The Tesla Model 3 Is Apparently Built Like "A Kia In The 90s"
"The gaps on this car are like...you can see 'em from Mars"
The Tesla Model 3 has so far been hailed as one of the coolest, most significant cars of the century. And by all accounts, it's a very good car--the base model is reasonably priced, it's quick enough, it handles very well, and it can get 200 miles of range easily. It's even got a pretty nice look.
Unfortunately, it also seems to be built like the typical participant in a TopGear cheap car challenge. Sandy Munro, CEO of a Detroit firm called Munro & Associates whose core competency is tearing new cars down and cataloging how they work, spoke to Autoline about some of its flaws. Needless to say, he was...unimpressed.
Munro's chief criticism, before even tearing the car apart, was the panel gaps. He described them as being so large they can be seen from Mars, and around back with the trunk especially, he noted that on one side, you can barely get a fingernail in, and on the other, your entire thumb almost fits.
There are other inexplicable oversights too. To completely cut power to the car, a red cable in the frunk must be cut in two places--not that unreasonable, right? But to open the frunk in the first place, in the event of an accident which breaks or disables the touchscreen, you have to pull out a little cap on the front bumper, connect two jumper cables, and power the car from an external battery. And if I've just had an accident, or if I'm a first responder saving people from one, this hardly seems like an efficient process.
I'm sure these kinds of things will improve the more time Tesla spends building cars, but oversights like this are just indicative of how much of a rush job these first Model 3s are. Nevertheless, I've seen nothing but glowing reviews from people who actually own them, so it doesn't seem to be that big of a deal for Tesla's target audience.
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Comments (71)
Tesla fanboys will overlook the quality issues.
True, but I have been thinking. Did Tesla kinda over engineer their car with the reliance over motors on the door latches rather than using mechanical lever that is 100% reliable? Also isn't the Model 3 supposed to be Tesla's budget...
Read moreI'm getting fed up of these reviews of Teslas which basically say 'there's a major design flaw here, here, here and here. But we'll gloss over them because Tesla.' NO. They should be judged on the same standards as any other car manufacturer. Especially because they're not charging bargain basement prices.
I read a review of the Model X where the reviewer pointed out 2 pretty big flaws. The first one is that if you're in a car park with a low roof, you don't need to worry about the rear doors hitting it because they stop themselves opening if they're going to hit a ceiling. OK, but how do the people in the back get out then? Do they climb all over the interior of your 100k car to get out the front or the boot? Or do you have to go park somewhere else? Secondly, he pointed out that if it rains heavily and you open the rear doors, the back seat gets soaked with water that has built up. That's a massive problem, especially in the UK where it rains a lot. It's even more of a problem on a car which costs over 100k. But he almost literally said 'but it doesn't matter because Tesla'. This has to stop.
If all we had were dumb fanboys, nothing would get improved!
I like what a guy said on YouTube. "It's the iPhone of the car industry." Even if it's absolutely terrible, people will praise it.
Hmm seems like a smear campaign video to me. There is a reason why you want to cut cables in a hydrocarbon fuel based car. There are circuit breakers in a tesla that would stop a fire beyond a thermal runaway which doesnt even matter if you cut the cable. So actually the whole beginning is a moot point. For someone who "isn't lying" he coughs at lies an awful lot lol. "Oh oh I dont like having extra seals on windows"?! What you rather have actual gaps? Numpty. It is well known and documented that money has been spent by GM et al to smear Elon Musk. But the fact of the matter is he is creating technology that shits on the dinosaurs technology. You cant argue with the better 0-60 times and the less accidents per mile figures due to the auto pilot technology. If you do you sir are an idiot.
If you even listened properly without getting triggered like any Tesla fanboy, it's not about that you need to cut cables, it's about getting to the cables which literally requires jumper cables and indepth knowledge of the car, so you...
Read moreObviously, you don’t understand the importance of build quality. One side of the car has an excessive amount of window sealant in it , but the other doesn’t. Asymmetrical design flaws aren’t someith king that should be tolerated with...
Read morePeople that buy Tesla's have a few cables loose themselves
Tesla's??? You can't even use proper punctuation and you say people who buy TESLAS (that is plural for Tesla) have a few cables loose themselves? Haha, Tesla's as YOU spell it is NOT correct. Go back to school.
Fact!