When the Mannequin 3 was launched in 2017, it didn’t have any direct electrical sedan rivals, which is a part of the reason behind its exceptional market success, however now, in 2024, the scenario is totally totally different. It now has to fend off rivals from established automakers like BMW, Mercedes-Benz, and Hyundai, all of which now provide competent electrical sedans in America.
Thankfully, Tesla gave the Mannequin 3 a thorough exterior and inside makeover final yr and added loads of new options. And now which you could configure a Mannequin 3 Highland within the U.S., we wished to see how the revised mannequin stacks up towards a few of the new rivals which have popped onto the scene over the past couple of years. The rivals we’re evaluating it towards are the BMW i4, Polestar 2, Hyundai Ioniq 6, and new Volkswagen ID.7.
Thoughts you, they don’t seem to be precisely direct rivals for the reason that Mannequin 3 is sort of a compact and inexpensive car, and a few of the automobiles talked about right here could also be a bit larger and costlier. Nevertheless, they’re nonetheless all smaller than the Tesla Mannequin S, and they’ll most likely be cross-shopped with the Mannequin 3 and never its larger brother.
Let’s have a look and see the place the up to date Mannequin 3 stacks up in a recreation it principally created.
Vary
The revised 2024 Tesla Mannequin 3 doesn’t simply look sharper than the pre-refresh mannequin; nevertheless it’s higher at slicing by way of the air, with a decrease drag coefficient of 0.219. This permits it to journey a bit additional than earlier than on one cost, despite the fact that the batteries and motors are largely untouched. The bottom Rear-Wheel Drive 2024 Mannequin 3 nonetheless makes use of the LFP battery pack and has the identical 272-mile EPA vary, whereas the Twin-Motor Lengthy Vary will get a bump from 333 miles to 341 miles.
That’s lower than what the Hyundai Ioniq 6 affords 361 miles of EPA vary in SE RWD Lengthy Vary trim, which is its longest vary configuration—Tesla not affords an equal long-range rear-wheel drive variant of the Mannequin 3. In case you go for all-wheel drive within the Ioniq 6, the EPA vary drops to 270 miles.
After it was up to date in the summertime of 2023, the Polestar 2’s EPA vary rankings went up because of a revised powertrain and using a barely larger-capacity battery pack. The vary for the single-motor variant is 320 miles, or 307 miles if you happen to go for the bigger non-obligatory 20-inch wheels.
The bottom single-motor model of the BMW i4, the eDrive35, has an estimated vary of as much as 276 miles, which fits as much as 301 miles within the eDrive40 mannequin and 307 miles within the xDrive40 dual-motor all-wheel drive variant. Go for the highest i4 M50 model, and the utmost vary drops to 269 miles.
Volkswagen’s ID.7 sedan is the most recent entrant, and it has not but obtained its EPA vary ranking. In Europe, it will get a WLTP ranking of almost 400 miles, however Volkswagen has stated that for the US, it’s focusing on a variety of 300 miles, which appears affordable given the automobile’s battery pack dimension and specs.
The takeaway right here is that despite the fact that the Mannequin 3 hasn’t obtained a big technical replace with the facelift, it’s nonetheless one of many longest-range sedans accessible within the US. It’s solely overwhelmed by the single-motor Hyundai Ioniq 6, and chances are high, if Tesla provided an analogous Lengthy Vary Rear-Wheel Drive model of the Mannequin 3, it will surpass the Hyundai.
Charging
The Hyundai Ioniq 6 is the one car on this checklist with an 800-volt structure, courtesy of its E-GMP platform. It’s the quickest to cost too, with a theoretical most charging velocity of 350 kW that may convey its state of cost from 10 to 80 p.c in 18 minutes.
The Ioniq 6 was the quickest-charging EV in America, in keeping with testing from Edmunds. Hooked as much as a sufficiently highly effective charger, the Hyundai can replenish vary at a fee of 868 miles per hour, notably faster than even different E-GMP-based fashions.
The Mannequin 3 Lengthy Vary can cost at as much as 250 kW, whereas the Rear-Wheel Drive and Efficiency variants are capped at 170 kW and 210 kW, respectively. It nonetheless costs shortly, even by the newest requirements, however it might probably solely add 569 miles per hour.
BMW isn’t too far off with its i4, which might take as much as 205 kW, sufficient to convey its battery from 10 to 80 p.c in round 31 minutes. It beneficial properties vary at a fee of 477 miles per hour, in keeping with Edmunds’ checks.
Polestar limits the utmost charging velocity for its 2 sedan to 205 kW, and that’s just for the long-range single-motor model, which might go from 10 to 80 p.c state of cost in 28 minutes. Twin-motor variations are restricted to 155 kW, so charging to 80 p.c takes 34 minutes. Its peak fee of vary replenishment is 355 miles per hour.
The Volkswagen ID.7 can cost at a most of 175 kW, which might add 127 miles of vary in 10 minutes or convey the battery from 10 to 80 p.c in 28 minutes.
The 400-volt Tesla Mannequin 3 can’t hope to compete with the charging speeds of automobiles working on 800 volts, like Hyundai and Kia automobiles constructed on the E-GMP platform or the Porsche Taycan. Nevertheless, its charging efficiency remains to be fairly spectacular and let’s not overlook that the Mannequin 3 takes full benefit of one of the best charging community round, which nonetheless makes topping up a Tesla rather more dependable and hassle-free than another model.
Efficiency
The Tesla Mannequin 3 Efficiency is the top-of-the-range model within the Mannequin 3 lineup, and its stats are fairly spectacular. You may’t configure the refreshed Mannequin 3 Efficiency but, however the 2023 mannequin had a mixed output of 455 horsepower and 487 pound-feet from its two motors. Due to its all-wheel drive grip off the road, it may sling itself to sixty in 3.1 seconds and to 162 mph flat out.
The 2024 Mannequin 3 Rear-Wheel Drive can dash to 60 mph in 5.8 seconds, whereas the Twin Motor Lengthy Vary drops that to 4.2 seconds. Each of those variations are restricted to 125 mph on the high finish.
Regardless that the BMW i4 M50 has extra energy and torque than the Mannequin 3 Efficiency, with 536 horsepower and 586 pound-feet, it’s significantly heavier (it weighs over 5,000 kilos on this model), so it wants 3.7 seconds to speed up to 60 mph from a standstill. Its high velocity of 142 mph can be decrease than the Tesla’s.
The only-motor 282-horsepower i4 eDrive35 wants 5.8 seconds to achieve 60 mph, with the 335-horsepower eDrive40 variant dropping that to five.4 seconds and the dual-motor xDrive40 mannequin taking it to 4.9 seconds. None of those non-M variants can exceed 124 mph.
Polestar is the one producer on this firm to supply a particular hardcore efficiency model of its mannequin, the limited-series 2022 Polestar 2 BST 270. Its dual-motor setup made a mixed 469 horsepower and 502 pound-feet of torque, sufficient to ship it to sixty in a bit over 4 seconds (though MotorTrend discovered that it was able to finishing the benchmark dash in 3.9 seconds in its impartial testing).
Now you get these numbers within the 2024 Polestar 2 Twin Motor with the efficiency pack. that enhances energy from 421 horsepower to 455 horsepower. Torque stays the identical at 536 pound-feet, however the dash time drops from 4.3 seconds to 4.1 seconds.
The bottom single-motor Polestar 2 (now rear- as a substitute of front-wheel drive) produces 299 horsepower and 361 pound-feet of torque, and it might probably speed up from naught to sixty in 5.9 seconds. All Polestar 2 variants are restricted to 127 mph.
The Hyundai Ioniq 6 appears to be the least performance-oriented out of this collection of vehicles, nevertheless it’s under no circumstances a gradual automobile. The bottom rear-wheel-drive, 225-horsepower model additionally makes a wholesome 258 pound-feet of torque, sufficient to push the car to sixty in simply over 6 seconds and provides it respectable punch whereas on the transfer. Add a second motor and all-wheel drive, and the mixed output goes as much as 320 horsepower, which cuts the dash time to five.1 seconds.
Hyundai is rumored to be engaged on a devoted Ioniq 6 N efficiency mannequin that can surpass the Ioniq 5 N for energy and efficiency, however it’s believed that it gained’t arrive till 2025. With a predicted output of over 641 horsepower, it should give all of the automobiles on this checklist a run for his or her cash.
Volkswagen has thus far solely stated that the single-motor, rear-wheel drive ID.7 will function a 282-horsepower drive unit that can push it to 62 mph (100 km/h) in 6.5 seconds and on to a high velocity of 112 mph. Twin-motor variant specs haven’t been launched nevertheless it needs to be fairly a bit extra highly effective and faster than the dual-motor VW automobiles constructed on the MEB platform thus far.
Tech
Autopilot and Full Self-Driving Beta are arguably Tesla’s largest tech options that set it aside from its opponents (in addition to entry to the wonderful Supercharger community.) All different automobiles on this firm can provide some semi-autonomous driving options, but the Tesla is the closest to with the ability to drive itself. FSD remains to be not good, nevertheless it’s bettering.
Being based mostly on the E-GMP devoted electrical car platform, it affords vehicle-to-load (V2L) functionality, which lets you use the car’s large battery pack to energy instruments, home equipment, and even a whole campsite. Not one of the different automobiles on this article provide bi-directional charging.
The BMW i4 is constructed on a variation of the corporate’s CLAR structure, which can be used to underpin its inner combustion engine fashions. Nevertheless, whereas it doesn’t have a standout tech function, being a BMW, you possibly can spec it with a plethora of techniques and devices that make it really feel way more posh and upmarket than any of the opposite vehicles right here.
The Polestar 2 was the primary automobile ever to function an Android-based infotainment system with Google options built-in. It’s probably the greatest and best to make use of available on the market, and it’s rather a lot much less daunting for newcomers in comparison with Tesla’s iPhone-like interface, which can overwhelm with its multitude of menus, submenus, and choices.
The large tech function that Volkswagen appears to be pushing with the ID.7 is its augmented actuality head-up show, which we’ve additionally seen on different VW ID fashions. It should additionally provide putting 3D LED tail lights with animations that rework the look of the rear finish, so that is most likely going to be a preferred possibility for design-conscious consumers.
Value
No matter whether or not a car is powered by gasoline or electrons, value remains to be a serious deciding issue behind the acquisition. You should purchase a Tesla Mannequin 3 Rear-Wheel Drive in 2024 beginning at $38,990, whereas the Lengthy Vary All-Wheel Drive mannequin pushes that to $45,990.
It significantly undercuts the similar-size Polestar 2, which in Lengthy Vary Single-Motor trim begins at $49,900, with the all-wheel drive mannequin pushing it to $55,300. If you would like the complete degree of efficiency that it might probably provide, you will have to spend an extra $5,500 on the efficiency pack.
With a beginning MSRP of $42,450, the Hyundai Ioniq 6 SE comes closest to the Tesla. Choosing an all-wheel drive SEL dual-motor bumps the value to $45,250, whereas the highest Restricted trim begins at $50,150 with its further premium options.
Pricing for the Volkswagen ID.7 has but to be introduced, however it’s anticipated to begin at round $50,000 and exceed $60,000 in high dual-motor configuration.
It most likely doesn’t come as a shock that the BMW is the most costly of the vehicles talked about right here. The bottom i4 eDrive35 is essentially the most inexpensive, beginning at $52,200, which is significantly cheaper than the eDrive40 variant, which kicks off at $57,300. The i4 xDrive40 all-wheel drive mannequin begins at $61,600, and the i4 M50 begins at $69,700.
Tesla has left the mechanical facet of the Mannequin 3 Highland successfully untouched, so just about each main element is carried over from the pre-refresh variant. Besides, the Mannequin 3 remains to be the gold normal on this world, mixing vary, tech, efficiency, and affordability in a method that rivals nonetheless can’t match. The revised Mannequin 3 additionally appears to be like higher on the skin, and its revamped inside has nicer supplies and improved consideration to element. It was the inside of the Mannequin 3 that wanted the largest revamp, and despite the fact that it’s not fully new, it’s a extra nice place to take a seat than earlier than.
Its largest rival remains to be arguably Polestar 2, which is essentially the most related car accessible for buy within the U.S. However now that the Hyundai Ioniq 6 has additionally been launched, compact and midsize electrical sedan consumers have one other very competent and fairly inexpensive mannequin to select from.
Relying on how keenly it’s priced, the Volkswagen ID.7 additionally has a superb likelihood of stealing consumers away from the Mannequin 3 and possibly even the bigger Mannequin S, since its dimension places it in between the 2 Tesla sedans.
The purpose is that this: in order for you a high-range electrical sedan, your selections at the moment are higher than ever.