TESLA MODEL 3

Game-changer is a phrase attached to most electric cars that arrive with any kind of significant range and quality execution. But in the Tesla Model 3’s case, that tag is worn very comfortably, and with good justification.

Unlike the big Model S saloon and even bigger Model X SUV before it, the Model 3 is ‘right-sized’ for Europe and a more mass-produced model at lower prices. A ramp-up to mass production almost crippled the company a year ago, but it has emerged from what boss Elon Musk called “production hell” with a car that’s Tesla’s BMW 3 Series – a convenient description given the two are nearly identical in size.

The launch prices of the Model 3 aren’t quite the headline-grabbing £30,000-something we were promised at the car’s reveal, but other variants are to come that may

well see Tesla deliver on that. A price of around £46,500 is tipped for the 346bhp Dual Motor Long Range version, which is Tesla’s answer to the BMW M340i xdrive.

Yet the range of the Model 3 is what we were expecting: it’s the highest yet seen on an electric car, with a Wltp-certified 338 miles for that Dual Motor Long Range version. It’s the all-wheel-drive Dual Motor we’re getting first in Europe, in standard form or as a Performance version (eyes right for that one), with other versions to come, including a more entry-level rear-wheel-drive single-motor car as a price-leading variant. The BMW 320i rival, in other words.

We spent a couple of days in a Model 3 in and around San Francisco last year and found it not just to be a good EV, but a very good car. So much of the Model 3 is theatre, from the f lush door handles on cabin entry to that cabin itself, which is as bright, airy and spacious in a way a 3 Series can only dream of. There’s not a single button or switch, either – every single function carried out on a f loating touchscreen in the middle of the dashboard. While it seems intimidating at first, it’s actually very inviting and quickly becomes intuitive.

For drivetrain refinement, only a Rolls-royce Phantom tops it. The torque is instant, meaning it’s brisk too, and it steers, grips and handles with a great degree of competence. The company has brought enough talent in from elsewhere to ensure that, and the firm ride (an inevitable by-product of the weight) is better here than on other Teslas.

For a car to bring Tesla away from the EV evangelists and early adopters and into the mainstream, the Model 3 is a credible and desirable beginning.