Tesla Model 3 will seat five, and be able to cover at least 215 miles on one charge.

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Tesla CEO Elon Musk unveils the Model 3 in Los Angeles (Image: TechCrunch)

Musk said the standard Model 3 would be capable of zero to 60 miles per hour in less than 6 seconds, and will cost $35,000, which is half that of the company's current flagship cars, the Model S sedan and Model X crossover.

Despite photo restrictions at the unveiling, TechCrunch was able to get some good shots of a red Model 3, which looks like a more sporty version of the company's Model 5.

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The Model 3 will also feature Autopilot for assisted driving and be future-proof for self-driving road use. Shipping begins late 2017, by which time Tesla says it will have doubled the number of charging stations worldwide and will include charging for free.

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The Model 3 is Tesla's attempt to bring electric cars to the mass market and is considered critical to the company's future success.

Interest has been strong, with yesterday's reservations for the Model 3 at Tesla stores and galleries - some of which are located directly adjacent to Apple retail stores - arguably eclipsing the launch of the iPhone SE. Musk later boasted on stage that the company had already secured 115,000 reservations before the car had even been revealed.

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The full selection of photos of the red Model 3 is available on the TechCrunch site. The video below, posted by iVenyaWay, shows off Tesla's new car in silver. A matte black option briefly features towards the end.


Apple is widely believed to be working on its own electric road vehicle, commonly referred to as the Apple Car, which Musk has called an "open secret" in the industry. According to Musk, the hundreds of engineers Apple has taken on make it clear there's an electric car in the works.

Apple and Tesla have hired each other's employees over the last couple of years, with Musk saying that Apple has hired away "very few people" from the car company despite offering $250,000 signing bonuses and 60 percent salary increases to its employees. Tesla meanwhile has hired nearly 150 Apple employees.

You can watch the full unveiling of the Tesla Model 3 here.

Article Link: Tesla Unveils $35,000 Model 3 Electric Car, Shipping Late 2017
Model 5?
 
The "no grill thing" is because it's an electric car and doesn't need a grill.

We all get that. The problem is the grill-shaped flat area on the front that makes it look like the grill is missing. I guess it will look less odd if a license plate is mounted there.

Should have integrated the screen into the dash though imo.

Yeah - I don't like that giant iPad just floating there - it looks like either a likely cause of injury, or easily damaged (it will probably need to snap off easily to avoid injury).

Don't compare Mini with it's super awkward analog speedometer with a clean, easy to read digital one

My ~6 year-old "Mini" has an option to display the speed, digitally, in the trip computer window the rev counter pod directly in front of the driver. I use that most of the time...

The reason for the big, central speedo is because its a reference to the original 60s Mini. Bottom line: buy a car with a deliberate "retro" design, compromise on modern ergonomics (see also: tiny letter-box windshield).

I honestly don't understand all the hype with electric cars. They aren't a viable solution right now;

It depends on your needs. If you (a) have a driveway or garage so you can home-charge overnight (b) have a long-ish - but comfortably within the car's range - daily commute and (c) maybe run a second car anyway that you can use for long trips/holidays (or your longest trip is 30 miles to the airport) then they might be perfect for you.

If you don't meet most of those criteria then, no, they're not viable yet and an EV with 200 miles (*see small print) range is not equivalent to an ICE that can do 200 miles on a tank and then be refilled in 5 minutes at any gas station.
 
I've had my license for 2 years now.

Don't sweat it, I've had mine for *significantly* longer, and I've driven on track, HPDEs (solo/advanced), SCCA, for 20+ of my total driving time and I chuckled at that comment too :)


I think they desperately need to add an instrument cluster, I hate the straight line with instrument placed in the middle screen.

It's definitely different, the standard design conventions are so burned into us, anything like this seems totally alien. I was just at the *huge* NYC auto show, and there were all sorts of interesting new interior designs, but most tended - toward my preference - of a driver-centric, front facing instrument group/pod.

I'll have to see one of these in person - a good friend on mine has an 85D, so I've had some decent hands on with the higher end model. I'm still not a customer just yet for a number of reasons.
 
Hmm.. yeah.. the screen looks out of place, both for function and form (the wheel and screen going other direction, one is soft and round, other is hard and square). It really is cheap looking.
Heck.. the least it can do is using white bezel screen. Who's designing this?
I've always thought Tesla interiors looked cheap. I'm not a fan of a lot of bling (and I hate shiny chrome) but the Tesla interior just looks like cheap plastic. Like they had to cut corners somewhere to meet a price range and decided to do it with the interior. I know people elsewhere are claiming this isn't final but I wonder if that's not more hoping than anything else. I can't believe Tesla would show this off if there was a major change coming to the dashboard from a design standpoint.
 
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I tend to agree about being boring, but that's no longer a Mazda trait. The Mazda CX-5 & 9 are two of the better looking crossovers on the road today. VW/Audi/Porche have the best design imo. All lines. I grew up loving bmws but the I line is a complete abomination.

What I meant is you look at the car and you know what brand it is without a description. BMW achieve this. Audi yes. Porsche sure.
This Tesla is not.
 
Looks beautiful. but the no grill thing is a bit much. They should have put one on. I can only imagine what that will look like after a year on the road.

I have a feeling that with a smooth front end the drag coefficient is much lower. A grill on an electric car is also pointless because there's no engine/radiator to blow air into. It looks a little funny, but after awhile I doubt anyone will notice. Something to get used to...
 
Not really. We've seen a drop in battery prices but not a substantial one. The materials used to make batteries are seeing an influx in pricing which means we'll likely see battery prices stay the same or even increase with time. Add to that the lack of breakthroughs in battery technology in the past 10 years and we're not making much progress. Unless something very substantial changes, we're unlikely to see huge change on the horizon.
I expect very substantial changes in battery technology.
 
But then you need to remember that the vast majority of journeys aren't road-trips and you charge your car up at home while you sleep, leaving home with a full battery each morning - you need to be an owner to appreciate this, it's hard to understand it otherwise (was the same for me).

Whenever I tell someone I want a Tesla they inevitably say, "yeah but the range is only 200 or 250 miles." Yeah, and I've gone on one trip in two years when that would have mattered, I have another car, and 99% of my driving is less than 20 miles a day.
 
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Looks like someone just slapped an iPad Pro on the dashboard. That's really ugly!

And inexpensive to install. Tesla fanboys will boast about the size of their touchscreens though, so no harm going that route.

If the car all but drives itself and your phone knows your music tastes, why do you need that much instrumentation? Alexa and Siri are the future (although Google lady is much better from what I hear). Automation over dials and knobs. Who needs a map when you can just tell the car where you want to go? This is where an AppleCar might have an advantage.
 
Not sold on the complete removal of digital instrument panels directly in front of the driver. Seems like it would be annoying glancing over at the giant bright screen for basic speed indication. An optional headsup windshield display would be a much nicer solution imo, even if offered as an optional redundancy in functionality.
I think it's elegant and can't wait to see/drive it. This is our next car, once our current Honda lease is up.
 
Touch screens also lack tactile feedback to let you know you are using the right one without actually looking at it. I can adjust radio volume, temperature, etc. in my car without taking my eyes of the road. A touch screen would require me looking and verifying I am pressing on the right place on the screen.
I would use the steering wheel controls, but I get where you are coming from
 
Looking at the Model 3 from the front, all I picture is The Incredible Mr. Limpet...

They need to do something with the front end to break up the mass of colored plastic, in my opinion. I get that they don't need or want a proper grill on it, but it looks unfinished as is.
 
This is all well and good, but why is there news stories on cars now? I'm a bit confused.

I'm not in the target segment for the car, and while it looks really nice, its really too pricey for me
 
Not really. We've seen a drop in battery prices but not a substantial one. The materials used to make batteries are seeing an influx in pricing which means we'll likely see battery prices stay the same or even increase with time. Add to that the lack of breakthroughs in battery technology in the past 10 years and we're not making much progress. Unless something very substantial changes, we're unlikely to see huge change on the horizon.
aren't they less than a third of the price than they used to be?
 
I've no idea how so many people sign up to a new car without reading the road tests and reviews first! Lunacy!

However having said all that I will most likely replace my diesel with one of these. I drive 600 miles a week so for me it would be a complete game changer.

I agreed. As much as I like the car I want to test drive and try it out first. As it is a big ticket item. But then again, it's probably safe to assume that quite a few of the pre-order are people with money to spend. It's more of a toy for them. I don't mind not being the first, so I'll wait and see.
 
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