{"id":238151,"date":"2023-09-12T13:21:04","date_gmt":"2023-09-12T13:21:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/automotobuzz.com\/?p=238151"},"modified":"2023-09-12T13:21:04","modified_gmt":"2023-09-12T13:21:04","slug":"i-sat-in-the-new-highland-tesla-model-3-its-better-but-is-it-enough","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/automotobuzz.com\/electric-cars\/i-sat-in-the-new-highland-tesla-model-3-its-better-but-is-it-enough\/","title":{"rendered":"I Sat In The New Highland Tesla Model 3: It\u2019s Better, But Is It Enough?"},"content":{"rendered":"

When I set off for IAA Munich earlier this week, I started my journey in one of my least favorite places: the back seat of a Tesla Model 3. <\/span><\/p>\n

Don\u2019t get me wrong\u2014I actually love driving the Model 3, and by that, I mean <\/span>actually<\/span><\/em> driving it, not just letting Autopilot have all the fun. But a trip to the airport in a ride-hailed Model 3 helped me remember <\/span>why those rear seats have never been up for any awards<\/span>. <\/span><\/p>\n

Fixing that problem is one key highlight for the 2024 Tesla Model 3, which made its public debut at the German automotive and mobility trade show this week just days after its unveiling and the initial first-drive tests hit the internet. (If you somehow haven\u2019t already, <\/span>check out InsideEVs\u2019 test here<\/span>.)<\/span><\/p>\n

Gallery: New Tesla Model 3 In Munich <\/h3>\n

<\/p>\n

Even a few days into the public portion of the show in Munich, the sedan once codenamed \u201c<\/span>Highland<\/span>\u201d consistently drew flocks of awe-struck civilians and employees of competing automakers alike. A Tesla rep told me they\u2019d been overwhelmed by people from all over the world queuing up to see the car. Frankly, I\u2019ve never seen this much hype around what\u2019s basically a facelift for a six-year-old sedan. <\/span><\/p>\n

Then again, this is Tesla we\u2019re talking about\u2014 the most scrutinized yet inscrutable automaker on Earth, and the one that does the unexpected as standard operating procedure.<\/span><\/p>\n

What was truly unexpected was that the new Model 3 was there at all. Tesla famously eschews advertising, and it also hasn\u2019t had a presence at most auto shows in several years. Seeing Teslas at an event like this, with an actual communications team and marketing folks walking around and talking to people in white Tesla-branded button-down shirts, was a bizarre sight to behold. The last time I saw Tesla like this in America was sometime in the middle of the last decade; it has since dissolved its communications operation and most outreach events other automakers go big for, but it\u2019s certainly done just fine selling cars without going to these things. <\/span><\/p>\n

But times change. Maybe Elon Musk, who\u2019s <\/span>desperately trying to woo advertisers back to the social media platform formerly known as X<\/span>, is embracing the power of public awareness. And there are now more EVs than ever on the market, nearly all of them running some version of the Tesla playbook. I suspect the real reason Tesla went to IAA might\u2019ve had something to do with this:<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

For a German auto show, the real headline-makers came from China this time. <\/span><\/p>\n

IAA\u2019s home teams like BMW, Volkswagen and Mercedes-Benz are <\/span>still figuring out how to profitably build EVs at mass volume<\/span>, while China\u2019s electric automakers are basically kicking Europe\u2019s door down and letting all their friends into the show without paying the cover.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

BYD had a sprawling, extravagant display at IAA, dwarfing Tesla\u2019s tiny two-car setup. The Chinese powerhouse <\/span>showed off six new-to-Germany EVs at the show<\/span>, including one all-new debut, the Seal U crossover. I got to sit in one of some of BYD\u2019s cars for the first time here, and while I\u2019ll save any final judgments for the day when I get a test drive, I was impressed by their designs, tech, and vaguely supercar-like interiors. I\u2019ve been covering this industry long enough to remember when we\u2019d joke about the Chinese cars that made it to Western auto shows. Nobody\u2019s going to be laughing at what BYD is selling now.<\/span><\/p>\n

And BYD was just one such automaker at the Munich Trade Fair Center. Brands like Zeekr, HiPhi, and Xpeng made big splashes here, some getting tons of European attention for the first time ever. In fact, some of those cars were even <\/span>designed by poached Europeans<\/span>, a sign of any serious new player in the car market. No wonder <\/span>the European automakers are getting nervous<\/span>. They\u2019re worried they won\u2019t be able to compete on price and <\/span>will get their lunches eaten by more advanced Chinese EVs<\/span>, built at scale, and at lower costs than they can achieve right now. IAA Munich was an EV show, but it was especially a Chinese EV show, probably much to the chagrin of BMW and the rest. <\/span><\/p>\n

Make no mistake: this is a problem for Tesla, too. Just probably not in the U.S., and not for a while, anyway. <\/span>Its sales here remain incredibly strong<\/span>, and while its share of the EV market has declined this year, it\u2019s still far and away America\u2019s electric leader. Even if the Model 3 and Model Y have been around a few years (more than a few, in the Model 3\u2019s case) <\/span>the rapid-fire price cuts<\/span> have ensured they\u2019re still fresh and novel for American consumers.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Many of those people are going the Tesla route for their first-ever EV purchase. Considering how good Tesla\u2019s Supercharger network is and <\/span>how consistently bad the other networks are<\/span>, can you blame them? That may even out someday as more automakers go to Tesla\u2019s charging standard, but the full effects of that are years off. Tesla\u2019s largely fine in America, and you could say that even without the Cybertruck coming out soon.<\/span><\/p>\n

But it\u2019s a different story in China, where the car market may be slowing down but is far from out of gas. (Or electrons, in this case.) China is where Tesla got the long-sought stability and consistent yearly profits it had always longed for, but now, the local EV market\u2014one <\/span>that Tesla helped kick into high gear<\/span>\u2014may be surpassing it. Chinese car buyers want the latest, greatest thing, and Tesla, for all it\u2019s good at, is still not very good at launching new automotive products. Software, charging, and battery production, sure; but its lineup is getting pretty long in the tooth. <\/span><\/p>\n

The Chinese automakers, on the other hand, can roll out new models and new features<\/span> at breakneck a pace that has the rest of the industry terrified<\/span>. They cost less than Teslas do, too, both in China and in Europe. Musk\u2019s company can certainly survive losing market share in China, particularly as its factory produces models for export, but it\u2019ll sting. Meanwhile, Chinese EVs are kept out of the U.S. by steep tariffs\u2014for now. <\/span><\/p>\n

Consider Europe to be that middle ground, and not just geographically. Tesla\u2019s <\/span>still the best-selling EV brand in Europe<\/span>, but with the rate Chinese cars are coming to market, that could shift fast. It needed updates to its key, volume-selling products to stay fresh and relevant in every market, including this one.<\/span><\/p>\n

So does the upgraded Model 3 pull that off? As with BYD, I\u2019ll withhold judgment until I drive one. But I can say this: the rear seat is a lot more comfortable. It has features that industry analysts have told me Chinese buyers covet in particular, like that rear touch screen and ambient cabin lighting. I still think options from BMW and Mercedes surpass it in overall luxury, but these cosmetic, tech, and comfort upgrades are quite welcome. It\u2019s a nicer, better car than it was before and that\u2019s obvious even from briefly sitting inside. <\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

I suspect I\u2019d get used to the push-button turn signals quickly, as I often do when Tesla adds features that are against the grain. I\u2019m far less convinced about the touchscreen-based gear selector that\u2019s been added in place of that stalk off the steering column. But both of those are features from the Model S and Model X that are making their way into vastly more mainstream cars. In fact, that\u2019s probably the best way to describe the new Model 3\u2014it feels like a baby Model S, more than ever. <\/span>The range improvements<\/span> only further drive that point home. <\/span><\/p>\n

The upgraded Model 3 will go on sale in China and mainland Europe soon; Tesla hasn\u2019t said when it\u2019ll come to the U.S., but I expect it\u2019s not far off. Nor is the \u201cJuniper\u201d Model Y with presumably similar upgrades. In America, at least, I suspect they\u2019ll both be hits and keep the Tesla juice going for a while (along with our generous tax credits.) On a longer timeline, Tesla\u2019s got to up its new-car game, and I don\u2019t mean with stainless steel trucks, either. The Chinese EVs aren\u2019t messing around. <\/span><\/p>\n

But even with all the hype around those cars, and the considerable real estate around Munich devoted to things like BMW\u2019s Neue Klasse and Mercedes\u2019 Concept CLA Class, the updated Model 3\u2014just the one car on display, too\u2014was still what everyone was lining up in droves to see. To me, that spoke volumes. Even if the EV fight is more intense than ever, don\u2019t count Tesla out yet.<\/span><\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/2e4bAf2Tfy0?si=rLhvBV1pTnqohZe8
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