About that Tesla Model 3…

After considerable delays in production, it appears the Tesla Model 3, the “affordable” electric vehicle (starting price is $35,000), is off to a rather rocky start.

Over at Slate.com, Will Oremus outlines some of the problems critics, including Consumer Reports, have found in the vehicle:

Tesla’s Model 3 fails to get Consumer Reports recommendation, may not be perfect, affordable electric car after all

I know I’m about to step all over the article here, but the gist of the Consumer Reports negative findings for the most part involve the car’s braking distance from a speed of 60 mph.  The car’s braking, to be blunt, is inconsistent and tends to require more distance than most cars of its size.

They found other problems, such as difficulty in using the vehicle’s central screen, which makes the driver too often look away from the road to work on the various do-dadds the screen covers, which is most everything.  Finally, they stated the car was noisy when driving along the highway.

Interesting.

The author further notes that though Consumer Reports could not recommend the vehicle, they did give it generally good reviews for all other elements.

Here’s the thing: I’m not all that surprised.

This is the first Model 3 released.  Like computers, like cell phones, like laptops, one should always be leery of the first generation of any technological release.

As much as my mouth waters at the prospect of getting a Tesla vehicle -or look forward to the day when all vehicles eschew the combustion engine- I kinda/sorta knew there would be bumps in the road.

Don’t get me wrong: the inconsistent braking in the Model 3 is worrisome.  In fact, I’d say it’s very worrisome.

It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to realize that if a car’s braking is inconsistent, there is a certainly a danger one might slam into someone/something due to the fact that one cannot figure out the distance involved in safe braking.

Having said that, this is a correctable problem, one that the author notes may be resolved through software updates.  It would not shock me at all if Tesla does resolve this issue rather quickly.

But, again: As more and more models are made and provided to the public, improvements will be made.

I may not get the first generation affordable electric vehicle, but perhaps in a few years we’ll have a better one.