New Tesla Model 3 Debuts: Chiseled Design, 421-Mile Estimated Range | Hacker News Reader

New Tesla Model 3 Debuts: Chiseled Design, 421-Mile Estimated Range

insideevs.com

45 pointsvwoolf16 comments

Going over some of the initial announcement videos, seems like a lot of nice additions and improvements. If price remains similar to current Model 3 then this is a really compelling vehicle. Hard to see any competitor EV with the same level of features, range, and a least a bit more refinement.

That range figure is WLTP (euro) rating. Which tends to be higher than US EPA ratings.

US ratings are likely to be around 360mi-375mi, vs the current 333mi.

Also those ratings are based around averages speeds well below interstate speed. You will probably get about 80% of that EPA range at 75-80mph on the highway.

Should be more than sufficient to hop supercharger to supercharger, which are rarely ever more than 100 miles apart (small gaps in rural Wyoming, Montana, Nevada, and Texas panhandle aside, which should be getting stations soon).

https://supercharge.info/map

Yes, my car is rated for 310 miles, in reality it gets close to that at 60-65mph, and is closer to 260mi at 80mph.

But on a road trip I am usually charging from 5-8% up to 50-60% and then moving on. This uses the fastest part of the battery charging curve, takes about 15 minutes, and gives enough charge for 2 hours of driving at interstate speeds before the next stop.

With the recent news that Tesla had been overstating their range by more than 50% and the EPA estimates were similarly inflated, are the true ranges still going to be halved?

I have a vacation home and due to antiquated electric service and distance from charging infrastructure, we need the range to be closer to the estimated numbers with this new Model 3 to make it viable.

On a different note: when do folks feel we may start getting to gasoline car ranges which are around 450-480 miles for my two current internal combustion cars?

Teslas tend to meet their EPA ratings if you drive them like the EPA cycle, ie average speed around 45mph in mixed driving, or cruising around 60-65mph on back roads. Mostly the EPA test cycle is not very representative of interstate highway speeds.

If you want to see how a current EV would handle your trip plan it out on https://abetterrouteplanner.com

Even a standard 120v outlet will get you 40-50 miles added overnight.

https://www.aps.org/publications/apsnews/201208/backpage.cfm....

Gas is 100x the energy density of batteries due to the physics. So it will be a while unless we want 8 ton vehicles on the road.

8% range increase expected in EPA cycle

Carwow seems to have scooped this.

https://youtu.be/gQ6zIHHMlSs?si=1TtUYMscDZzXl53L

Must say the amount of improvements is truly impressive.

The new design no longer has a stalk for the turn signal (like most cars), instead getting some capacitive touch buttons. I think that's a big downside here.

I wonder how this will affect sales of the Model S. To me the pic in the article looked almost looked identical to a Model S.

2 questions: Will these models still be eligible for the $7500 tax credit, and what will the Performance version be like?

1. Yes.

2. No public info released yet on the Performance version.

Going for a Pininfarina S.p.A look. Will have to see this in the flesh to form a better opinion.

It looks quite good, getting Roadster vibes from the design.

> New Tesla Model 3 Debuts: Chiseled Design, 421-Mile Estimated Range

Yes. Trully revolutionary. They changed the monitor from portait to landscape. /s

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