Alan Lau and Alec Brooks flank the author.
Verdict: The best affordable EV is the Tesla.What to do while waiting for your Tesla
to charge? How about stream Netflix or
play this driving game that responds to
steering and pedal inputs? Cool.
1st Place: Tesla Model 3
Still the best affordable EV
After driving the Model 3’s explosive Dual
Motor Performance version, this rear-
drive, 50-kW-hr Standard Range Plus
feels like you’ve met that extrovert car’s
reclusive younger brother. Whereas the
Performance model is all about smoking
Track mode handling and dragstrip accel-
eration, the Standard Range Plus is just as
impressive in the real-world rat race. On
the road, it’s relentlessly delighting with
agile handling for a 3,500-pound car and a
firm but absorbent ride.
Our Model 3 ran the table for best-in-
class in almost every category you can
invent: from a scat-quick 5-second zip to
60 mph to 240 miles of range from this
trio’s significantly smallest battery (i.e.,
the most efficient). It has a blistering
170-kW fast charge rate (assuming a
charger is available). Then there’s the
standard Autopilot, which although
imperfect is still laps ahead of the pack.
Just pay attention, keep your hands and
feet at the ready, and don’t presume it’s a
trustable self-driving car. It isn’t.
The Model 3’s only real bruises are
its 14.6-cubic-foot trunk and the rear
passengers’ raised-knee seating position.
(Tesla revamped the seating position
after we complained about it two years
ago, but it still can’t get past the physicallimitations of the compact sedan silhou-
ette and battery pack location.) Testing
assistant Alan Lau thought its rearview
mirror vision was compromised, and he’s
right about that.
Tesla’s early bets on its Supercharger
network and over-the-air updatability are
paying off now, big time. If you think of
the Niro and Leaf as frozen photographs
of two pretty good cars, the Model 3 is a
self-improving video stream. Autopilot
and Summon are updating so often now
that it’s hard to keep track. In fact, while I
simmered over this piece, our car’s range
and acceleration both improved. You have
to write fast to keep up with Tesla. Q52 MOTORTREND.COM APRIL 2020