Test drive VW e-Golf, Nissan Leaf and Tesla Model 3

This September, the Drive Electric organization organized events in the USA, Canada and New Zealand aimed at popularizing electric cars.

In my city, the event bore the name Drive Electric Victoria and took place on the territory of the University of Victoria and next to it.

But I learned all this later. In fact, I got to the “festival” by accident - just drove with friends past the university and I noticed signs along the road, which showed a green car and a green socket. Having added two plus two, I told my friends that I would catch up with them later and went after the flags.
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The event consisted of a couple of tents, where you could register for a test drive and have a snack. In addition, at the university parking lot number 10 there were several dozen electric vehicles, their owners and those who wish to ride. Of course, it was all free.



I have already traveled to some of the EV and even wrote an article about one of these trips to the Tesla Model X. This time I chose a new generation of Volkswagen e-Golf , Nissan Leaf and Tesla Model 3 for the test.

I will briefly talk about what the manufacturer writes about the car (US data), what the owner says about him and about his personal feelings and subjective assessments.

Volkswagen e-Golf

Manufacturer data

Price from $ 30,495
Cruising range 201 km

Owner's story

The owner is an elderly man.
This is the second car in the family - to travel around the city. It does not need to be serviced and does not break - the car is reliable, since in fact it’s just an improved Golf, and this model has passed a very long test of time and has been constantly improved. Besides him, the family still has a SUV hybrid (I do not remember the model) with very little fuel consumption. Recovery greatly increases mileage, but the wife prefers to turn it off. The brake pedal can not use. Mileage is comparable to the Hyundai Ioniq.

My comments

Externally, it looks like an ordinary car - it does not attract attention, but it does not repel either. Salon - just great. Good materials, comfortable seats, logical and clear controls. In a word - conservative German.

There were some problems with the "inclusion". Those. it was necessary to press the Start button, at the same time the car "woke up", but for some reason it did not always go. You had to push something else (brake pedal?). I did everything, it seems to be the same as the owner said, but the car drove only on the third attempt - something was wrong with either the e-Golf logic or mine.

Rides in general very well. Good road holding and does not slip on a sharp acceleration, despite the wet asphalt. There is some power margin. Noise of the motor is not audible, and in general, we can say that the insulation is good. Smooth running. Feelings are very similar to Hyundai Ioniq (I once did a test drive and was even going to buy it).

It is very convenient to change the modes of recovery - the lever "speeds". In the “D” position, you can swing it left or right and choose one of the three modes in this way, or simply pull it further back that automatically activates the strongest mode - it works like a kind of brake.

In addition, the button, you can choose one of three driving modes - from the most energy-saving, to the "sport".

Total A small, inexpensive, pretty, comfortable car with a very modest mileage between exercises.

Nissal leaf

Price from $ 29,990
Power reserve 243 km

Owner's story

The owner is a middle-aged man.
They wanted to buy a Kia Kona Electric or a Tesla Model 3 with a standard battery, but they did not wait and decided to buy this Nissan. Very convenient “single pedal” mode - the brake pedal can not be used even on a large slope (the car does not roll downhill after stopping). His wife did not like the recovery regime at first, but then she got used to it. This is an expensive equipment, which even has an assistant driving (active cruise control and retention in the lane). There is not only a rearview camera, but also a circular review. There is no need to charge it only up to 80-90% and do not discharge less than 10-20% (as Tesla’s owner does), since this “buffer” is already set by the manufacturer (i.e., it cannot be really charged 100% or discharge below some minimum). Among the shortcomings is the lack of USB charging (or at least a cigarette lighter) for the back row of seats and a very bad (buggy) phone application.

My comments

If the previous generation Nissan Leaf is ridiculous, but original, then the body design is just ridiculous. What could be worse? Worse can be his salon. He's a nightmare. Very bad materials. Everywhere only the toughest and cheapest plastic. In my photos this is not visible, and even, perhaps, it seems that it is the same as that of e-Golf or even better (if you look at the steering wheel). But this is a mistake. It is much worse not only than e-Golf, but, perhaps, worse than any other car I drove behind the wheel of the last 15 years.

Controls scattered around the cabin as horrible - pay attention to the rear seat heating button, located on the side of the passenger! The “puck” - the mode-switching lever is meaningless, unnecessarily complicated, of course, very cheap and inconvenient. Parking mode, for some reason, is turned on by the button on top of this “washer”, and Drive mode is moving left and down. The instrument panel is such that you do not want to look at it.

Goes well. Relatively smooth ride. As well as e-Golf does not slip at the start. Accelerates sluggishly. Motor can not be heard, but the insulation is bad. Plus, I am sure that after a while the salon will begin to creak and "groan."

Total A small, inexpensive car with low mileage and a very bad interior, in which you do not want to return. I have a suspicion that they made it intentionally so bad that they did not buy and did not have to satisfy the increased demand. I see no other reason why it is so bad both inside and out.

Tesla Model 3

Price from $ 49,000
Cruising 500 km

Owner's story

The owner is a girl.

I fell in love with Tesla at first sight and for a long time begged my husband to buy. They are not rich at all, but they really wanted to. “I fought with my husband for over an hour,” urging him. Just loves this car. He comes to these annual events to show it to everyone and relive this feeling once again when a person sees Model 3 for the first time. The brake pedal almost does not use. Charges approximately once a week. Their electricity bill increased by $ 15 per month, and they used to spend a couple of hundred on refueling. Cars rarely change - in the past, travel 10 years, they want to travel even more, if possible. Does not break. Service is not necessary. I asked about how the key works (Model 3 itself opens when you approach the car, with Bluetooth turned on on the phone). She has an iPhone, the Tesla application she never turns off and there are no problems, and her husband Android has problems (turns off the application). She doesn’t use the automatic “rain sensor” (the camera is actually used there) - she doesn’t like the way it works. But he actively uses the autopilot (they did not buy it, and now it works in the familiarization mode). I asked not to use mechanical buttons when opening the doors, as there are electric ones.

My comments

Outwardly beautiful. Actually, I already wrote about him . Inside is even better. Excellent, premium materials are everywhere - very expensive and high-quality soft plastic (the only place where hard is the steering column), leather (or rather leather. But in reality many people are not using real leather now, they pity animals) and veneer. I didn't like the seats - there was no ventilation and my back was sweating again (as in the Model X). Glass roof The doors open with a button - this is very convenient, but all strangers need to be explained how to do it correctly.

Rides great. On the one hand, it is very tenacious on the road, on the other hand it goes softly (I expected it to be much tougher). Lightning fast - even when driving about 40 km per hour after pressing the "gas" pedal, it accelerates instantly and squeezes the seat. Good insulation (about, like in e-Golf). Very strong recovery. It is configured through the menu and has only a couple of positions, which is not convenient - it would not be bad to be able to customize it with a separate button. On the side of the front suspension when driving on unevenness was heard almost imperceptible knock. It is not entirely clear - this is a native sound or malfunction.

Total Very beautiful, premium, extremely fast car with a very large stock of progress.

Total

Subjectively, I would say that e-Golf is a great, city car. Leaf is as bad as Model 3 is.

Tesla is out of competition and in general from some other league unattainable at the moment by either the Germans or the Japanese. When you go to the Model 3 such an impression that you somehow moved a couple of decades ahead and now you are there, where all the other automakers will not be soon.