A First-Hand Impression of Driving the Tesla Model 3.

irthdays are always nice.

As a kid belonging to a lower-middle-class family in India, I experienced birthdays always with a certain thriftiness: some new outfits, and a special sweet dish my mother would make to suit the birthday child's interests — usually my favorite ಕಡಲೇ ಬೇಳೆ ಪಾಯಸ for my birthdays — for the occasion. No cakes, no 'Happy Birthday ...' singing, etc., that is very much a modern cultural landscape in most households. Thus, imagine my excitement when very close to, and just days before my birthday in 2018, I got hold of my Tesla Model 3, delivered to our home. I was one of those who stood in line patiently for several hours on March 31, 2016, to register for a Model 3, based solely on a test drive of a Tesla Model S a few years earlier.

Tesla Model 3LR, delivered to home.

The first serious solo outing with the car was to experience the nearest Supercharger to our home, in Cupertino.

Tesla Supercharger in Cupertino

A problem with the Tesla Supercharger bank at Vallco Parkway in Cupertino is that the aisle in which the superchargers are located is a little too narrow: And the Tesla needs to be parked tail in for charging. You can see that the aisle is too narrow by the amount of congestion that seems to be quite constant near those superchargers.

A big surprise to me was the rate at which the Supercharger charged the Model 3: 156 mi/hr. (The home charger we got installed does it at only 44 mi/hr, thus requiring a full overnight — ~8 hours — of charging to charge the long-range battery completely).

Supercharging at 156 mi/hr.

An interesting experience I had with the Model 3 is that the position of the speedometer, essentially at the top left of the 15" display, didn't bother me at all! (You can see several write-ups on the Internet describing the location to be a disadvantage). The font size of the clock display, however, is a bit too small ...

When parked, I noticed a spontaneous leak of charge at the rate of about 3mi/day: Thus, if you charge the battery and do not drive reasonably immediately, you'd lose the charge eventually, even though slowly; hence, perhaps, the recommendation from the Tesla Model 3 support people that you charge overnight only as much as you need for driving during the next day. It is also suggested that not having a fully-charged battery discharge to near 0, as much as possible, tends to enhance the life of the battery.

Overall, I'm a happy camper, and we are now toying with the idea of a 2nd EV, a standard — a shorter range of about 230 mi — Model 3, as the Toyota Prius we have will eventually make it necessary.