car review pages<\/a>, as it\u2019s still a very exclusive brand name (any more than you find us reviewing Aston Martins, Ferraris or Rolls-Royces), I thought it would be fun to do a wee review of the new Model 3. After all, you never know; it might take off and be readily available so you may as well read all about it here!<\/p>\nThe first question that probably pops into anybody\u2019s head when the topic of electric cars crops up is \u201cHow am I going to charge the thing?\u201d After all, we all know how quickly our smartphones and tablets lose charge.\u00a0 Tesla has already thought of this.\u00a0 Yes, you can probably charge up a Tesla car or any other electric car at your typical charging station, but Telsa also has a chain of \u201cSupercharger\u201d stations that can charge a Tesla car battery to 80% in half an hour.\u00a0 This translates to 270 km of driving; a typical bog-standard charging station would give you 17 km with half an hour\u2019s charging.\u00a0 These Supercharger stations are located up Australia\u2019s eastern coast \u2013 sorry, Perth, Adelaide and Darwin \u2013 from about Ballarat, Victoria, through to the Gold Coast. \u00a0Charging to 100% takes 75 minutes, as the rate of charge is designed to slow down for that final 20% for scientific reasons I can\u2019t quite wrap my head around and am not going to attempt to try explaining. Range-wise, the Tesla Model 3 can do 345 km on a fully charged battery.<\/p>\n
So what does the \u201cbudget\u201d Tesla, the Model 3, have in store for those who decide to put in their pre-orders?\u00a0 It\u2019s a rather sleek looking small luxury sedan that seats five.\u00a0 Unlike the typical fossil-fuel powered vehicle, it doesn\u2019t have a big grille at the front, which is a bit disconcerting at first glance for those of us who are used to the decorative grille styling of, say, BMW or Jeep. \u00a0It\u2019s certainly picked up a few comments on various online motoring forums.\u00a0 This lack of a grille, combined with the lack of an exhaust pipe at the back, the glass roof and the aerodynamic profile, makes for a very uncluttered look.\u00a0 There appears to be two styles of alloy wheel available, at least according to the official photos, and they look very nice indeed.\u00a0 The official pics also suggest three paint colours: red, black and silver.<\/p>\n
One of the other features of the Tesla 3 that may be a little disconcerting on the one hand but sophisticated on the other is the autonomous feature or self-driving technology \u2013 the motoring equivalent of autopilot (which is what it\u2019s called on the top-of-the-line Tesla models, which are also autonomous).\u00a0 This shouldn\u2019t be a surprise.\u00a0 After all, the head of Tesla Motors is Mr Artificial Intelligence himself, Elon Musk.<\/p>\n
In the specs department, details are still sketchy.\u00a0 I get the feeling that the company is being deliberately enigmatic \u2013 as enigmatic as the eggshell-smooth grille.\u00a0 Details are especially sparse regarding the interior.\u00a0 However, we have been told that the rear seats fold flat so that, in combination with the extra space, you can sleep in the back if you want to \u2013 or pop in a surfboard.\u00a0 On top of this, all the space up the front that would have been dedicated to an internal combustion engine in a conventional car has been given over to extra luggage space: a front trunk (which another reviewer has called a \u201cfrunk\u201d), which is reminiscent of the old classic VW Beetles<\/a>.\u00a0 The other hot feature that they have let slip is the acceleration: 0\u2013100 in six seconds, which is slower than the Model S\u2019s 2.7 seconds but is still very, very respectable.\u00a0 The Model 3 has also designed to have five-star rating as well.<\/p>\nFor those who want a bit more, here\u2019s the official release video and speech (with more details about the posher Model S and X).
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![](\"http:\/\/blog.privatefleet.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/Tesla-Model-3.jpg\")
For quite a few years now, the really big name in electric cars has been Tesla.\u00a0 Named after the scientist who did a lot of pioneering work in the field of electricity (and, according to popular legend, tried to invent a death ray just like a mad scientist from a cheesy thriller), Tesla vehicles have been considered the cr\u00e8me de la cr\u00e8me of sustainable motoring, the electrical equivalent of Koenigsegg or Lamborghini.\u00a0 By and large, they\u2019ve mostly been something for the very wealthy and mostly those overseas as well.<\/p>\n