Reid Main

In my quest to purchase my very first car, I created a list of features that I thought were important to have in 2019. Today I am going to grade the Tesla Model 3 according to that criteria.

• ❌ Can be imported from the United States into Canada
• ✅ Costs less than $60,000
• ✅ Electric
• ✅ 400+ kilometers on a single charge/tank
• ✅ Adaptive Cruise Control
• ✅ All-Wheel Drive
• ✅ Fast Acceleration / High Torque
• ✅ Apple CarPlay or an amazing infotainment system
• ✅ Cargo Space
• ❌ 360° Cameras
• ✅ Completely digital dashboard and speedometer
• ✅ Security Cameras / System
• ⚠️ Dashcam
• ❌ Heads Up Display
• ⚠️ Survive the Canadian winter
• ❌ Cross border warranty
• ✅ Over-the-air Updates

It really isn't a surprise to see all of those green checkmarks because the Model 3 was my number 1 choice even before I started making that list. I was so sure I wanted one and honestly the only reason I don't have one yet is because Tesla is one of the few car manufacturers that explicitly cannot be imported into Canada. Supposedly Tesla has not yet provided the necessary information to Transport Canada regarding the Model 3 so there is hope but seeing how chaotic Tesla management is right now I'm not going to hold my breath. They seem to have much bigger fish to fry at the moment.

Outside of that one glaring issue everything else is near perfect with the Tesla. The performance Model 3 can do 0-100 km/h in 3.4 seconds and has an insane amount of torque. You can get nearly 500 km on a single charge which is amazing for an all-wheel drive car. It has a 15" touchscreen display and over-the-air updates which just recently increased the acceleration and battery efficiency of all Model 3s. That is what I love most about Tesla. They are completely rethinking what a car can and should be. They aren't paralyzed like other car manufacturers by the decades of history they have building gas powered vehicles.

I haven't even mentioned enhanced autopilot yet. Tesla has put dozens of external cameras and sensors on the Model 3 not just so they can do the standard adaptive cruise control but actually fully drive your car for you. Some of cameras and sensors aren't even being used yet but Tesla put them on the car because they plan to roll out software updates in the coming years that will take advantage of them. It also allowed them to easily roll out new features like dog mode and sentry mode to catch all those thieves.

The Tesla Model 3 really does seem like my perfect car so the only question I have to answer is it so perfect that I am comfortable losing 20-30 grand if I have to sell it in the next couple years because I want to move back to Canada?