Tesla Model 3

On March 2nd will be announced which car may call itself the Car of the Year 2020. In this mini series I count down to that moment, by discussing one of the seven nominees every day. I try to estimate the odds of every contender and put the model and brand in a historical perspective. With two days left, today it's the turn of the Tesla Model 3.

Front view of the Tesla Model 3

Tesla and the Car of the Year election
Tesla is a young brand. It was founded in 2003, but production in large series only started in 2009, when the Model S was introduced. That model didn't come to Europe until 2013, and in 2014 it took third place in the Car of the Year election. So this year Tesla could win their first victory. Would the Model 3 succeed?
Because Tesla only builds electrically powered cars, I also take a look at how that technology has done so far in the Car of the Year election. From 2001, several models with a (partly) electric drive achieved the top three. The Toyota Prius became third in 2001 and in 2014 the BMW i3 took second place. First place went to the Toyota Prius in 2005, to the Nissan Leaf in 2011 and to the Opel Ampera/Chevrolet Volt in 2012. The most recent Car of the Year is also an electric model: in 2019, the Jaguar I-Pace won.

The pedigree of the Model 3
The Model 3 has no pedigree. Or at least there is no precursor. Of course there is other 'family'. That currently consists of the Model S and Model X, and will soon be supplemented with the Model Y. As I wrote before that results in a S3XY model line. But there's more. Before Tesla helped shake up the car industry with the introduction of the Model S, there was an electric roadster in 2010 – the Tesla Roadster – based on the Lotus Elise. The Model 3 is of course a completely different car, which therefore – and, all right, because of tax advantages – appeals to a much wider audience: in the Netherlands it was the best-selling carin 2019. I don't think another car has ever gone from place 300 to 1 within one year in the Dutch sales statistics… For the sake of completeness, I have to mention that the Model 3 had already dropped back to place 83 in those same statistics by January 2020. With that, it is the second best-selling car that can only be purchased with an electric drive after the Opel Ampera-e.

The odds of the Model 3
When talking about electric cars, many people immediately think of Tesla. What the American brand has achieved in a relatively short time is commendable. With the Model 3, something more important is added: the model is more affordable than the Model S. That probably provides more volume for the brand, but also a boost for the sale of electric cars. (Although of course I should not overdo it, because it naturally isn't exactly a cheap car either.) Moreover, Tesla has its own extensive network of charging stations and the brand is at the forefront when it comes to autonomous functions, the so-called Autopilot. However, there are also disadvantages: the finish in the Model 3 is not of the same level as in the European premium brands and because Tesla has digitized all functions, you have to go to a menu on the large central screen for every action.

Will the Model 3 be the Car of the Year 2020?
I think Tesla deserves appreciation for the contribution the brand makes to developments in the automotive industry, and in that respect it would be alright by me if the Model 3 were to become the Car of the Year. But I don't think that will happen, because the Porsche Taycan is overall a better electric car and the Peugeot e-208 contributes more to the accessibility of electric driving.