Okay, I know. £58,000 is not that affordable or low cost, but the Model 3 from Tesla starts at £42,000. Still not that cheap when you consider an electric Golf starts at £28,000 and an electric Mini from £27,000, but consider what you get and it starts to make more sense.

Tesla has always been electric – nothing else. VW and Mini are, to all intents and purposes, conventional car manufacturers getting a (decent) toehold in the EV market. And that makes sense as it’s a growing market and both are well-known and loved cars.

Space, luxury and a great experience

But they don’t offer the space, luxury and the experience of a Tesla. I hate to use that word – a car should be just that; a car. But there’s something about a Tesla that has always connected with me. They are intuitive, smooth, incredibly well-designed and things of beauty.

The big brother, the Model S, was one of the first cars I reviewed and I was instantly sold. The way they deliver so much power, so quickly and so silently still to this day puts a smile on my face.
My son especially liked that you could display a map of Mars on the sat-nav instead of the roads you are driving on… not that it was very helpful. He was also quite taken by the ability to deliver a range of fart noises from a seat of your choosing. Again, not lending much to the driving experience.

I’m going to fly through the practicalities because I want to talk about range…

It’s comfortable, fast, smooth, well equipped and incredibly spacious, as well as being good looking. Charging is easy, pretty quick and not a hassle at all. Which leaves range, again good. This model offers around 300 miles on a full charge.

I took this Model 3 on a trip to a family event in Hertfordshire – a hefty dive for ‘there and back in a day’, but the comfort was great and it was an enjoyable drive. But later that evening, driving home knowing the range didn’t have much in reserve after we got home, was a little concerning.

The kids had fallen asleep so stopping and charging was not ideal (if I could find a charger) but I had the comfort of knowing that once home, I could stick it on charge and by morning it would have a decent bit of range. So no issues, right?

Wrong. The range indicator is pretty accurate – and of course driving at night means lights, and a little heat being taken from the batteries so slightly less range. With a petrol car, I would have eased off, coasted down the hills and known that I could pull into a petrol station, throw a tenner in the tank and be on my way in less than 3 minutes, sleeping kids none the wiser.

But with an electric car, it was different. While the range was showing that there would be a small reserve when I got home, it wouldn’t take much for that to drop to a negative. And I for one don’t fancy finding out what happens when a Tesla runs out of juice completely.

“I wouldn’t hesitate to buy a Tesla”
So there was a degree of range-worry that you wouldn’t get in a petrol car, countered by the fact that it would charge while I slept that night. So is a hybrid the answer?

No. I would be wary of buying a hybrid. I’ve found them to be a little lacking – two powertrains adds weight and doesn’t deliver. I wouldn’t hesitate to buy a Tesla though – the positives far outweigh a small negative that could have been avoided with better planning. And, quite simply, I love them.