Tesla Model 3 Long Range Motorway Range Test (MIC) 

Thanks, will do!

Who wants to stop anywhere at -2 but we all need to fuel up whether it’s petrol/diesel or electric. Tesla superchargers are one of the cheapest, sometimes as low as 30p pkW which is almost comparable to home charging. You’ll be surprised how short your charging sessions are too, you only charge what you need. These cars are comfortable, warm and have entertainment on board if your phone isn’t enough ☺️

Yes that's all good and well but having to build an extra hour into your journey isnt ideal.

An hour?

Hi Adam thanks for tuning in. Great question. If range is an issue model 3 LR will give you peace of mind there. I drive the MG4 90% of the time, without sounding past my sell by date (I’m 42 honest!) the ride is just much better and I value you that more. M3 can be brutal. However, if we do a road/long trip the model 3 gets the nod because it just eats miles for breakfast and it charges like a beast. On motorways and A-roads, apart from the model S, there isn’t a better car. The sound system is flippin good too but you need it to drown the road noise. It gets loud. I have a 2020 model3 LR and I’ve driven 2022 M3 and MY and there’s definitely some incremental improvements in drive comfort and cabin has in the same way quality improvements. I love both cars for different reasons. MG4 is fantastic at doing ‘everything’ really well and the price tag justifies it for consideration. It’s just a very good all round car. The acceleration on the model 3 is just phenomenal and the route planning is fantastic! Both cars have their little flaws but they’re better than most of the opposition. If i had to chose between a brand new MG4 and brand new M3 and money was no object I’d go with the Tesla but if im absolutely honest if it was a second hand model 3 pre 2021 Fremont build I’d take the MG4. My M3 has had so many issues. Latest heat pump failure. It also squeaks and rattles like a bag of spanners. You will love the Model 3 it is seriously a flippin’ good car and you’ll be buzzing when you hit the throttle. I don’t think you can go wrong with either car despite the differences.

Absolutely! Also, I test when it’s quiet on the roads, as soon as you mix a bit of 50 and 60mph that only extends the range. Unfortunately, one of the things I don’t demonstrate is how good Tesla’s route planning tool is. Now, obvs I know you probably wouldn’t need it to find your way to the football, but what it does do is take into account variables like elevation, weather and traffic and an estimate arrival battery %. It’s more or less to 1% accurate most of the time. It will also give you the opportunity if you wish to stop at one of their superchargers. Which would be less than 5 mins stop. You could have a longer stop on the way back to make up the shortfall to return home. We have owned a model 3 long range for 3 years and we’ve never in all of our road trips even to frozen Scotland in winter gone under 200miles of range. Obvs newer versions of model 3 have slightly bigger batteries on the long range nearly 80kWh, ours is about 5 less which is around 20 miles difference. You can also do things to help remain efficient on your trip like preheat the car prior from your charger that way the car won’t be scavenging heat from the battery to initially warm the car. Turn the heater down a little and use the heated seats etc It’s a great car for flying up and down motorways

@@stuart_thomas Thanks for all your advice, I have had a look at the supercharger network on my route and there a couple so I should be okay if I ever need it. Just trying to look into get a charger installed in my garage to make the charging even easier!

Hi neil, this is more or less worst case scenario. Tesla superchargers now have different tariffs depending on when you visit, I think cheapest is just over 45p. If you do generally charge at home it’s very unlikely you’d ever charge 0-100%, maybe 15-80% etc. there’s also subscription models where you can get public DC ultra fast charging for 28p a kWh etc

I typically charge from 20 to 100 on my standard range and it costs around £16/17 as a heads up. Between 25 and 36p on the chargers I use

Hi Roy, thanks for tuning in - about 32k. Prices do seem to be slowing down now but there’s lots of bargains. Degradation on these cars is so incredibly little you’re talking a few miles each year and the worst is in the first year. I own a 2.5 year old M3 LR with 45k and it matches the range more or less of this 2021 model with 10k.

@@stuart_thomas thank you Stuart. Keep up the good work. Thank you very much for the info. I am considering the MG 4 trophy.

@@royboydanny1415 that’s great. You should definitely test drive one 😊

@@stuart_thomas Interesting video, very informative. I'd say this 2021 Long Range is more around £36k - £37k looking on auto trader. Glad to hear your 2.5 year old car matches the 2021 model, I pick up a 2020 Long Range on Sunday with 24k miles on the clock, hopefully achieve similar results

@@stuart_thomas I had a test drive the other day, brilliant 👍

Hi Clive it’s a mixture of ownership/people I know/loaners or from dealerships. I’m certainly no way near a calibre of being able to pick from press cars etc but I try my best to get what I can get my hands on lols - I hope I can provide (what I think is) valuable info to the consumers who want to learn more about EVs etc

I’d love to test a Mach-e but they’re so hard to get hold of

@@stuart_thomas No hurry. But it's important the standard because there are a lot of videos with the long range.

Nearly 80mpg ! What cars that?

That’s great efficiency jhonny. What do you think you’d get at -3c at 70mph? Cold weather isn’t great for EVs but it’s easy to adapt to for the 2 months of the year we hover around freezing. Just to point out as you may not have seen it in the video notes, this trip cost £6. In summer 300+ miles is more likely on a full charge. There’s a bigger picture driving electric but I totally understand use cases and hybrids do a great job

Hi Giles. Based on the variables of this trip I think I could squeeze 125 miles. That’s based on not unlocking the full battery capacity because of the cold.

@@stuart_thomas What do you mean by "not unlocking the full battery capacity because of the cold."

@@gilesfitzherbert7725 LFP cells tend to operate at there best between a set of temperature parameters. Below 5c makes it harder for the pack to stay at the optimum temperature so the car can either limit the available battery or you use more energy to keep it warmer. I hope that makes sense?

@@stuart_thomas So the SE has a battery heater but obviously uses energy to keep the battery at best temperature. My dilemma is that my daughter lives 125 miles from me, only about 5 miles of non motorway roads. Obviously I'd like to charge at her house, albeit from 13amp plug - we always go for a couple of days, rather than a public charger. Can I use the Tesla charger that I have at my house (courtesy of my son who has had Teslas for many years).

@@gilesfitzherbert7725 remember it’s only in very cold conditions the car will experience this. Anything over 5c and you’re looking at 140-210 depending on temps, driving style and weather. Even if you did feel anxious and wanted to stop en-route you’re talking 5 mins of charging. Yes you can use any AC charger even Tesla home charger.

This is a worst case scenario. Of course there’s many more benefits with EV ownership. It won’t be for everyone. I’ve had 300 miles out the car as well, depends on a few factors. My old car did 500+ miles on a full tank, it doesn’t mean I need to drive 500 miles. We have spent around £1200 on 50k driven miles with our model3.

@@stuart_thomas I totally agree with you. I have spent £4k only on the fuel last year. Technically speaking, EVs have advantages. Thanks 😊

Ahsan, you're right, there's no point. Keep driving your car for 700 miles without a break. Keep paying 5xmore in petrol than electric. Keep giving kids outside schools a lung full of polluting air. Keep paying roadtax. Keep paying 100s of pounds a year in servicing. Enjoy defrosting your car instead of getting into a lovely warm one every morning. Keep losing the traffic light grand Prix. Don't think about EVs having a peaceful, quiet cabin.

Yes. All MIC ones do 👍

And balmy temps. Try 140km/h at -30 like here in Canada.

That's physically impossible as there's so much more drag at 80 compared to 60 not to mention the higher rpms.

@@kabukidreamboy Well, you are wrong. Fortunately for us, physics cares not about your opinion. FYI, drag is not the only thing that goes into fuel economy. Virtually all European cars are built to get their best overall performance at 80 mph.

@@Mordalo there have been many experiments and you cannot overcome the laws of physics! There's something in science called the Inverse Square Law. For the car to push through air at twice the speed, you need four times the energy to do it (2² = 4). Five times the speed, 25 times the energy needed (5² = 25). Going at 60mph means you use 60² amount of energy (that's 3,600), but going at 70mph means 70² (4,900) amount of energy. Just for the air resistance, dividing 4900 by 3600, you use up 136% (1.36 times) of the energy at 70mph than you would use 100% of the energy at 60mph. Swap around that fraction, it's the same as saying going 60mph would only use up 73.5% of your battery pack at 60mph if going at 70mph would drain it 100%...𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁'𝘀 𝗮 𝗱𝗶𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝟮𝟲.𝟱%. It would be an even bigger percentage for 80 mph.

yus, if you set off at the same time... long-range travel is a weakpoint currently (especially for non-Teslas... Tesla at least has consistently fast and available super-charger network for on-route fast charging, etc)... but that also overlooks their benefits elsewhere

For some one who doesn't like electric cars you watch a lot of videos about them

It’s a fair point of view Richard but I also think it’s fair to assume who in their right mind would want to drive for more than 4 hours without a toilet break or food stop? You must have a bladder like Thor’s hammer

Richard - you seem like a very anxious type of person. Very beta.

@@stuart_thomas my experience is toilet break, behind a hedge or tree ! Food , raid the fridge before leaving, the organised make sandwiches eaten on the way , a car full all chip in for the petrol money.