David NicholsonSo how does the 2424 Highland Model 3 compare to the 2019 original UK car. What is better? What is worse
I’ve recently been revisiting in the Star Wars films in their official sequence and was reminded that before turning into arch villain Darth Vader, Darth was a brilliant Jedi called Anakin Skywalker. The Model 3 was conceived in the Tesla owner’s “Anakin phase” and is still an outstanding electric car.
Here is what we thought of the 2019 model.
So what makes the Tesla Model 3 a brilliant car?
Space and pace and efficiency
Ok so it’s not quite Sir Williams Lyon’s Jaguar goal of grace space and pace but frankly Jaguar would have been quite chuffed to achieve 1m plus sales of an all electric affordable saloon built with a profit. The Model 3 offers owners a few attributes that border on witchcraft.
Space
The Model 3 is almost exactly the same length as a fuel powered BMW 3 series. It has a much roomier cabin, a bigger boot (bigger than the petrol BMW and way way bigger than the plugin hybrid 3 series). And then the Model 3 has another large boot space under the boot floor and a decent sized frunk ideal for slinging takeaways or dirty walking boots. It even has more space than much bigger German rivals like the Mercedes e class hybrid.
It still has the limitations of a saloon boot opening but if you want to take the family on holiday from UK to Cornwall, Scotland or Italy the Model 3 is hard to beat.
Pace
For most owners a Model 3 will be the fastest accelerating car they have ever driven. The fastest fuel burning car I ever owned was a 6 cylinder BMW 330d auto. Not only did it take a leisurely 6.8 seconds to 62mph the throttle response was so slow you had to ask it to accelerate a couple of seconds before you intended to actually move.
Compare that with the base RWD Model 3 – 5.2 seconds, Dual Motor – 4.4 seconds or 3.3 seconds for the performance and the difference is even greater because it accelerates the moment you press the throttle and pulls strongly and effortlessly at any speed without any fuss or noise. There is nothing remotely safe about fuel burning cars that hesitate a second or 2 when you press the accelerator then lurch forward.
It’s worth noting that the power is delivered safely in all weather conditions (except for performance models using summer tyres on snow) and the Model 3 is as happy pootling in a 20 mph zone as it is on UK A and B roads or at 81 mph European motorway speeds.
Efficiency
The Model 3 is a bit of an efficiency miracle. In combustion terms it’s like getting much better mpg than competitors (and often better than most much smaller cars as well) but the Tesla combines this with the Supercharger network which for now offers much cheaper charging than other UK public chargers. The combination of efficiency and low charging costs delivers much much lower running costs than its competition when you’re away from home.
There are times when the model 3 is much less efficient than some other EV’s. It’s happy when moving but in very heavy largely stationary traffic it can be very inefficient especially in cold or hot weather. Why? Well if you have all the power draw of heating or cooling and running computer powered in car systems it doesn’t really affect efficiency if you’ve travelled 60 or even 20 miles in an hour but if you’ve travelled just 1 or 2 miles you can end up as bad as 2 miles per kWh. In hot weather the black glass roof makes this worse by getting very hot when you’re moving slowly which means much more work for the air conditioning
Supercharging and Software
Couldn’t really leave these 2 out of the list really. Superchargers are widely available and although most are now open to non Tesla’s there are still 3 key advantages to using a Tesla
- Route planning is seamless. Want to travel from London to Rome? Easy. Just enter the destination and every Supercharger stop is mapped out in under 10 seconds.
- When you arrive the rear left charge flaps on Tesla’s making plugging into Superchargers a doddle.
- The price you pay for electricity as an owner is even lower and nearly always cheaper than fuel burning cars. Parity with petrol is probably 55p/kWh. Tesla owners usually pay nearer 40p while most public chargers are nearer 80p in January 2025.
Tesla software doesn’t just deliver google maps. Autopilot is not like the US version but still useful on motorways but the rest is generally useful and clever. it is also regularly updated as long as you connect the car to wifi.
The good stuff… 2019 v 2024 Highland Models
Efficiency
Overall over 10,000 miles the 2024 dual motor model 3 is averaging 4.32 miles/kWh even including a French trip to Ski in the alps…Before the French trip it managed over 4.5 miles per kWh.
By comparison my 2019 Performance model averaged 3.6 miles per kWh over 4 years and 36,000 miles. It was a faster version of course.
It is worth noting that while the 2024 Model goes around 25% further than my 2019 Performance minus ( with 18″ aero wheels, no spoiler) Model 3s since the prior update in 2021 when a heat pump became standard probably have similar efficiency to the Highland. Always check spec but as a rule of thumb Model 3’s with chrome window surrounds don’t have a heat pump. Those with black surrounds should do.
Range
The battery on both versions was about the same… 75kWh. So the old 2019 managed around 270 miles. Without the gruelling French trip range on the Highland was around 340 miles.. after it 300 is the average. Pretty good for a car that by modern standards doesn’t have a particularly big battery.
Refinement and ride
The Highland is quite a bit quieter particularly at high speed with less road and wind noise. It’s hard to remember sometimes but the wind roar on the old model that always reminded me of the early Eurostar trains when at French motorway speeds (81mph) is now pretty much gone.
Handling is also more mature and balanced even if it’s lost a little sporty feel in the process. On the UK’s pretty awful road surfaces this is definitely a leap forward.
Paint
Paint until recently was a big weak point for Tesla. Look at any pre Highland Model 3 and colours like metallic blue and red only looked ok in full sunshine. As soon as a cloud crossed the sky they ceased to look metallic at all becoming flat.
Now finally there are some new colours like ultra red and quicksilver that finally can match the paint on a 5 year old petrol Mazda. At last!
Headlamps
Tesla Model 3’s have had matrix LED headlamps for several years as far as I know but never bothered to install the software to make them work properly. Now finally that hallelujah moment has arrived and they are amazing. You just drive with main beam at night and the headlamps block their beams from around vehicles coming towards you or in front of you while still giving you main beam on the rest of the road. Are they better than other brands? No idea but compared to a manual system they are brilliant and work seamlessly in continental Europe too.
Rear TV Screen for Netflix and other streaming.
Never used it myself but I can confirm the family has swapped front for back seats to back seats in order to watch films on motorway stretches. Apart from leaving me on my own feeling like a chauffeur it works well!
The Tesla app
Until you experience app’s from other manufacturers it’s easy to forget how good the Tesla app really is. I’m not going to list them here but suffice to say the app tells me everything I want to know and does everything I want it to do.. usually without delay and or any fuss.
TIP – remember if you have Tesla app on your phone or tablet you can send a destination from say google maps to the car even if you’re no where near it. When you get in it will be set as your destination.
Wifi connection for updates
This used to be a bit of an artform on old models.. I often had to move my home router and park with the passenger side nearest the house to get even a slow collection. The 2024 wifi is much better with longer range and no need to repark in a specific direction!
The bad stuff… 2019 v 2024 Highland Models
Charging speed
When the 2019 Tesla Model 3 arrived on the scene it’s charging speed was without peer. Now it really really isn’t.
Why is this?
- Tesla charging has got slower
The early model that arrived in 2019 was a charging powerhouse that could often peak just over 250W then dispatch a 10-80% charge in as little as 26 mins. The 2024 model by comparison struggles to reach 250kW or complete a 10-80% charge in under 34 mins. - The Tesla batteries haven’t been updated
The batteries on the Model 3 and new Model Y haven’t been updated for ages and are long in the tooth. Even the latest cheaper LFP batteries already in new electric cars from brands in China can manage average 10-80% Fastcharge speed of 300kW with a peak of over 500kW. - From Peak Charge to Fast Charge – The way charging speed is measured has changed
Tesla’s were always designed to hit an incredible (at the time) 250kW peak charging speed for a nanosecond or 2 at 5% battery SOC but drop under 135kW by around 35% and under 100kW at 50%.
The result is the average 10-80% charge speed for the new 250kW peak Highland is actually a very pedestrian 124kW. Compare that with a new Skoda Enyaq that peaks at a paltry 135W but averages 120kW over a 10-80% charge and you start to see why sources like the excellent Electric Vehicle Database (EVDB) have switched away from highlighting peak speeds.
Other EV’s have got quicker
If you ask EVDB for the 50 quickest fast charging EV’s you won’t find a single Tesla in February 2025. In fact the fastest charging Tesla, the revised Model S & X’s only manage 140kW average which makes them the joint 96th fastest charging cars in the UK while the Model 3 is in 132nd place behind cars like the ID Buzz, Peugeot e3008 and the Volvo EX40. In terms of miles you get within a given time the Model 3 claws a little back by going further than most competitors with each kWh of charge. That is all that keeps it in the game but it does also lower running costs a lot.
Stalkgate became a major talking point with Highland Model 3. Was Tesla removing the indicator stalks incredibly stupid and annoying. yes. Have I got used to it. Yes but I still sometimes indicate when I want to flash my lights and sometimes indicate left when I want to turn right. Did any of these things happen with an indicator stalk? Zero times.
Any plus sides? Not really except to say losing the forward reverse stalk has been less of a disaster. Why? Well you get used to selecting this with the screen and Tesla introduced a direction guessometer which guesses things like.. if there is a wall behind you you probably want to go forward. It works pretty well although not 100%.
Demisting
I prefer to open windows where air is clean and recycle air for long periods when polluting fuel burning vehicles are present, especially diesels. I can smell when there is a diesel vehicle in front of me and I know the clouds of invisible but pungent NOx they discharge is a health hazard. On the 2019 model I could stay healthier year round without the windows fogging up. On the 2024 model particularly over damper winter months I reluctantly have to run the Aircon and take in diesel fumes to avoid the windows misting up. When they do mist up sometimes it can take over 10 minutes to clear. Once cleared they do remain clear provided outside air is chosen.
Software updates
On the 2019 model these used to take 25-35 mins. On the 2024 even minor updates take up to 55 minutes.
TIP – Once you download an update off Wifi always run the update where the car has Wifi access. I once did an update without Wifi access and the car was missing a file so the update stalled and was essentially unusable for a long period.
Software
Why is this in the bad column? Well from same the people that replaced indicator stalks with useless buttons the software updates bring downgrades as well as upgrades. When Tesla removed parking sensors they said there would “soon” be a vision based software replacement to warn you when you were about to hit something. Did they develop this before removing the sensors? Of course not. The replacement arrived years later and now finally works again along with automated parking and smart summon.
The most recent bit of vandalism is the energy graph which let you see you driving efficiency easily and clearly over various short distances. The replacement is completely useless for any purpose and might as well be canned altogether.
Headlamps
Aren’t the headlamps briliant? Yes they are but as I found when leaving London in minus 4 temperatures to go skiing both the front and rear lights the highland’s light attract a thick layer of frost that renders the the headlamps useless.
TIP When starting off in frosty conditions always check for frost and remove as necessary. Modern headlamps reduce so little heat that they will not melt ice probably for 100’s of miles unless outside temperatures increase.
The Brand
Everyone has their own politics, views on the importance of democracy and moral line to draw but as an observation it seems clear that increasingly large numbers of potential customers are put off Tesla by the activities of the Tesla CEO, myself now included. My next vehicle will not be a Tesla and the last of my shares were sold long ago.
The good news is many other brands make decent EV’s and if you look at what China is starting to bring to Europe there is more advanced technology available in non Tesla vehicles now. It would probably be better for the brilliant team at Tesla if they had new ownership and leadership and a renewed focus on being technology leaders. In the meantime the toxic damage to the brand means Tesla will increasingly rely on discounts, not cachet, to shift vehicles. If you want one of the most efficient EVs money can buy that could still suit a sizeable number of people very well.
