{"id":18352,"date":"2016-04-05T11:50:06","date_gmt":"2016-04-05T15:50:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/henrypayne.com\/?p=18352"},"modified":"2016-04-05T11:50:06","modified_gmt":"2016-04-05T15:50:06","slug":"payne-on-teslas-model-3-wheres-the-face","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/2016\/04\/payne-on-teslas-model-3-wheres-the-face","title":{"rendered":"Payne on Tesla’s Model 3: Where’s the face?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"APTOPIX<\/p>\n

The \u201cMini-Model S\u201d is finally here. After years of anticipation, the mid-market, $35,000, electric Tesla small sedan \u2014\u00a0what Tesla mad genius Elon Musk calls<\/a>\u00a0the \u201cfinal step in my Master Plan\u201d \u2014 finally showed its face to the world Thursday night.<\/p>\n

And the world immediately thought: Where\u2019s the face?<\/p>\n

Like Hollywood\u2019s sunglasses-shod Invisible Man, the Model 3\u2019s front end is featureless but for its headlights. No nose. No mouth. None of the familiar vents on our gas-powered cars because, of course, battery-powered vehicles don\u2019t need openings to cool the radiator. Yet, even big brother Model S featured a non-functional, plastic grille \u2014 complete with Tesla logo \u2014 because we humans are comforted by anthropromorphic features on the front of our cars.<\/p>\n

The Model 3 is a bold \u2014 if somewhat creepy \u2014 re-interpretation of front car design. Tesla insists that the prototype Model 3 shown in Los Angeles is production ready \u2013 but I would urge Tesla to add some graphics or sculptural elements (check out a McLaren or Acura NSX hybrid, for example) to its mug to compliment the car\u2019s otherwise familiar, sexy Model S-like body lines.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s so naked. But hardly unfamiliar. Indeed, the face harkens back to the first mass market EV to hit California in 1996: The equally blank GM EV-1. GM\u2019s own EV efforts are a reminder that the Model 3 is not alone in the \u201caffordable\u201d electric segment. Unlike the sensational, $70k Model S \u2013 which\u00a0outsells traditional, luxury, gas-powered icons<\/a>\u00a0like BMW and Mercedes in the gold-plated chariot segment \u2013 the Model 3 isn\u2019t the only toy in the $35k EV toy store.<\/p>\n

The compact,\u00a02017 Chevy Bolt EV<\/a>\u00a0goes toe-to-toe with the Model 3. Spec-to-spec.<\/p>\n

Both are sleek, roomy, four-door compacts. Both are priced in the mid-30s ($37k Bolt, $35k Model 3). Both boast a range of 200-plus miles on a charge. Both have neck-snapping, 0-60 acceleration (under 7 seconds for Volt, under 6 for Tesla). Both store their batteries in the floor giving them low-center-of-gravity, nimble handling. Both offer \u201cfloating,\u201d sci-fi, center consoles with large, iPad-like screen displays (the Model 3\u2019s is landscape-sized as opposed to the Model S\u2019s portrait configuration).<\/p>\n

I was not at the Los Angles reveal, but my North American Car of the Year jury colleagues colleagues\u00a0Aaron Robinson<\/a>\u00a0(Car & Driver) and\u00a0Aaron Gold<\/a>(AutoExpress.com) were \u2013 and their brief, parking-lot, first rides in the Model 3 echoed similar impressions of the Bolt\u2019s debut: Instant torque, surprising head room for compact cars, cool vibe.<\/p>\n

There are differences too. The Bolt is more crossover-like with a higher seating position and rear hatchback that will be pleasing to our SUV-obsessed market. The Model 3 makes up for its lack of hatch with a trunk. Learning from the EV-1\u2019s numb design, the Bolt\u2019s stylish, Chevy-like face is more welcoming than the Tesla even as the Model 3\u2019s sleek, simple lines are more aesthetically appealing. After all, the Tesla is designed to compete against other $35k luxury compacts like the BMW 2-series and Audi A3.<\/p>\n

\"<\/p>\n

That may make the Bolt a tougher sell since it is, well, a Chevy. As Gold says: \u201cComparing Tesla and Chevy is like comparing Apple and Microsoft. Brand matters.\u201d<\/p>\n

Luxury buyers are used to paying $35k for compact sedans. But will they pay $35k for a Bolt the size of a $17k Chevy Cruze? Slap a Cadillac badge on the Bolt and it should sell like hot cakes. The Volt-in-a-tuxedo Cadillac ELR shames even Tesla as the best-looking, battery-powered compact made.<\/p>\n

But for now the most crucial difference between Bolt and Model 3 may be the delivery date. The Bolt will arrive late this year. GM, after all, has done this before. Startup Tesla? Maybe late 2017. Maybe 2018 given the brand\u2019s history of delays. Maybe longer.<\/p>\n

Maybe it will be enough time to grow a face.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The \u201cMini-Model S\u201d is finally here. After years of anticipation, the mid-market, $35,000, electric Tesla small sedan \u2014\u00a0what Tesla mad genius Elon Musk calls\u00a0the \u201cfinal step in my Master Plan\u201d \u2014 finally showed its face to the world Thursday night. And the world immediately thought: Where\u2019s the face? Like Hollywood\u2019s sunglasses-shod Invisible Man, the Model […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,87],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18352"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18352"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18352\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18353,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18352\/revisions\/18353"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18352"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18352"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18352"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}