Motor Trend Review: Chevy Bolt vs Nissan Leaf vs Tesla Model 3

[rage2]

http://www.motortrend.com/cars/tesla...-3-long-range/

Great review of the 3 leading economy EV's available today.

TL;DR:

Price as tested: $43,905 (Bolt), $37,915 (Leaf), $60,500 (Model 3)

Model 3 more luxurious feeling than other 2: “Comparing this Model 3 to the Bolt and Leaf isn’t fair—like comparing a BMW 3 Series with a Camry or Accord.”

Rear seating: Bolt wins by sacrificing aerodynamics with tall boxy shape. Model 3 rear passengers sit knees high to achieve sloping roof profile. Floor battery layout cuts headroom which creates this sacrifice/balance.

Range: Tesla wins, even though it weighs more, thanks to much more aerodynamic profile from said rear seating compromise.

Acceleration: Tesla wins hands down. 0-60 and 1/4 mile 6.3s/[email protected] (Bolt), 7.5s/[email protected] (Leaf), 4.8s/[email protected] (Model 3)

Handling: Tesla wins hands down, drives like a heavy Cayman. Bolt is nimble and pointy. Leaf was nose heavy. Why?

Ride Quality: "Although there are striking differences, each car’s ride is actually good if it fits your taste and expectations. The Leaf is great if you like downtown L.A. pothole compliance; the Model 3 is perfect if your commute is paved like the Nürburgring. Swap audiences and preferences, and both will feel terrible."

Self Driving: Leaf (surprisingly) is better at it than Tesla. Not available on Bolt. Tesla response: "its test vehicle was a preproduction vehicle and still being fine-tuned."

Winner: Spoiler:

2 reviewers chose Bolt, 1 reviewer chose Model 3. Overall ranking, Model 3 wins, Bolt second, Leaf third.

[Darell_n]

Those are all respectable 1/4 mile times, especially at our altitude. I guess EVs should have quicker times the higher you go as wind resistance will decrease, unlike internal combustion vehicles.

[Sugarphreak]

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[rage2]

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The Tesla drives like a "heavy cayman" ?!?!?

Wtf, are these reviewers on crack?

test results for model 3:
Skid pad; 0.87g
Figure 8: 0.74g
Braking: 119ft

Shit, my Q5 has similar numbers on sloppy all seasons... guess it is practically a heavy Cayman? Lol.

Those are utterly garbage results for a car. Why don't they call it what it is? A fat sofa of a car that handles like shit even though they put performance cheater tires on it to pad the results, mostly so they could do a quick 0-60.

For reference, 2014 Cayman results:

skid pad: 1.06g
figure 8: 0.80g
Braking: 101ft

What they were trying to convey was the handling dynamics, not outright handling performance of the Model 3. Basically a well mannered RWD sports car, while the Bolt would be comparable to a Golf GTI. Both with less actual handling performance of course.

I'm surprised the Bolt did so well, considering it came equipped with basically hypermiling tires. It'd be an interesting comparison between the 3 if they were all fitted with PSS's, although I'd still bet the Tesla wins purely from a focus away from ride quality and towards handling.

[killramos]

So basically the Model 3 is like an 08 335i sedan?

That's pretty livable for a DD if you ask me, this is the rwd version and not the D though? I feel like I would want awd for 60k.

Wouldn't be a bad pickup if you had a significant daily commute. I could see myself getting one for the wife one the lease is up, would need to debadge it for my own sake of course

[rage2]

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So basically the Model 3 is like an 08 335i sedan?

That's pretty livable for a DD if you ask me, this is the rwd version and not the D though? I feel like I would want awd for 60k.

Wouldn't be a bad pickup if you had a significant daily commute. I could see myself getting one for the wife one the lease is up, would need to debadge it for my own sake of course

That's USD. At the current exchange that Tesla uses for Canadians, it puts the car as tested at around $79k.

Yes this is the RWD long range version w/premium pack (only build available until mid next year). The short range version is supposed to come next, with AWD and finally performance variants over a year away. This is Tesla's timetable so you know the history for expectations haha.

[Sugarphreak]

...

[killramos]

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That's USD. At the current exchange that Tesla uses for Canadians, it puts the car as tested at around $79k.

Yes this is the RWD long range version w/premium pack (only build available until mid next year). The short range version is supposed to come next, with AWD and finally performance variants over a year away. This is Tesla's timetable so you know the history for expectations haha.

Got it, 3 generations ago 335i for current M3 prices.

I would never pre order one. But if it’s competitive with other cars when I am looking I wouldn’t say I wouldn’t consider it. Probably not so much for me as for the wife.

I still want to see what the i5 is going to be...

Model 3 is definitely nicer than a Mazda 3, suggesting otherwise is just being blatantly jaded. And I dislike Tesla as much as anyone.

[rage2]

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Got it, 3 generations ago 335i for current M3 prices.

To be fair, the Bolt is stupid expensive here as well, but that's mostly due to lease rates and residuals when I'm making that comparison.

[Xtrema]

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Got it, 3 generations ago 335i for current M3 prices.

Progress!

[Gestalt]

$60 us for the 3? What the shit is that?

Definitely better to buy a used s and get free super charging.

[rage2]

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$60 us for the 3? What the shit is that?

Definitely better to buy a used s and get free super charging.

They gotta make money somehow. Not kidding either, the margins are tiny on the base 3, with some analysts speculating it’s a loss leader until battery prices drop even more, that’s why Tesla isn’t making it till later.

[Sugarphreak]

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[supe]

Creates a thread about the 3 cars, and typical beyond goes and attacks the one and basically ignores the other 2.

I actually feel bad for Sugar and killramos and others, you spend probably just as much time hating on Tesla as Elon works at both SpaceX and Tesla. Watch this video, Jay Leno a guy who knows something about cars and his comments about the attitude about Tesla:

https://youtu.be/hqVsyWpjwmw?t=243

You guys are glass half empty kind of guys, its a sad life. If you actually put money where your mouth is and actually made money from this "house of cards" then you could actually walk away from this with something tangible, but you spend so many cycles just thinking negatively.

[killramos]

I haven’t even been hating on the 3?

Typical Supe reading between the lines.

As for the other two, I have no interest in buying an electric car for electric cars sake. I am no more likely to buy a leaf or a bolt than a Versa or a Cruze.

If they want to hype up the model 3 into another class, it better be able to stand the heat of being compared to other cars in its “class”.

[Sugarphreak]

...

[Xtrema]

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I actually feel bad for Sugar and killramos and others, you spend probably just as much time hating on Tesla as Elon works at both SpaceX and Tesla. Watch this video, Jay Leno a guy who knows something about cars and his comments about the attitude about Tesla:

https://youtu.be/hqVsyWpjwmw?t=243

I think Jay probably won't support Tesla now that Elon is crushing any union efforts.

[rage2]

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I think Jay probably won't support Tesla now that Elon is crushing any union efforts.

Jay Leno is supporting Tesla from a product point of view. The comparison to Apple is silly, Apple has been a sustainable business model since the start of it's revival with new products to market that literally prints money for the company. Tesla has yet to prove they can make EV's profitable at a large scale.

[Gestalt]

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Creates a thread about the 3 cars, and typical beyond goes and attacks the one and basically ignores the other 2.

I actually feel bad for Sugar and killramos and others, you spend probably just as much time hating on Tesla as Elon works at both SpaceX and Tesla. Watch this video, Jay Leno a guy who knows something about cars and his comments about the attitude about Tesla:

https://youtu.be/hqVsyWpjwmw?t=243

You guys are glass half empty kind of guys, its a sad life. If you actually put money where your mouth is and actually made money from this "house of cards" then you could actually walk away from this with something tangible, but you spend so many cycles just thinking negatively.

Absolutely. Every real car enthusiast i know absolutely appreciates what tesla has done. You wont catch Leno dead in a prelude or genesis, because they are childrens toys. But he loves and owns tesla.

Musk said from day one he expected tesla to fail, and people throw money at him and he changed the world. Thats what bothers the haters.

[bjstare]

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Absolutely. Every real car enthusiast i know absolutely appreciates what tesla has done. You wont catch Leno dead in a prelude or genesis, because they are childrens toys. But he loves and owns tesla.

Musk said from day one he expected tesla to fail, and people throw money at him and he changed the world. Thats what bothers the haters.

You just compared two old cars that can each (or probably both) be had for <$10k to something worth $100k (minimum). No shit he'd rather have a tesla... him and anyone else with a brain, you goof.

Also the fact that he's got an estimated net worth of $350MM... do you honestly think anyone with that much money would own a 15 year old import?