RSS_Auto_Poster
Well-known member
Written by Jason Barlow
On a windswept airfield near Monterey, close to a decommissioned military site, a handful of Tesla Model 3s are parked up. Through the haze, an apparently random set of cones delineate a course that"s there for one reason only: to show off the Model 3"s handling. We"re talking sudden high-speed lane changes, slaloms, hard braking, and yes, drifting. Tesla has come a long way since the introduction of the Roadster back in 2008. The boss, Elon Musk, is regularly characterised as part Tony Stark, part Bond villain, depending on what side of bed he"s climbed out of. Assuming he"s been to bed at all, if current reports are to be believed (Ambien is powerful stuff Elon, step away from Twitter). But forget the cult of personality; the Model S and Model X have still upended the automotive world in a way few would have imagined possible a decade ago. Meanwhile, the company has had a market cap greater than Ford and GM"s, despite having never made a profit (bar a small one in Q3 of 2016, when Tesla sold Zero Emission Vehicle Credits to other car manufacturers). One thing is indisputable: no-one ever bought a Tesla for pure driving kicks. Not until now, anyway. The Model 3 isn"t just the Tesla that turns the company into a genuine volume player (half a million advance orders, with the attendant much-publicised production tribulations), it"s also the one that aims to stick it to the likes of the BMW 3 Series and Mercedes C-Class for driving dynamics.
Date written: 31 Aug 2018
More of this article on the Top gear website
ID: 13154
On a windswept airfield near Monterey, close to a decommissioned military site, a handful of Tesla Model 3s are parked up. Through the haze, an apparently random set of cones delineate a course that"s there for one reason only: to show off the Model 3"s handling. We"re talking sudden high-speed lane changes, slaloms, hard braking, and yes, drifting. Tesla has come a long way since the introduction of the Roadster back in 2008. The boss, Elon Musk, is regularly characterised as part Tony Stark, part Bond villain, depending on what side of bed he"s climbed out of. Assuming he"s been to bed at all, if current reports are to be believed (Ambien is powerful stuff Elon, step away from Twitter). But forget the cult of personality; the Model S and Model X have still upended the automotive world in a way few would have imagined possible a decade ago. Meanwhile, the company has had a market cap greater than Ford and GM"s, despite having never made a profit (bar a small one in Q3 of 2016, when Tesla sold Zero Emission Vehicle Credits to other car manufacturers). One thing is indisputable: no-one ever bought a Tesla for pure driving kicks. Not until now, anyway. The Model 3 isn"t just the Tesla that turns the company into a genuine volume player (half a million advance orders, with the attendant much-publicised production tribulations), it"s also the one that aims to stick it to the likes of the BMW 3 Series and Mercedes C-Class for driving dynamics.
Date written: 31 Aug 2018
More of this article on the Top gear website
ID: 13154
