Tesla Model 3 Standard Range Plus 2020 UK review

Cast your mind back to summer 2019, when the Model 3 arrived in Britain and sightings of its globular form had us pressing our noses up against the glass of our own, suddenly quite archaic-feeling combustion cars. 

Tesla’s most affordable offering has, in the short time since then, gone from being almost non-existent on our roads to feeling commonplace, especially in London. And this despite it being considerably more expensive than EV hatchback stalwarts such as the Nissan Leaf. In fact, so strong is the brand and capable the product that Tesla’s junior saloon regularly tops monthly EV sales charts in Europe, with only Renault’s Zoe able to keep up. True, at this precise moment, Volkswagen’s box-fresh ID3 – the car ‘seeking forgiveness for Dieselgate’, as Jim Holder accurately put it – is the EV that European buyers want most, but with vital statistics inferior to the American car in almost every way, don’t bank on the novelty factor lasting.

To help its cause, Tesla has given the Model 3 an early facelift, though one less comprehensive than those traditionally applied to cars four or five years into the model-cycle. Call it a refresh. The range still consists of three variants, our test car being the entry-level, rear-driven Standard Range model, while both the Long Range and Performance use two electric motors to give them four-wheel drive and larger battery packs that push range from 254 to more than 350 miles.

Performance is brisk whichever powertrain you have, and the 283bhp motor in the Standard Range not only propels the car to 60mph in 5.3sec but does so in a manner that feels considerably quicker those numbers suggest.

The most significant addition to the car is the heat-pump from the Model Y mid-size SUV. I’ll admit, it’s hardly the most exciting upgrade, but is important because powertrain efficiency, rather than brute battery size, is what helps Tesla’s achieve its class-leading driving ranges, and this new pump improves matters in cold weather.

The trade-off is that some space in the ‘frunk’ has been sacrificed, but nose-to-tail this remains an impressively spacious car. The other side of the coin is that Tesla is now fitting Michelin’s excellent Pilot Sport 4S tyres, which don’t exactly scream ‘low rolling resistance’. Quite the opposite. 

Aesthetically, you can tell the updated car by its satin-black door handles, and the subtly updated design for the aero-covers that clip onto the 18in or 19in alloy wheels. The same satin-black finish is dotted about the interior, where you’ll also find two new USB-C ports and a useful two-phone charging pad below the 15in touchscreen, which is unchanged and continues to control almost everything that the steering wheel and pedals do not. The place feels smarter, no question, and all cars are now fitted with an electric tailgate.