This article is from the 42HOW community member Zuo Sheng, reprinted from the WeChat public account “No Comments”. Please contact the author for reposting.
I first came into contact with a smartphone when I was in college. I still remember when my college classmate Jiang Tiandiao took out a Coolpad smartphone and it amazed me. Later, I saw Sister Hua using an iPhone 3GS. The first time I used a smartphone really shocked me: I didn’t know that a phone can be used like this!
After the release of the iPhone 4, it became the phone that I most wanted to have. If the Model S created a new form of electric cars and became the iPhone 4 of the phone world, then the Model 3 that I was able to buy and use was like the iPhone 4S that came a year later.
(March 2019, a large batch of Model 3s waiting for delivery at the checkpoint)
Table of Contents
- Summary
- Reasons for Buying a Car
- Buying Experience
- Smart Experience
- Driving Experience
- Range Experience
- Discomfort Experience
- Tesla Experience
- More and More Teslas
- Trust in Tesla!
Summary
Ordered on February 28, 2019 and delivered on March 29, 2019. Configuration as follows:
– Model 3 Long Range Rear-Wheel Drive Imported Version
– Equipped with Enhanced Autopilot and Hardware (HW) 2.5, with a promise of Full Self-Driving and Hardware (HW) 3.0
– Cold Light Silver with Black Interior
– Standard Wheels
– Home Charger
– Imported, including purchase tax, not tax-free, no lifetime free Supercharging🤷♂️
Having said that, I realized that there is nothing else to write about, the configuration and interior are simply summarized.
(After a year of use, let me just write down the specific experience)
Usage:
– The only vehicle at home with no fixed parking space;
– The community parking lot has third-party “Bird Charger” charging piles, and occasionally uses Supercharging;
– Mileage of 9000 KM, usually used for commuting to work, occasionally for long-distance travel;
– It hasn’t been serviced yet, planning to go to the service center for maintenance after one year. According to the price list that I have learned, the cost should be within 1500.
(I haven’t been there yet, I plan to bring only 1,500 yuan.)
Charging is not expensive, and it is still free during the epidemic. So far, the third-party charging has recorded 2000 yuan, and the official website shows a super charging bill of 550 yuan. The total cost is less than 0.3 yuan per kilometer.
The workmanship is not too bad and I have not encountered any serious bugs. Currently, the biggest problem is that the built-in network is with China Unicom, which has a poor signal. If you are pursuing interior, space, and style, this car cannot give you that. If you are buying a grocery car, occasionally running a long distance, it is more than enough, and you can occasionally feel the illusion of speeding.
If economic conditions permit and you like to experience electronic products, and just need a commuting car/backup car, I would highly recommend the Tesla Model 3, especially the domestically produced long-range version that will be available this year.
Reasons for buying a car
At the end of 2018, our family had just welcomed our baby daughter. In early 2019, my wife planned to return to work, so we began to plan to buy a commuting car. Starting at 200,000 yuan, our first requirement was:
1) It cannot look like a Didi car: This is why she rejected white paint and white interior later. But this combination is really good, it feels like a spaceship;
2) It cannot have too many colleagues driving the same car: This is why she rejected the Mercedes C-Class later. If we choose again, we will still say no.
Based on the first point, many car models were actually rejected. So naturally, the price rose to 300,000 yuan, and we started looking at models from BBA. Since we were going to keep a record, I recorded our thoughts at the time truthfully: Too many people are driving Mercedes, we have only a few choices of BMW, and Audi is not enterprising. The key is to buy a gasoline car in Shenzhen and you need a license plate first. At that time, a license plate cost 50-80,000 yuan, adding up to almost 400,000 yuan. And we also looked at the electric cars in the 400,000 yuan price range.
Because I work in the internet industry, I have a certain concern for new products in the industry. I have been following Yu Xinlie (@ Yu Xinlie) and HardBrother (@硬哥) on Weibo for a long time. With a mentality of trying it out, I contacted them on Weibo, and I received very serious and quick replies. In the end, I did not listen to what HardBrother said:
(Back then, I was a naive leek.)
Since I had already reached this price range, why not try the latest possibilities? Following the principle of “since we’re here,” let’s go see Tesla. Once we saw it, we decided to buy it instantly.
Car buying experience
In early February 2019, we began to visit the experience center to see the car. We test drove it in the middle of the month. There was Huang Bo’s “Dive” playing in the car. Later, after we got the car, we realized that this song’s performance on the car’s stereo was several levels better than other songs.# Translation in English Markdown format:
On February 28th, a last-minute order was placed. The saleslady was so anxious that she messaged me on WeChat while shopping in Hong Kong to ask me to reconsider and place the order immediately. At that time, I also paid attention to the tariff policy and shipping information, so I placed the order. I am very grateful to the saleslady, Chen Lei, for her assistance. After a year of driving the car, I don’t feel like I am the biggest loser anymore.
Once the order was placed, we created a group to coordinate with delivery, bank, insurance, and license plate registration. On the 3rd day, I officially signed a contract at the dealership. Then I began checking Weibo every day to track shipping information, knowing that my car was on the ship in the middle of the sea.
One funny thing that happened was when they discovered that the nameplate on the car did not match the vehicle information during customs clearance. I guess the delivery team was truly confused. After all, it’s made in America, so there might be some risks. Later, they had to find a supplier in Fujian to provide a new nameplate to replace the old one.
(Delivery guy in despair)
March 2019 was Tesla’s craziest delivery month. All staff participated in the delivery process. There were many conflicting procedures, which could be understandable. Many thanks to the delivery team at that time, who could promptly and seriously handle the problems I reported.
One month later, they contacted me for delivery. I was in Hangzhou, so I had to remotely coordinate with Tesla and my family. Many new owners were receiving their cars at the end of March, but on the first day, I still hadn’t received my car yet. On the second day, it finally arrived by flatbed truck. After a brief introduction to the car, the driver left. The entire process was not much more complicated than buying an iPhone from Apple’s official website.
(The delivery guy delivering the car to my door. Being the first Model 3 in my complex, it caught the eyes of a few passers-by.)
Intelligent Experience
Indeed, Tesla is like a smartphone from years ago. Each update brings new experiences. Many car owners in our community know when there is an update, so they connect their car to Wi-Fi and wait for the download while sitting in the car. I have not deliberately counted the number of times the car has received OTA updates, so I will borrow some data from “42号车库” (Weibo @42号车库).
(Welcome to join the community, where the community members are more active than ever.)
The range and acceleration of the car have always been improving. The core experience of the product is enhanced through software, which is a unique pleasure for electronic consumer products.
Now, the intelligent driving functions that I can use include:- Automatic parking: From the beginning of needing ice cream cones for assistance, to accurately identifying normal parking spaces, to parallel parking;
-
Automatic cruise control: At the beginning, AP often goes directly into ACC, only controlling speed, not driving;
-
Assistive driving: Turn signals and lane adjustments, adjustable speed limit;
-
NoA: High-speed automatic driving under map navigation;
-
Summon function: Simple parking lot summoning, requires signal.
As AP becomes more and more convenient, it also leads to becoming more and more dependent on driving. Now I’m very worried about whether I’m still a qualified driver when driving other cars.
Here are a few memorable experiences to share.
In the early days, AP couldn’t be activated on bends and we thought it had to be started on a straight line. For example, the bend in front below couldn’t activate AP:
(For this kind of bend in front, AP is impossible.)
This is a recent parking experience using parallel parking. The position of the parallel parking space was accurately identified, and the car was quickly and confidently reversed towards a X5, almost scaring me. Finally, the position of the parked car was very accurate, right on the line.
(A standard parallel parking with perfect alignment.)
The current version of Enhanced Autopilot has a very obvious problem: When there is a normal truck driving in the lane next to the car, or when the truck’s shadow covers the car’s lane, the car will be hesitant, and then slow down and shrink back.
(The enemy of autonomous driving: trucks)
A friend asked me a typical question: Can Tesla really drive on the highway with hands off the steering wheel? According to a broad definition, when I drive home on Yangtze River Expressway, I can basically not have to step on the accelerator pedal for 80% of the time. At the same time, Tesla has safety settings: If the steering wheel doesn’t detect the driver’s hands on it for a period of time, it will begin to remind the driver. Strictly speaking, I can rest my feet, while keeping my hands mostly on the steering wheel and occasionally using turn signals and lane adjustments.Shortly after we got the car, we were excited to explore the various possibilities of intelligent driving. When experiencing AP on Shennan Avenue, the car hit the guardrail twice after starting up with a turn in direction each time. Fortunately, we were able to exit and correct in time. We have truly risked our lives to provide Tesla with real-world testing data, and the car has made strong progress as it undergoes iterative updates. The significant amount of road conditions and driving information provided by real car owners is an important barrier that I believe sets Tesla apart from its competitors in the industry.
It is strongly recommended that car owners closely monitor the vehicle and road conditions for safety when using assisted driving.
Regarding the controversial issue of the domestically produced Model 3 being inconsistent with what was ordered, from my understanding of the company’s character, Tesla rushed to deliver vehicles without waiting for 3.0, so it shipped with the existing 2.5 model, and planned to update the vehicles for owners later. This was an ill-conceived idea that they will have to face up to.
As for other in-car entertainment, I, as a lazy person, rarely play games or watch videos. At most, I listen to music in the car. QQ Music can synchronize playlists, but does not support shuffle playback. My favorite is the “Surging List,” which uncovers unexpected “music.”
(Built-in QQ music, just for hearing above 10,000, sound quality is not demanding)
The performance of the voice assistant is not as good as Siri, to savor carefully.
Driving Experience
Accelerating quickly at traffic lights, Tesla has not lost to any other brand below 2 million; as for those above 2 million, I usually stay 2 meters behind and let them go first.
Tesla is not a traditional car company, but it provides excellent control performance and overall dynamic responsiveness. I was impressed by the car’s balance when AP topped 80 and entered a sharp turn. I don’t have much experience driving, but the immediate response of the power and stable steering bring me a lot of driving pleasure.
The large central display screen in the car does not conform to the current conventional design of automobiles, but it is easy to adapt to. The large screen provides good road conditions information and may cause the driver to gradually lose the habit of looking at the rearview mirror.
(The central display screen can display enough information about the car’s condition and road condition)And the magic OTA occasionally brings beauty filters to the rearview mirror, which is pretty much blind after getting wet in the rain
(Multicolored black, bouncing all the way)
Since there is no traditional engine system, the storage space of the front trunk + rear trunk is really large, and a lot of things can be loaded at once. For example, a slide (mistake):
(The luggage compartment can hold even more things when squeezed, the kind with a guide groove)
Range Experience
Since the car was in use, it has always been around 550 km on full charge. Daily charging is limited to 80%, and the daily commute is only about 40 km, which means charging once a week. There are third-party charging piles in the parking lot of the residential area, which costs about 1.5 yuan/kWh.
Tesla’s charging method is divided into 4 types, and I have only experienced 2 of them.
Tesla Supercharger: There are quite a lot of superchargers in Shenzhen, but it is generally necessary to pay for parking at the parking lot. The cost of electricity is generally around 1.5 yuan/kWh. The advantage is fast. Every time I travel back to my hometown, I will go to the only supercharging station in my hometown. It can be charged from 130 km to 450 km in about 30 minutes. (Anti-debunking patch: I am a relaxed car owner and didn’t record it carefully)
(The only supercharging station in my hometown, where I have only seen two other cars besides Shenzhen ones)
Third-party charging: Regardless of whether the Tesla bought in China is imported or not, they are all equipped with a domestic standard charging port, and all third-party charging ports on highways in China can be used. I usually plug it in when parking at night, and it will be fully charged early in the day when driving.
(The charging pile downstairs in the residential area, although very inferior, can be used)Home Charging: If you have a parking space at home, you can install a dedicated Tesla charger. The charger needs to be purchased separately now, but it was included with my purchase. However, I don’t have a parking space.
Destination Charging Station: I’ve never used it, so I’m not really sure what it is.
Because there is a supercharging station near my company and a third-party charging station in my neighborhood, it can basically meet daily use. I don’t know much about third-party charging stations, but according to my friends who have used NIO and XPeng apps, it’s pretty convenient to find a station. As a car for grocery shopping, range anxiety doesn’t exist.
Disadvantages
After running it for a year, there are several problems that are clear:
– Workmanship: It is well known that “Made in America” products are not necessarily better quality. The first batch of domestic products didn’t seem to be any better either.
– Wind noise: Frameless windows can never be perfect, and it gets noisy at speeds over 100 km/h.
– Tire noise: It’s obvious when driving over speed bumps on the highway, but I don’t really care. Just replace the tires if you do.
– Signal: It uses a China Unicom card, you know what that means.
– Interior: It’s said to be very simple, but I don’t have strong feelings about it.
This can’t be a perfect car, both its advantages and disadvantages are obvious. If there are some problems you care about, it’s recommended to give up.
Tesla Experience
When is it the best time to buy a Tesla? This is a question that people often ask me. The standard answer is:
“Buy early and enjoy early, buy late and enjoy discounts”.
Tesla has 4 treasures: configuration upgrade, free autopilot, interest-free financing, and price reduction. These are interconnected, and Tesla will not use the next measure as long as they can sell it. No matter when you buy, you will feel like you lost a lot of money after a while. Buying now is tax-free, but you don’t get the home charging station included in the imported version, and the charger is priced at 8000…
But isn’t it the same for electronic consumer products? In my opinion, the domestically produced long-range rear-wheel drive with FSD is a very good choice.
Since you are considering buying, you can consider using this referral code “90903”. Everyone can receive 1500 KM of free supercharging credit! 
More and More Teslas
Before I bought my car last year, there was only one early Model S with a yellow license plate and a black fake air inlet in my community. Today, there should be 10 Model 3s in the parking lot of the community, plus several XPeng and 1 Ideal.
(Another small gray in the community)
On weekends, in addition to seeing various imported Model 3s on the road, you can also see domestically produced models with “Tesla” hung on their backs. Whether or not the concept of “electricity is more environmentally friendly” is recognized, electric vehicles are indeed increasingly appearing on the streets. This is a trend, not necessarily an endpoint. More choices and greater competition can provide consumers with better products.
Trust in Tesla
Tesla is inevitably not a perfect car, and in some respects, buying a Tesla even means wasting money. What it can bring you is an anxiety-free range, a good driving experience, excellent acceleration performance, and a new sense of smart electronic devices.
I had a similar feeling of novelty when I first encountered computers and smartphones.
Tesla is changing not only the car itself, but also the industry chain, sales model, production model, and future transportation mode.
Ma Yilong carries his own ideals and beliefs on it, and idealism is always romantic and fascinating. Finally, Mr. Ma Yilong, the most charming product manager, gave a speech to end this article:
This article is a translation by ChatGPT of a Chinese report from 42HOW. If you have any questions about it, please email bd@42how.com.