The New Training Car Has Arrived
The Bright Red L now uses a Tesla Model 3 training car, continuing the commitment to training in an EV.
The new training car is here after nearly four years using Nissan Leaf EVs as training cars. The new training car is a Tesla Model 3. The Leafs have both been brilliant even as an ageing design in the EV world. When considering the replacement for a training car I kept coming back to the Tesla Model 3. There are many more EVs available now, even compared to two years ago, however, none seemed to offer much more than a Tekna specification Leaf. None could offer a charging experience the Tesla Supercharger network offers either.
Delivery of Tesla Model 3 Training Car
The wait for the Model 3 from initial ordering had been seven months, although Tesla were predicting over a year until a month before delivery. Production in Tesla Shanghai is increasing enormously, consequently, a ship full of lots of Teslas arrived in Southampton in December 2022. So, on a frosty day in December, during an exceptionally cold spell of weather, I set off to Southampton from Portsmouth to pick up the Tesla Model 3. The exceptional weather demonstrating how we should be moving to electric vehicles faster than we are for the sake of the climate.
Buying a Tesla is a different experience compared to buying a car from a dealer network which we’ve all got used to. You order online and everything happens through your Tesla account and app. It’s refreshingly different from haggling with a dealer to get a good price and finance deal. There’s one price and once ordered the price is set even if there are price rises while you wait for delivery. When the car is expected you’re invited to book a delivery date and time.
With my date and time booked and a National Express coach ticket bought, there was a train strike that day so a coach was the best option. The coach arrival time allowed plenty of time for a short walk from Southampton National Express terminal to the Tesla Southampton pick up centre. Due to the extra traffic caused by the train strike the coach arrived in Portsmouth an hour late. On arrival at the Southampton National Express terminal I had to run to the nearby train station and get a taxi arriving at Tesla Southhampton just on time.
Lots of Shiny Frosty Teslas
Social media posts had set low expectations of picking up the Tesla Model 3. I thought I’d be given the keys and pointed to the car park full of Teslas to find, possibly, a dirty car with a half full battery.
The reality couldn’t have been further from this, don’t believe everything you read on the internet, except this article of course 🙂 Upon entering the shiny Tesla centre with a car park full of shiny new cars the Tesla employee offered me a seat and coffee. The whole atmosphere was relaxed and professional.
After signing an iPad screen the Tesla phone app switched from pre delivery screens to the car controls almost instantaneously. The Tesla representative took me out to my clean fully charged Model 3 covered in thick frost, even in the middle of the day, I may have mentioned it was exceptionally cold. He helped set up my phone as the key and explained the controls. After familiarising myself with the basics to drive home I was on my way.
On the journey home I realised a Tesla is a different car ownership experience. They do everything the cars we’ve been used to do, and more, but in a different way. There’s a learning curve to become familiar with the new way of using a car. I’ll cover this in more articles to follow about driving and teaching in a Model 3, making it into a training car and training in it.
As I write this article I’m two weeks into ownership of the Tesla Model 3 training car. My initial impression is that I’ve seen the future of cars and Tesla is a long way ahead of the legacy manufacturers. It reminds me of moving from a Nokia phone to an iPhone. Now almost everyone owns a smartphone and where have Nokia gone?
