[Efthreeoh]

So I got some more time in a Model 3 on Thursday. It was a bit over 30 minutes as a back seat passenger. I have to say other than the e-drivetrain, there's not much to this car to admire. The back seat cushion is far too low, which is directly related to the depth of the floor. There is no toe room under the front seat to give you those few needed inches to stretch your legs out, leaving your thighs unsupported and your body weight on spread on your tailbone. That was the most uncomfortable I've been in a car in a long time, and that goes back to 1970's era econoboxes, where the design criteria for the back seat was politely to say, "lackluster".

The Model 3's ride is horrible. It is poorly damped and harshly sprung. You can feel the car struggling to manage with the 4,000 pounds of sprung weight. Some of the materials used for the interior are admirable, but most are not and cheap appearing. As an example, the integration of the rear door arm ledge into the B pillar was just an oversight where a squarish block form meets a rounded form (the B pillar); if this were a GM car, magazines would write paragraphs on just that design feature alone - it just looks bad. The interior is quite bland but decently manufactured for what it is. With all the discussion in E90 Post about interiors and how Audi reigns supreme, the Tesla's interior is a far cry in comparison. I got to observe the big screen even more. Not being able to turn off the map is just annoying in my opinion. The squarish screen unfortunately contrasts too much with the rounded shapes of the rest of the interior. The screen would have fit in quite well with a 1980's Pontiac Fiero.

While kudos must go to Musk for starting a car company from the ground up, especially one that has delved into a an engineering discipline not well supported by the automotive industry in a lot of respects because it is new, I think the Model 3 reflects the difficulties of such an endeavor.