Edmunds: Tesla Model 3 Is The “Ultimate Driving Machine”

July 28th, 2019 by Zachary Shahan

I had to do a double take when seeing this tweet below. I thought perhaps it was actually from The Onion, not Edmunds.

In case you are not aware, Edmunds is no hippie-dippie cleantech site. In fact, it makes a shit ton of money funneling internet surfers to local auto dealers to buy gasmobiles. That’s sort of its thing. So, for Edmunds staff to bash a conventional auto company by saying that its popular tagline fits Tesla better is … well … sort of shocking. But that’s just what it did.

The ultimate driving machine? Not anymore. We put our 2-year-old Model 3 –– which isn’t even the most sportiest configuration –– up against the new BMW 3 Series and came away concluding the @Tesla is just more fun to drive. https://t.co/6lULygfbXI pic.twitter.com/cKPgcR4i7H — Edmunds (@edmunds) July 24, 2019

That’s right — Edmunds says that a non-Performance Model 3 whoops a BMW 330i’s butt when it comes to driving pleasure. The Model 3 is the ultimate driving machine, not the BMW.

This doesn’t come as news to anyone who’s driven a Tesla Model 3. You’d have to have some serious mental bias or perception problems to say a BMW 3 Series offers a better driving experience than a Tesla Model 3. Nonetheless, that’s the kind of bias you might expect from an outlet like Edmunds. Not the case. Not at all. Here’s the full 10 minute video comparison:

Make sure to watch the last minute and a half to see the reviewer laughing at how much fun the Model 3 is to drive and how shocked he is that it beat the BMW 330i in their assessment. Or just take the time to watch the whole video. It’s quite interesting.

Aside from drive quality, there are of course several other major benefits to a Tesla Model 3. For example, the 5 year cost of ownership can easily be about 50% of the BMW 330i’s. (Also see: Tesla Model 3 vs. BMW 230i, 330i, 440i, & i3s.)

The Model 3 offers superb infotainment (as a BMW owner and partial Tesla owner, I can tell you that I long for the Tesla navigation and infotainment system almost every day I’m in the BMW). The Model 3 includes numerous fun Easter eggs (or apps) as part of the infotainment experience, which I think are actually underrated rather than overhyped, and Tesla will soon even offer streaming on Netflix and YouTube (which will be awesome to experience thanks to Tesla’s superb sound system and comfy seats).

Of course, the Tesla also offers zero emissions, which is a huge deal for those of us concerned about the health effects of normal gasmobile pollution as well as global-heating CO2 emissions.

There are other ownership benefits and broad societal benefits to the Model 3 and all other electric cars, like convenient home charging and cutting the stimulus for oil wars. However, the other huge “selfish” reason for getting a Model 3, in my opinion, is that the car has topped safety ratings in the USA and Europe. In fact, it registered the lowest probability of injury of any car ever tested by the NHTSA — by far.

No one wants to expect that they’ll be in an unlucky situation, but if that is the case, better to be in a Tesla. As a father of two young girls (and as someone who writes about cars for a living), I think about this practically every day. It’s a major selling point that is actually logical and practical.

It’s hard to comprehend that a single car can excel in so many ways. It’s the ultimate driving machine, it’s the safest car you can buy, it has the best infotainment tech, and it has a total cost of ownership more similar to a Honda Accord or Toyota Camry than a BMW 3 Series. But that’s the story.

If you are interested in buying a Tesla Model 3 (or Model S or X) and need a referral code to get 1,000 miles of free Supercharging, feel free to use ours: http://ts.la/tomasz7234

Related story: 6 Ways Tesla Ruins Everything For Incumbent Automakers









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