Nickie Redshaw drives a Tesla Model 3 SR+ 2020 electric car.

This is Nickie’s second electric car, he’s owned the Model 3 less than 1 year and drives between 15,000-20,000 miles annually. The current mileage of the car is between 20,000-30,000 miles and he achieves 200 miles range from a full charge.

Rate your Model 3 out of 5.

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Why did you choose this electric car?

Always wanted one since I put the deposit down but couldn’t wait more than 2 years so had to cancel. Initially, I couldn’t find a decent second-hand one and didn’t think I could afford a new one. Thankfully, I found a good priced second-hand car locally.

I went for a test drive as my wife hadn’t been in a moving Model 3 and that was it, we had to buy it! We got a good deal on our Zoe ZE50 so the deal was done! We’ve not looked back since, nearly 14,000 miles in the last 8 months mostly for pleasure and we’ve lots of trips planned this summer; even European road trips as charging is so easy, like 907 miles in under a day, no sweat!

Positives – List 3 or more reasons why you love this electric car.

• Great car to drive
• fast but efficient
• software that just works like it should!
• the looks of the car inside and out
• standard equipment like the glass roof and passenger electric seat (my wife love this)
• lots of room inside for 5 – even had 4 adults inside for a good distance and they were all happy, including one 6 foot 3 person who was quite happy in any of the seats, even the central back seat!
• the service you get from Tesla is top class
• the big + point is the charging network, the superchargers are just fantastic. They’re super fast, there are lots of them at each site and they’re fair prices too. No hassle either, just plug in and go! This is a big + because the other charging networks are still not good enough! Finding working rapid chargers sometimes was a real pain in our CCS Zoe 😡🤨😱😓 but with a Tesla using the Supercharger network it’s such a joy, it’s just a part of the journey like getting fossil fuel in an ICE car, you don’t think about it. You set the sat nav and head off with next to no planning, 907 miles in 1 day for example!!

Negatives – List 3 or more things that you really don’t like about this electric car.

• Could have a bigger range but the new cars do now (our car is pre-face lift)
• no heat pump (as pre-face lift) but it’s still efficient even in mid-winter, so no big problem
• it’s a saloon car not a hatchback which can be a pain for some but there is the Model Y now so that’s the problem fixed. Our Model 3 is big enough to fit a family of 4 + luggage in for a week or a big shopping trip, so no big problem for us.
• no official Apple CarPlay support but you don’t need it as the sat nav and music system works well. We’ve not given it a second thought!

Have you experienced any faults with the car? If so, what have they been?

Early cars had suspension issues but they were sorted quickly in a few hours at their service. Also, the wiring harness for the rear camera is getting sorted soon.

What are the standout tech features of the car?

Too many to name, lol!

• the software on the car is great e.g. the sat nav and estimating the remaining range to the next stop is usually spot on and preconditioning the battery before rapid charging is great. Also, the huge amount of over the air software updates the car gets and some of them are new features or big updates where you see a real difference not just bug fixes. Over the air upgrades include making the car faster or adding to the great driving assistance package! Also, how everything just works how it should (and smartly) which really takes the stress out of driving!

Surprise us! Tell us something people wouldn’t readily know about this electric car.

The lightshow experience is great for people that have never seen it. Yes, the Model X one is better but wasn’t expecting a Model 3 to do this like the newer car. It can even write Tesla on your wall or garage door! Also, how fast the car is – 5.2 seconds from 0-60 mph and this is the slow one which is as fast as some top spec EVs like the Kia EV6! The car is really efficient too – 4/5 miles per kWh at 70 mph motorway speeds. We think this is good for a 250 bhp car of this size, driving semi-Eco we’ve seen 7 miles per kWh!

What electric car are you interested in next and why?

Model 3 Long Range or Model Y Long Range.

What home charging unit do you use? Would you recommend it to others and why?

Project EV 7 kWh solar charger – for the price yes but the software lets it down. When the software works it’s OK and it’s nearly as good as a zappi but it’s less than half the price (or was when we got ours!).

Rate your home charging unit out of 5.

What home electricity supplier & tariff do you use? Would you recommend it to others and why?

Octopus Go at the moment but going on intelligent come winter. Yes, I would recommend them as they’re as cheap if not cheaper than others and they provide a 5 star service. It’s a fast service too, if you message them on social media sometimes they get back to you in minutes. Issues can be sorted in minutes or the same day and they’re always thinking outside the box in coming up with new innovations, not just doing what the big 6 do and putting their heads in the sand!

Rate your electricity supplier out of 5.

What public charging networks would you recommend to others and why?

Instavolt, Gridserve & Osprey for everyone but Superchargers are the best we use.

List your top 3 favourite public charging networks (in order of preference).

• Tesla Superchargers
• Joint 2nd – InstaVolt & Osprey with their new Kempower technology, great idea!
• Gridserve.

Who do you insure your electric car with? Would you recommend them to others and why?

Quotemehappy.com –  yes, good prices, easy and free to make changes yourself. They seem good to deal with when things go wrong too.

Rate your insurance provider out of 5.

Estimate how much money you save per month owning and running an electric car compared to a petrol/diesel car.

£400

See other owner reviews here