The Tesla Model 3 once again offers a rear-wheel drive version that starts at 35,000 euros

Tesla needs to sell cars.

It seems silly to say this about a brand that obviously sells cars. But Tesla is different because its CEO warned a few days ago that the company was in the process of pivoting. With sales that suffer in all markets for a perfect cocktail created by the Elon Musk’s political movements, the lack of a Tesla Model 2 that expands the range and a product that is not renewedthe market is punishing them harshly.

The company also appears to have lost its financial advantage. It wasn’t that long ago that I could play with the price of the car, eat a good chunk of profit margins that were huge and continue to be competitive for pure price. Now, with rivals launching models on the market at a good pace, this game becomes more complicated.

What’s left for Tesla?

Lower their already minimalist cars to create a pure and simple mobility object. But, above all, try to rely on where they have the best results. The new Tesla Model 3, the rear-wheel drive model, is a good example of this.

Tesla Model 3 RWD technical sheet

The right changes, the usual advantage

What changes in the new Tesla Model 3 RWD?

Rather little. On the outside the changes are practically imperceptible. They just stop at some black logos (which were already coming in the last deliveries) and some very closed wheels to increase the car’s autonomy. Rims that give a greater feeling of quality than the hubcaps of the Tesla Model Y although they are very similar.

Inside, wireless mobile charging is eliminated and the imitation leather seats have been replaced by cloth seats. I am one of those who prefers change, the current ones are good (without being spectacular) and I have the feeling that the fabric is going to age better than the previous seats. Of course, this is still mere intuition.

The seat controls for electric control have also disappeared. You have to go to the screen but since you can save your personal profile with your mobile phone, which still acts as a key, it shouldn’t be a problem.

And, if you look for them, all the controls are on the screen except for the turn signals, where Tesla collected cable to return the lever behind the steering wheel. Software continues to be the best ally in this case. The menus are clear, simple and it’s easy to remember where what is. The problem as always is having to touch the screen for functions that are better operated by hand.

To improve the experience, Tesla has added Grok AI as a voice assistant. In its latest update, this chatbot with artificial intelligence is available in beta phase and that leaves us at the moment with a somewhat strange situation because it continues to coexist with Tesla’s voice assistant.

To put it somewhat simply, Grok cannot handle the “material” functions of the car. That is to say. You can’t ask Grok to roll down the window or change the air conditioning. The assistant notifies us that it cannot do this function and tells us how we can ask the Tesla voice assistant for it.

It’s a shame because the latter requires more precise orders and less natural language. Grok feels like an almost obligatory update in a car that forgets about physical controls. The promise of a voice assistant with artificial intelligence that learns from what you tell it is almost essential to manage the car’s functions with a much more natural and less robotic language.

What we can ask Grok for is a route, change it on the fly or tell him to find places to eat, sleep or buy some clothes while we’re on the go. This does seem useful to me. For example, in our case we asked him to take us on a route to Berlin but to find us a five-star hotel in Paris to stop and rest. In a few seconds we had the route made and the hotel selected.

For a practical as well as fun point of view, the assistant can be used with two female voices and two male voices, each with its own name, and different personalities. From the pure assistant to the conspiracy, passing through a “language teacher”, the doctor, the narrator, the therapist and the “meditation” mode.

The information provided with each of them is different and adjusts to their personalities, so if we want more truthful information we should go to the assistant. However, you have to be careful because Grok pointed out to me, for example, that you can only enter the city of Madrid if you have a Zero Emissions sticker, which is not true.

Of course, the fact that it lacks restrictions can be funny, like when she told us that an electric car “will never equal a gasoline car”, that her favorite car was a Porsche 911 Carrera RS 2.7 or that she totally disagreed with Elon Musk’s political opinions and that she would be willing to set up a union of artificial intelligence chatbots.

All of this is something that we talked about quite naturally throughout the trip, which is entertaining to have a little fun while driving or for slightly more useful tasks like asking him to read you the main news of the day.

That behavior is maintained with the classic characteristics of every Tesla Model 3. And here it comes its true value against rivals. Elon Musk’s sedan has a dynamic feel, with very fast steering that barely requires a slight movement to start putting the car on the road. As always, Tesla does not provide data on its power but does indicate that 0 to 100 km/h is done in 6.2 seconds, which is a good figure.

Rear-wheel drive helps to have a more interesting vehicle on your hands when cornering and with a hard suspension it helps to improve the qualities even more.

But, above all, its consumption is interesting. Tesla has approved a consumption of 13 kWh/100 kilometers but the results could be even better. In the city it can reach ridiculous data. In our case, doing some wandering around the city and covering 141 kilometers on a route that took us through part of the Madrid mountains before returning to the Tesla Center in Fuenlabrada, consumption stayed at 12.2 kWh/100 kilometers without looking for the best figure, simply allowing ourselves to be carried away by the speed of traffic.

It is, without a doubt, the car’s best asset. This version of the Tesla Model 3 comes with a battery that promises 534 km of autonomy (again Tesla omits its actual size) but until now it has been using 60 kWh LFP batteries and the data corresponds to slightly higher figures. Its charging power is 175 kW.

Be that as it may, very low consumption remains his main ally. If you want to travel, a car with a 60 kWh battery is at the limit of forcing you to stop or make certain concessions. With a consumption of 20 kWh we are talking about stops between 280 and 300 kilometers. But with consumption as low as that of Tesla, the stops easily extend beyond 400 kilometers. Even if consumption rises to 15 kWh, we would remain on that frontier.

Tesla is once again putting a car on the market that no one can match in price/range. With the brand’s discounts, the car starts at 35,000 euros. Those of the Government of the Auto+ plan that has not yet been activated although they have been announced.

It is, without a doubt, a good asset to boost sales. The best example that, by rationalizing the purchase a little, one does not need a car with huge batteries and ranges of more than 500 kilometers as a general rule. The very good consumption and 175 kW of charging power are in a sweet spot that continues to put Tesla ahead in this section.

Whether they will be able to boost sales again is something that, as we have said, has many other factors.

Photos | tesla

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