Used Tesla Model 3 Performance long-term test

The car 2019 Tesla Model 3 Dual Motor Performance | Run by James Tute, Content Editor

Why it's here To see if running an older Tesla is hassle-free or a headache, and whether full Supercharger access is a game-changer

Needs to be Wieldy enough for city-centre driving, comfortable on long trips and as fun to drive as its performance tag suggests

Mileage on arrival 40,181 Mileage now 43,133 List price when new £56,545 Value on arrival £16,500 Value now £15,707 Official range 329 miles Test range 283 miles Running costs (excl. depreciation) public charging £114.03

27 October 2025 – Goodbye to a brilliant electric car

It’s time to say goodbye to my Tesla Model 3 and – as I hand back the funky black plastic cards that act as keys – reflect on the car’s pluses and minuses.

In short, I think it’s fitting that Tesla has given the Model 3 a Chill driving mode because it’s the electric car I’ve felt the most chilled out running.

Firstly, I found it a very easy car to drive. Since my car is the Dual Motor Performance version, it’s capable of stupendously (some would say stupidly) quick acceleration in the fastest Sport mode. But I didn’t use that much because the more relaxed Chill mode gave me more than enough power for all the driving situations I encountered.

A quick dab of the accelerator was plenty to get me past slower moving vehicles on a motorway, and once I’d selected the braking settings that suited my driving style, it was easy to slow and stop smoothly.

When I wanted to be even more chilled, I found the Tesla’s adaptive cruise control system – called Autopilot – as good as any I’ve used.

The Model 3 is a bit of a show-off here, because it displays a computer-generated image of the car and everything around it on the right-hand side of the infotainment touchscreen.

I’m sure other manufacturers’ systems gather just as much information, but it’s reassuring to see that the car has such an accurate map of its surroundings – right down to the traffic cones along the side of the road.

Yes, it was sometimes too sensitive, braking when it wasn’t strictly necessary, but I’d prefer that to the alternative: not braking when it is.

During my time with my Model 3, Tesla added an Autopilot feature that makes the car stop for traffic lights as part of an update to the car’s software. Sure enough, it works very well.

Secondly, the Model 3 made it easy to deal with the charging side of running an electric car – and that’s despite me making life a little trickier for myself by only using Tesla Superchargers. Because of the real-world range of 250-280 miles I was achieving, I was never worried about running out of charge on a journey.

I liked the way the car helped me plan trips with or without charging stops, either using the touchscreen or, better still, the Tesla app on my phone. It was handy to select a destination as I sat at home (or anywhere else) then send the route to the car ready for when I set off.

I found its predictions of remaining range at the end of my journey precise and it gave me the confidence to do short quick charging stops rather than staying longer “just in case”. Sometimes the charging speed was slower than I expected but on most Tesla units it was impressive.

Thirdly, I never worried that I might run out of space for passengers or luggage in my Model 3, or that on trips with other people we’d get uncomfortable.

It’s a spacious car with plenty of interior and boot space – although as I pointed out when I wrote about its practicality I’d prefer a hatchback rather than saloon boot opening.

And finally, I haven’t had any reliability issues. I had to adjust the tyre pressures soon after taking delivery because they were all over the place, but other than that it’s all worked perfectly. Some (non-Tesla) models I’ve driven have had temperamental infotainment systems but the Model 3’s software has been rock solid and, as far as I can tell, free of bugs.

As for the things that have affected my generally chilled mood, there are not many and none of them would put me off running a Model 3 again.

They’re mainly usability issues. The door handles are fiddly and there are too few physical controls. Having to use the infotainment touchscreen to open the glove box is just silly, and the air-con temperature controls (also on the screen) are too small to operate when driving.

Also, I didn’t like the lack of a rear windscreen wiper, and the doors and boot lids of this first-generation Model 3 sound tinny when slammed shut – something I imagine the original owner paying around £56,000 must have found disappointing.

And that really is it. This used car available at bargain prices hasn’t really felt like a used car at all, simply a really capable electric car which happened to have a couple of thousand miles on the clock.

Whether you want a car that thrills (in the superfast Sport mode) or to chill like me (in, er Chill mode), I think it’s a great option.

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