Tesla Model 3 – first drive – update

Tesla Model 3, Franz von Holtzhausen,¹ Motor Trend Testing Director Kim Reynolds
Credit: Motor Trend

Just thirty-six hours before the Tesla Model 3 Handover Event, Motor Trend got to drive Franz von Holtzhausen’s¹ personal example.

Unsurprisingly in a test of an electric car, the drivetrain figures prominently, but this was unexpected:

“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, & it feels like a wet sponge by comparison.”

http://www.motortrend.com/cars/tesla/model-3/2018/exclusive-tesla-model-3-first-drive-review/


Credit: Autoblog

Update: Jack Stewart drove a Model 3 for Wired too:
https://www.wired.com/story/i-drove-a-tesla-model-3/

Update: Bloomberg – “Driving Tesla’s Model 3 Changes Everything”
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-07-31/driving-tesla-s-model-3-changes-everything
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¹ Franz von Holtzhausen – chief designer for Tesla & veteran of VW, GM & Mazda
Wikipedia – “Franz von Holzhausen”, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franz_von_Holzhausen

/ road test test drive Tesla Model 3 handover event Tesla Model 3 delivery event Fremont factory Elon Musk Tesla Motors Elon Musk LiIon lithium ion lithium iron phosphate LiFeO4 charge recharge battery Model S Model 3 range capacity kilo Watt hour Supercharger 4WD 4 wheel drive 2 wheel drive rear wheel drive RWD LiIon battery pack cell battery electric vehicle EV battery lithium ion LiIon charge battery electric vehicle BEV Elon Musk released very first images very first Tesla Model 3 release candidate Tesla started production release candidate Model 3 vehicles cars made almost entirely production machines test production process vehicles themselves video of the Model 3 no visible changes we can see the cameras for the Autopilot sensor suite see the camera in the Tesla badge front fender pillar on the side slight adjustments front fascia headlights video is very low-res Model 3 another color than silver red matte black spot other changes release candidate definitely significant difference front end Model 3 release candidate live streaming Tesla Model 3 unveil event on Tesla.com beginning at 8.30pm PDT March 31st reservations Model 3 worldwide two ways to make a reservation queue visit your local Tesla make a reservation online Tesla.com live unveil Tesla model 3 electric car mass market car electric vehicle EV steel aluminium twenty percent smaller 20% smaller automation automate robot production line 75 kWh kiloWatt hour /

Tesla Model 3 Handover Event – 28 July, 2017* – video

Not much new information provided at the event – that's almost all of it above
Credit: Tesla/YouTube

The video begins with a 10-second count-down to ... 2 minutes of black screen until ...

02:15 video starts – lip-sync was poor over the slow link I was using – YMMV

12:00 Project Loveday – based on the suggestion of a fifth grader, that Tesla should make use of advertisements created by enthusiasts

22:39 Elon Musk begins to speak
32:34 specifications – image above is a crop from the video


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* Friday 28 July 8:45pm US Pacific Time
= Saturday 29 July 03:45 GMT
= Saturday 29 July 13:45 Australian EST / Tesla Model 3 handover event Tesla Model 3 delivery event Fremont factory Elon Musk Tesla Motors Elon Musk LiIon lithium ion lithium iron phosphate LiFeO4 charge recharge battery Model S Model 3 range capacity kilo Watt hour Supercharger 4WD 4 wheel drive 2 wheel drive rear wheel drive RWD LiIon battery pack cell battery electric vehicle EV battery lithium ion LiIon charge battery electric vehicle BEV Elon Musk released very first images very first Tesla Model 3 release candidate Tesla started production release candidate Model 3 vehicles cars made almost entirely production machines test production process vehicles themselves video of the Model 3 no visible changes we can see the cameras for the Autopilot sensor suite see the camera in the Tesla badge front fender pillar on the side slight adjustments front fascia headlights video is very low-res Model 3 another color than silver red matte black spot other changes release candidate definitely significant difference front end Model 3 release candidate live streaming Tesla Model 3 unveil event on Tesla.com beginning at 8.30pm PDT March 31st reservations Model 3 worldwide two ways to make a reservation queue visit your local Tesla make a reservation online Tesla.com live unveil Tesla model 3 electric car mass market car electric vehicle EV steel aluminium twenty percent smaller 20% smaller automation automate robot production line 75 kWh kiloWatt hour /

First Tesla Model 3 deliveries Friday 28 July 8:45pm US PT – update

Update – coverage, including video of the event at: https://hhg2tech.blogspot.com/2017/07/tesla-model-3-handover-event-28-july.html

Credit: Tesla/Teslarati

Watch the first Model 3 handovers on https://t.co/7Ol1Bw0ZaG this Friday at 8:45pm PT pic.twitter.com/b00OZGviNK

— Tesla (@TeslaMotors) July 26, 2017

Friday 28 July 8:45pm US Pacific Time
= Saturday 29 July 03:45 GMT
= Saturday 29 July 13:45 Australian EST

Teslarati – “Tesla Model 3 delivery event: Fremont factory, 7pm (PT) on July 28, Musk to present at 9pm”
https://www.teslarati.com/teslas-model-3-delivery-event-fremont-factory-7pm-july-28-musk-9pm/ / Tesla Model 3 delivery event Fremont factory Elon Musk Tesla Motors Elon Musk LiIon lithium ion lithium iron phosphate LiFeO4 charge recharge battery Model S Model 3 range capacity kilo Watt hour Supercharger 4WD 4 wheel drive 2 wheel drive rear wheel drive RWD LiIon battery pack cell battery electric vehicle EV battery lithium ion LiIon charge battery electric vehicle BEV Elon Musk released very first images very first Tesla Model 3 release candidate Tesla started production release candidate Model 3 vehicles cars made almost entirely production machines test production process vehicles themselves video of the Model 3 no visible changes we can see the cameras for the Autopilot sensor suite see the camera in the Tesla badge front fender pillar on the side slight adjustments front fascia headlights video is very low-res Model 3 another color than silver red matte black spot other changes release candidate definitely significant difference front end Model 3 release candidate live streaming Tesla Model 3 unveil event on Tesla.com beginning at 8.30pm PDT March 31st reservations Model 3 worldwide two ways to make a reservation queue visit your local Tesla make a reservation online Tesla.com live unveil Tesla model 3 electric car mass market car electric vehicle EV steel aluminium twenty percent smaller 20% smaller automation automate robot production line 75 kWh kiloWatt hour /

3 lucky guys ...

Left to right: Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins & Buzz Aldrin
Credit: NASA

48 years ago today 3 lucky guys were on a journey to be the first humans to land on the moon. #Apollo11 pic.twitter.com/yZ96hPKWfr

— Buzz Aldrin (@TheRealBuzz) July 20, 2017

/ Apollo 11 NASA space programme program first moon landing space race moon race lunar insertion orbit LEM command capsule service module command module Moon landing moon walk dock docking Mike Collins Buzz Aldrin Neil Armstrong /

Will established auto manufacturers' complacency deliver a monopoly to Tesla?

Tesla's first Model 3 rolled off the production line just days ago.
Credit: Tesla/Warranty Direct/Twitter

“Yes,” says Alexander Haissl of Germany's Berenberg Bank.

http://www.greencarreports.com/news/1111535_tesla-will-rule-the-world-says-german-analyst-skepticism-may-be-warranted

My take: established manufacturers will be happy to continue to make a minimal effort while Tesla works out how to make it happen. E.g. General Motors developed a T-shaped battery for the EV1 & Volt. Tesla showed them that flat, under the floor was the way to go, & they adopted that for the Bolt (along with other manufacturers).

On the other hand, many manufacturers don't appear to have noticed that most of the advantages of front wheel drive don't apply once a relatively tall, heavy internal combustion engine isn’t part of the design equation.

When all of the problems are solved & what the market wants becomes clearer, established manufactures expect to be able to scale development &/or token production to take back the market. Nissan is an exception.¹

Strength of this strategy is largely obvious – leverage Tesla's huge R&D effort & the fact that Elon Musk is smarter than any of the competition’s engineers or management. (“He is by far the single smartest person that I have ever worked with … period.”)²

Perhaps their best hope is that Tesla will continue to share its technology.^3,4
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¹ Nissan has been an exception – CEO Ghosn has been committed to EVs & developing them in-house since at least 2008:

GM-Volt (2008): ‘Nissan CEO Ghosn: “I Don’t Want a Range Extender”’, http://gm-volt.com/2008/07/25/nissan-ceo-ghosn-i-dont-want-a-range-extender/

² HitchHiker’s Guide 2 Tech: “How Elon Musk taught himself rocket science”, https://hhg2tech.blogspot.com/2014/10/how-elon-musk-taught-himself-rocket.html

³ HitchHiker’s Guide 2 Tech: “Why Tesla gave up on patents”, https://hhg2tech.blogspot.com/2014/06/why-tesla-gave-up-on-patents.html

⁴ HitchHiker’s Guide 2 Tech: “Will Tesla share its technology with other automakers?”, https://hhg2tech.blogspot.com/2014/06/will-tesla-share-its-technology-with.html

/ Tesla win big race to sell electric cars to the world German analyst competition from traditional manufacturers complacent Elon Musk California upstart near monopoly of the market Tesla out investing the competition hampers itself save money building on legacy engineering developing new focused technology report analyst Alexander Haissl Hamburg Germany-based Berenberg Bank readiness Tesla’s competition Daimler’s Mercedes best prepared Volkswagen BMW dithering GM General Motors Chevrolet Bolt Ford FCA strong ratings manufacturer complacency electric vehicle EV electric car technology developing EVs mass-market adoption lack of real action strategic commitments underlying convictionno clear pathway to high-volume EV production Haissl Tesla near-monopolistic opportunity gain market share outcompete incumbent automotive industry /