Tesla Model Trio: Will it Be a Good Family Car? Motor Trend
Tesla Model Trio: Will it Be a Good Family Car?
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We knew the Tesla Model three would make a splash when it was introduced. Pretty much every Tesla has. But when almost 400,000 people plunked down a refundable $1,000 to reserve one, we were astonished. “100,000 would have been an outstanding number,” Elon Musk said. “Now, with some 400,000 preorders, the number is almost unbelievable. … The Model three was very likely the real wake-up call for the rest of the industry.” Those preorders account for $400 million Tesla didn’t have a month ago. This is serious interest. At Motor Trend HQ we wonder how many of those possible future Tesla owners might be families (or kicking off families), which led us to ask whether the Model three is the family-friendliest EV soon to be on sale. In terms of features and ownership intangibles, the Model three makes a compelling purchase case as a family-friendly EV.
Let’s talk about numbers very first, specifically price. Tesla says the Model three will embark at $35,000 before incentives. For that price, we expect the car to be Supercharger-compatible (previously an extra-cost feature on the Model S), have an EPA-rated 215-mile range, and hit sixty mph in less than six seconds, which is slightly quicker than a Toyota Camry V-6. Also included on every Model three will be Autopilot hardware, which seems to suggest that the software, and thus the convenience features, will be available at an extra cost.
We’re betting the $35,000 Model three will be a single-motor model, and dual-motor, all-wheel-drive models and spectacle models available for more money (think P90D with a Ludicrous mode). The same can be said about battery sizes. Taking into consideration Tesla’s current battery technology and the 215-mile range, we think the battery will be in the 55-60-kW-hr capacity range. Our best estimate, given the dimensions and what we know about the Model S, is that the largest battery available with the Model three might be an 80-kW-hr unit, potentially providing it a 250-mile range and suggested at a higher price.
One significant thing to reminisce in this discussion about battery sizes and prices is that it’s a bit of a moving target. As battery technology improves, the density increases (same space, more juice) and cost decreases. Tesla has already demonstrated that it’s willing to integrate technological advances into its product lineup far swifter than traditional automakers do, which suggests that by late 2017, when Model three deliveries are slated to begin, breakthroughs could lower the cost of the battery, permitting Tesla to supply a larger battery pack for that same $35,000.
But what else can you get for $35,000? (To be conservative, we’ll leave behind the potential tax credits, which will expire for Tesla during the Model 3’s run.) A family looking at a Model three is hardly looking for the cheapest thing to haul little Jonny around, but for that same $35,000 it’s possible to get a nicely optioned Ford Fusion Hybrid, Toyota Prius V, or even a Toyota RAV4 Hybrid. To drive a Tesla Model S one hundred miles, it’ll cost you about $8 (based on 0.21 cents per kW here in Los Angeles); driving a Toyota Prius V will run you just about $6 (based on $Two.50 per gallon of regular gasoline). The Prius V splits the difference inbetween the more efficient 2017 Accord Hybrid, on sale this spring, and the Toyota RAV4 Hybrid. Operating a hybrid and charging your Tesla purely at places you have to pay are in the same cost ballpark, however if you have a Supercharger that falls into your regular routine, you can very likely reduce that figure a bit, as those “fill-ups” are free of charge.
Albeit Tesla has collective a few amazing numbers, when it comes to official dimensions and measurements, the company has been pretty quiet. A latest off the hook look at the Model Trio gave us an chance to make a SWAG of the car’s basic measurements: 184.1 inches long, 74.Two inches broad, and 56.Five inches tall. That’s splitting the difference inbetween a Corolla and a Camry length-wise but almost three inches broader. A two thousand sixteen Toyota Camry is 190.9 inches long and 71.7 inches broad. Also consider that the Model three is built on an all-new platform that permits the passenger space to be shoved further forward than typically possible with a vehicle powered by a traditional internal combustion engine. We fitted two car seats in the Model Trio: a rear-facing unit for toddlers and infants and a front-facing one for very youthful children. Both fit well and still left the seats in front of them in a comfy position.
While the full-electric vehicle segment has slew of competition, the Model three is unlike anything else on sale today. The closest all-electric competitors include the Nissan Leaf, the Kia Soul EV, the Ford Concentrate Electrical, the Volkswagen e-Golf, and the forthcoming Chevrolet Bolt. What do all of these have in common with each other but not with the Model Three? A hatchback figure style and overall dimensions that put them a lot closer to the compact segment than midsize.
Families seeking affordable cars want one that can grow with them and their little ones. The hatchback arrangement so prevalent in the EV segment is versatile, but when it’s time to flow a stroller, Pack-N-Play, and day bag in the narrow/tall cargo area of a compact hatchback, you might begin to have doubts like we do. My individual vehicle, a two thousand seven Nissan Versa SL sedan, lightly accommodates the aforementioned items despite being a “compact” with only fourteen cubic feet of cargo space. What about the e-Golf? When packing the same stroller in Motor Trend’s long-term Volkswagen GTI, the “40” section of the 60-40 split rear seat had to be leaned forward to accommodate the wheels without disassembling the stroller. What gives? The EPA rates the Golf at sixteen cubic feet and the e-Golf at seventeen cubic feet. The EPA measures volumes in hatchbacks, wagons, and SUVS by multiplying length, width, and height dimensions, but sedan trunks get real luggage placed in them, the official volumes of which are added for the number.
Even the Ford Concentrate Electrified, which is the thickest of the rest at 172.9 inches long, 71.8 inches broad, and 58.Two inches tall, is still 11.Two inches shorter in length than the Model Trio. The non-electric Ford Concentrate, which has identical passenger interior space measurements as the Electrical, is challenging to fit a rear-facing child seat in, requiring at least one of the front seats to be moved forward significantly. What about that Chevrolet Bolt? At 164.0 inches long, Sixty-nine.Five inches broad, and 62.8 inches tall, it’s far smaller than the Model Three.
The Tesla Model three has a gam up on the current crop of electrical vehicles, but what about similarly sized hybrids? The Honda Accord Hybrid, the Toyota Prius V, and the Toyota RAV4 Hybrid occupy a similar footprint (within a few inches in length and height) and are established family-friendly players in the fuel-sipping segment. The RAV4 Hybrid combines 35.6 cubic feet of cargo capacity with the efficiency of a compact car, and it accomplishes baby-related duties with ease. Car seats are relatively effortless to install, and the taller rail height of the crossover means less leaning and crouching when loading/unloading the little ones. The Toyota Prius V has many of the same perks as the RAV4 Hybrid but is more efficient and starts at a much lower price. When you consider cost of operation in addition to upfront purchase cost, a few establishment hybrid players are practical alternatives to the Tesla, albeit less stylish ones.
One of the ownership intangibles that comes with a Tesla is the Supercharger network. Tesla’s Supercharger stations have the capability to replenish one hundred seventy miles of range in just thirty minutes of charging (plus time you might from time to time spend waiting for an open station). Buyers could theoretically commute or even travel across the lower forty eight States and up into Canada, free of charge, moving from one Supercharger station to the next. A road tour without a fuel cost is one that’s far lighter to take on a quirk, which would be a boon for families with youthfull children.
Here in Los Angeles, we’ve become familiar to a fast-paced way of life, and through that lens the reality of range and recharging has kept many people from hopping to EVs. With the Model 3’s 200-plus-mile range, even commuters with long drives and errand-runners would likely have slew of range left over at the end of the day. The big caveat with any EV (even a Tesla), one you wouldn’t encounter with one of the hybrids mentioned earlier, is an inconvenient yet mandatory recharge wait time. It’s not too difficult to imagine losing track of your car battery’s state of charge as you go through a hectic day. When you’re nearing the end of the day, out of diapers, out of snacks, and out of patience, the last thing you’ll want to do is take a detour and a 30-minute pit stop just to make it home. It’s not likely to happen often, but we’d be remiss if we omitted that possibility.
When you consider that road journey along the Supercharger network, perhaps visiting out-of-town relatives, the drive-charge-wait-drive-charge-wait rhythm of driving a Tesla fits better with the tempo of travel we associate with glad youthfull children. It takes a little more than Two.Five hours to go one hundred seventy miles, and then another thirty minutes to replenish that range at a Supercharger. Traveling via the Supercharger network harkens back to the days when it wasn’t all about the destination but when getting there was half the joy. There are historical landmarks and lots of signs on the side of the road that need to be read by a fresh generation.
Instead of just turning the industry on its head with such unprecedented interest, the affordable Tesla Model three may get more travelers to think about the journey and not just the destination. We’re thinking the little ones will have slew more to look at during that journey, too, with that cowl-to-trunk all-glass roof that will afford them a front-row view as planes, clouds, cityscapes, and star-filled night skies drift past.
