Something’s shifting in the electric car world, and for once it doesn’t smell of petrol. Tesla has just lobbed a hand grenade into the pricing war with a Model 3 that costs so little you’ll wonder if someone left the factory doors open and the cars wandered out on their own. £36,990 – yes, thirty-six thousand, nine hundred and ninety of your British pounds – now buys you a proper saloon that goes further than your average weekend away and accelerates faster than your heartbeat when the bill arrives at a restaurant.
What exactly do you get for that money? A 64 kWh battery promising 534 km of WLTP range – enough to glide from London to Cornwall without begging a charger for mercy. Rear-wheel drive, roughly 280 horsepower, and a 0-100 km/h sprint in 6.2 seconds. That’s not slow; that’s the sort of shove that rearranges your spine every time you flatten the loud pedal (sorry, the only pedal). Consumption? A laughable 13 kWh per 100 km – thriftier than most city runabouts that still guzzle unleaded like it’s 1997. This car looks you in the eye and says: “I’m green, but I’ll still bite your face off.”
Let’s not pretend it’s a rolling penthouse. Tesla has taken the cheese grater to the options list and shaved off anything that isn’t strictly necessary. You still get the panoramic glass roof that turns every journey into a mobile planetarium, electrically adjustable and heated front seats, three USB ports, two wireless phone chargers, and a powered boot lid that opens like a polite butler. What you don’t get: fancy seat fabric, a rear screen for the kids, mood lighting that would shame a nightclub, a hi-fi with enough speakers to start a band, or alloy wheels that gleam in the sun. Instead you get steel wheels with plastic trims that whisper “I’m here to work, not to pose”. It’s a tailored suit without the silk lining – and somehow it still looks sharp.
Compared to the old Rear-Wheel Drive model, this is basically the same car after a particularly good gym session: identical performance, dramatically lower price. It’s Tesla’s way of saying “we’re taking the playground back” after the Model Y Standard stole some thunder. In a world where electric cars are still treated like luxury toys for people with driveways the size of Hampshire, this Model 3 kicks the door off its hinges and invites the rest of us in. No eye-watering finance deals, no excuses about range anxiety. Just press go and grin.
The real magic shows up when you actually drive it. Early testers – and I’ve devoured every word they’ve written – talk about brakes that feel telepathic, suspension that swallows potholes like they’re compliments, and that glass roof turning the M25 into a giant skylight. The tech? Semi-autonomous driving that reads traffic better than a London cabbie, an infotainment system cleverer than your phone, and over-the-air updates that arrive like surprise series drops on Netflix. This isn’t a car; it’s a rolling ecosystem designed to remind you why electric is the future – silent, effortless, and without the angry volcano under the bonnet.
Take one home – not on a press launch, but properly yours – and everything clicks. From city gridlock to a empty coastal road where the battery barely breaks sweat. Park it next to the neighbour’s thirsty Range Rover and watch eyebrows rise. This Model 3 Standard is proof that brilliant and affordable can share the same postcode. It’s the wake-up call the industry needed, and the excuse you no longer have.
Ready to make the leap? Head over to our marketplace where you can search and buy 100 % electric cars without the usual nonsense. The full selection is waiting at https://volty.be/nl/buy/cars/overview/.
