Hello and welcome to the Electric Vehicle Experience
Today it’s episode number 3 and we’re wrapping up on how I chose the Tesla Model 3. I started telling you how things went in the previous episode so be sure to listen to that one before.
So, I knew I wanted a dark blue Long Range AWD with the black interior. The 18-inch wheels made more sense in every aspect except in the looks department. The 19 or 20-inch wheels looked better.
To help that decision, the aero caps on the refreshed 2021 Model 3 were more to my taste than the previous ones. I saw the car in person and I really liked them. And I could remove them if I wanted to. I was planning on removing them but after seeing these new aero caps a few times I was thinking of keeping them.
Almost a year later, pandemic and lockdowns aside, it made sense to finally make a decision.
I contacted the sales advisor asking for a second test drive on a Model 3 and told him I wanted to test a car with 18-inch wheels fitted. We scheduled it for a few days later, on a Saturday. There were a few test drives already scheduled that morning so if I remember correctly I had to be there at 10 a.m..
The Tesla Showrooms in Portugal at the time were in shopping centers. I went to one near Porto, in Gaia, the El Corte Inglés.
I just wanted to test the car once more to make my order and my configuration was set.
As I got there, something funny happened. I was entering the parking lot, which was almost empty, there was just one car in sight as I was getting the parking ticket. It was kind of hidden behind a pillar but enough was in sight to identify it; it was a red Model 3 with the 19-inch sport wheels. The car looked great and for a few minutes, I was not feeling so sure about my order.
A few minutes later they handed me the card for a unit. It was a red Model 3 SR+ and I can actually include a photo of it in the video version.
I asked them if I could just take a look at other units with other colors just to compare. Seeing a car in the light of the day… well, in the dark, it was an underground parking lot… but I digress… it was better to see it in person than on a computer screen.
They said I could, with one small detail; all the cars they had there at the time were red.
It was kind of a bit like with the Ford T… you can see the Model 3 in any color you like as long as it’s red.
So I just went to the car to start the test drive. I drove the car and returned it just a big before the one-hour time was over.
I was driving a red SR+ Model 3 with the 18-inch inch wheels and aero caps. The car looked pretty good, a lot better in person than in the photos.
By the time I got back to the shopping center, I returned the key card and said I’d be back in a few minutes. I was with a friend of mine and we went to a Starbucks a few meters away to get a cappuccino and just make sure my decision was set.
A few minutes later I was ordering a Tesla Model 3 Long Range AWD and paying the 100€ deposit. Yes, I chose the dark blue exterior and the interior was black. I opted to keep the standard wheels and the standard Autopilot.
And I thought I would have to wait about 1 or 2 months to get the car and my prediction failed by a long shot. I’ll tell you more about it in the next episode.
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Thank you for listening and I’ll talk to you soon