The Model 3 is supposed to be Tesla’s humdrum car, the everyday, cut-price offering to the masses. Not the sort of thing that impresses Angelenos, so blasé about celebrities and rich kids valeting their supercars at restaurants. In LA, it takes a special vehicle to stand out.

Yet, as I’m driving around town in a (bright red) Model 3, I feel unusually conspicuous, attracting the eyes of passers-by, some of them walking into traffic for a closer look. Friends want a ride. Other Tesla owners come up to me to chat while charging. Surely, some of them are among the 450,000 people who have already put down a $1,000 deposit for the right to buy this car. And it turns out that driving one of the most anticipated vehicles, ever, is enough to shake these seen-it-all Angelenos to attention.

The real question is whether it lives up to the hype, to Elon Musk’s promise that this is the car for everyone. That’s what I wanted to find out, using the Model 3 to tool around LA, to hit freeways and winding roads, to traverse the desert and climb snow-covered mountains.

City Slicker

The car Tesla lent me to test is one of the first-production versions, and costs $57,000 when loaded with the currently non-optional options, including the premium package and long range battery. The first thing I did was look for misaligned panels, and try some speed humps to check for the squeaks and rattles that have plagued Model 3 buyers. I found none, but figure Tesla has given this loaner some extra scrutiny.

The automaker had similar quality control issues with early Model S and X production, and has mostly ironed those out. It’s fair to expect Musk & Co. will do the same here. So maybe driving this Model 3 is a bit like living in the future—this neatly finished model is the car Tesla wants to build for everyone. Eventually.

Heading to work in LA traffic means plenty of switching lanes to weave around the slow pokes, and that’s easy in the Model 3, which feels nimble. The steering takes just one full turn, center to lock, and feels super responsive. And it is very much a Tesla, with body-smooshing acceleration. It can’t out-sprint the top-end Model S, but its 5.1-second 0 to 60 mph time makes it quicker than cars like the VW Golf GTi and BMW’s 330i.

A space to stop is also never easy to find in LA, but Tesla’s Autopark system helps. I drive slowly past a gap, tap a pop-up icon on the touchscreen, and watch the car fold itself into a tight parallel space. It’s scary at first—“watch the wheels”, I found myself yelling at the touchscreen—but, much as it pains me to admit it, it’s probably better at parking than I am.

Tesla

Extreme Minimalism

If your friends are anything like mine, they’ll be most interested in the Model 3’s interior, whose minimal design would make Patrick Bateman’s New York apartment look cluttered. Tesla chucked out all the buttons, along with the instrument panel, traditional home of things like the speedometer. Every function in the Model 3 is controlled via, or displayed on, a centrally mounted 15-inch touchscreen.