My First EV Experience

I needed to take a short weekend trip and Hertz had a deal on Model 3s for a weekend rental so I decided to give it a try, and I am glad I did. While Model 3's have been around for several years, this past weekend was my first experience driving one. Spending just one weekend with one is all it took to change my mind about EVs.

Of course since I was renting I feel like I did miss out on the full Tesla experience because I didn't have access to the car through the app and all I had was one key-card to access the car. Which was in a plastic molding to help it less likely to be lost, although this did not stop me from enjoying the experience.

Going into this experience my main fear was charging because I wasn't sure how much it would cost, would I run out of charge, and would I have a hard time finding space at a charger. I can happily report that none of these things happened and by the end of my time with the rental I could easily see how the range anxiety I had would get better with time. Even when I went to a very popular charger in central Phoenix I had no issues getting into a spot and charging up. And the cost, it was cheaper than filling up with gas, so that was a pleasant surprise. I did stick to only Superchargers because I didn't want to deal with figuring out how to set up an account or pay at some other chargers that are available. Which in my opinion, this is what makes Tesla's the superior choice because it makes the EV experience an easy one.

The Things I Loved

I'll start with all the things that I loved about driving the Model 3, and to my surprise there was way more things that I loved about it than I didn't love.

Single Pedal Driving

This feature alone is what makes EVs super comfortable to drive. I will admit it took me a little to get used to this feature because I was so used to taking my foot off the gas to transition to the brake pedal, but with regenerative braking as soon as you remove your foot from the pedal the car starts to decelerate. Which meant that my first few minutes in the car were quite jerky, although I quickly got used to it and was feathering the throttle like a pro.

Keep AC On Mode

During my time with the Model 3 I had a moment where I made a quick stop to pick up some food. While the perishables I had with me were in a cooler, I still didn't want the car to warm up while I was waiting for my order. Which is where "Keep AC On Mode" came in handy because I was able to set that and keep the car nice and cool while I darted in. It did warn me that this would use some energy and turn it off automatically once the battery reached 20%, but I knew I was making a charging stop along the way and had plenty of charge left before reaching that 20% cut off.

Auto Pilot

Since this was a rental it was a rear wheel drive standard range Model 3, and that also meant it only had the included basic Autopilot. Which I found was plenty of tech for me, especially since my daily driver is a 10 year old Subaru Forester. The Traffic-Aware Cruise Control was one of the features I used the most, and when the time was right I found myself using Autosteer as well. Between these two things it made driving on the highway a breeze, and also made me very aware of how bad at driving most other drivers are. By that I mean, so many times I would be making a pass in the left lane using my set cruise control speed, and the gap between the car I was passing and myself was quickly closing, but someone would still try and thread the needle. Which was annoying because then it would slow me down because the car now saw that it was following someone way too close. Then once the coast was clear ahead the car doesn't immediately gun it to speed back up, but gradually gets back to crusing speed. Autosteer was something I used quite a bit, but defnintely not as much since the basic Autosteer requires you to take over for lane changes. Since it was a weekend on the highway between Tucson and Phoenix that required a few lane changes to pass others. Which when you grab the wheel to change lanes it triggers it off. So I suppose this might be one area where the enhanced Autopilot would be a great option because you wouldn't have to disengage as much. While most would find the reminder to prove you have your hands on the wheel annoying, I found it great because it reminded you that sure the car is mostly driving itself but you still needed to be there to take over in case of anything. And you can't try and outsmart it by regularly touching the wheel because the reminders came at random intervals so I just kept my hands on the wheel while Autopilot was on.

Autosteer was also one of those features that made me aware of how bad other drivers were because the car did a great job at keeping itself dead center in the lane. While you'd see other drivers weaving about in their lane, which when passing, made me rather uncomfortable because I was unsure if the car would automatically scoot itself over to avoid people unable to hold the steering wheel straight. Overall I was quite impressed by Autopilot and the baisc Autopilot is more than enough for most people I'd say, and the rainbow colored road when Autopilot is engaged was great because it made you immedietly aware when it was on or off.

Comfort & Performance & Convience

The Model 3 I found was incredibly comfortable to be in for my short road trip, and coming from a base model Subaru Forester the performance was mind blowing. The only bit I found was uncomfortable was the steering wheel position, but that was on me because I didn't spend enough time digging through the settings to adjust the wheel position. Once again, I am used to pulling a lever underneath the steering wheel to unlock it and manually adjusting it. During my time with the car the accelration was set to "Standard" and the steering effort was set to "Sport." Between those two settings the car had an amazing amount of pickup and go and the steering felt very responsive, so it made driving it a lot of fun. While on the freeway sure road noise was there, but not so much that it was annoying. I feel like in a comparable gas car you'd hear the same if not more, just turn up your music or podcast.

At first I found the screen postition slightly annoying because everything you do is slightly off to the right of you, but I quickly found myself get used to it. That is because everything of importance is on the upper left hand side of the screen, so its immediately obvious what you need to look at with just a glance. Once again coming from a standard design car where you're used to having things right in front of the steering wheel, it was something that just took some adjusting to.

Passenger comfort was great, while I myself was never a passenger, I did have some people ride with me who were surprised to see that for a sedan they had plenty of head and legroom in the back. In addition, the car knows when you have passengers so it will open the vents to those areas automatically without you having to remember. I think the headroom in the back can be attributed to the panoramic roof, so its both cool and practical. Since it is an electric car the amount of storage available is significant too. There's a frunk, trunk, under trunk storage, and storage in the center console. I suppose other cars have the last few I listed, but there seems to be extra room because no room dedicated to a gas tank or transmission tunnel.

Looping back to some things that made driver comfort really great was the automatic light settings. I didn't have to remember how to turn on and off the lights because they were set automatically for me. While I only drove for a little at night I was impressed by how much the headlights lit up the area in front of you as you were driving. I was so impressed, although a few people who flashed me because they thought I had my brights on, were not. The automatic highbeams were also something new to me, as I've never had a car that did that and it seemed to work very well with clicking them on and off when it made sense. Once again, you know when all of this is happening with the small icons off to the left hand side of the center screen.

Lastly, the driver convience feature that many probably don't think twice about was the integrated wireless charger in the center console. For both the driver and passenger! While sure I could have something like this in my current vehicle its something I have to add on and could potenitally be bulky depending on placement. Whereas in the Model 3 I just threw my phone down on the center console area towards the front, and my phone would start instantly charging. It's the small things for me clearly.

Charging

I feel like charging an EV is the most discussed topic when it comes to driving one. I do understand why because from the world of gas cars you usually don't have to think too much about your next fuel stop. Then once you're there you pop out, fill up, and you're on your way usually within a few minutes. Where with the Model 3 I found myself using the navigation to plan out my route and add charging stops along the way.

I will admit, I think going into it I thought that I would have range anxiety, just because it was really my first time taking a trip myself with an EV, but as time went on I really didn't think about it nearly as much as I thought I would. I plugged into a charger a total of 3 times on my trip. I unfortunately didn't keep exact track of my mileage, but I estimate I did around 400 miles total. Also my last charge stop was to bring the car to at least 70% upon returning it back at the rental car center.

Each time I did charge it was at a Tesla Supercharging station, and the largest one I stopped at was along I-10 in Eloy, AZ. Which was nice because even though there was others there it was large enough that you could spread out. Which I learned is what you do, so that you're not sharing power with neighboring stalls. Even when I did choose to charge at a heavily congested station, at the Biltmore in Phoenix, I still had no issues finding an open spot and getting plugged in. Although there it was impossible to not share power with a neighboring stall because it was indeed packed. This is also where I learned that the car will tell you that you're at a high use charging station and you'll be limited to 80%, although I needed some more power to get me back to the airport above the return limit and I had no issues opening the charging screen and increasing the max charge amount.

You may find yourself asking, but what about all the time you spend wasting sitting there charging. I also once had these same feelings but this being my 3rd road trip in an EV, I can assure you that you really don't notice the time. Unless of course you're in a hurry somewhere, and then you really notice every minute going by. The first time I took a road trip in an EV was also in a Model 3 out to Vegas. We charged once along the way and then topped off on the way back out of town, which isn't bad considering its almost a 700 mile round trip drive. The Supercharging stations are all strategically placed, and usually in areas where there's more than just the need to stop for a charge. Whether that is using the restroom or grabbing a bite to eat. You go do these things as you would when you're getting gas, and it really makes the time go by quickly. And if you're alone and don't need to do either of those things, it's also nice to have that forced break so that you can be fresh for your next leg of the drive.

From what I've learned is that Supercharging is fastest if you're going from below 20% to about 80%. If you're not below 20% you'll never see the full 250 kW that is advertised at the level 3 Superchargers. Since I was making my charging stops early because I was headed towards a final destination that didn't have any chargers around, I was always charging up to full from around 40%. Even then, as you can see in the image above, to go from 47% to full only took about 30 min. So this is when I took the opportunity to use the restroom, grab a snack, and catch up on some messages. By the time I was done with all of that I looked up and had 5 minutes to go, so like I said, you find ways to make the time go by.

Final Thoughts

Overall my experience renting a Model 3 was great, so great that I've put in an order for my own, although for the Model Y, so stay tuned to hear more about my adventures in EV ownership. While they've been around for a bit now, I feel like there is still room for more information to convince others they too need to jump on the EV train. I hope to experience some other EVs in the coming years, other than just Tesla's, but with their range numbers and having several years on the market with a few models, I think they're the best choice currently. I also hope that as I get used to an EV my range anxiety worries go away was well, and I think they definitely will but it'll just take some time.

You also may be wondering what negative things I experienced while driving the Model 3, and to be fully honest there wasn't anything that made me never want to drive one again. Most things that I saw as downsides were small things when I was describing all the cool things. The one thing that did annoy me the most was sometimes when I shifted into reverse, I hit something on the screen, and it closed the rear facing camera screen and I couldn't figure out how to quickly get it to pull back up. Apart from that, everything went smoothly and the rest of the things I didn't like was due to it being a rental and being limited to the full experience.

Luckily now its pretty easy to find a way to rent an EV, so if you're unsure if you'll like the experience I highly recommend starting by renting one. And who knows, maybe you'll end up like me and putting in an order for your own.