Tesla Model 3: The safest car on the road?

With thunderous applause and rock music blasting in the background, Tesla CEO Elon Musk drove the Tesla Model 3 across the stage at an unveiling event. Although Musk’s entrance was reminiscent of Tony Stark’s entrance in Iron Man 2, the unveiling of Tesla’s newest foray into electric cars begs the question – will the Tesla Model 3 be the safest car on the road? Many critics seem to believe so – with an MSRP of $35,000, the Model 3 is certainly more cost-effective than previous Tesla cars. The standard model gets you a 220 mile range and a top speed of 130 mph. The “Long Range” model gets you a 310 mile range with a top speed of 140 mph. For a car in its price range, the balance of range and power is hard to find.

But how does the Tesla Model 3 stack up against, say, the Volvo S60 – a car that received a 5-star rating in all safety categories? You would assume that because the Model 3 is incredibly light (1,000 lbs. lighter than the Model S) and doesn’t have an engine, it isn’t that safe. That couldn’t be further from the truth. At the unveiling event, Musk shared video footage of a crash test comparing the Model 3 to the S60, and the results were astonishing. Musk said although the S60 is a safe car by normal standards, he asked the audience which car they would rather be hit in. He added that safety was a primary concern when building the Model 3.

Video below demonstrates the side impact safety of Tesla Model 3 compared to Volvo S60 (5 start rating). “The Volvo is the second safest car in the world” Elon Musk.

Musk says they are building the highly anticipated car as fast as possible – 5,000 units/week as of right now with a goal of 10,000 units/week by the end of 2018. Tesla’s Gigafactory will produce more lithium-ion batteries than the rest of the world combined, and the Tesla factory has the second largest footprint of any building in the world – so despite potential Tesla customers asking where their cars are on Twitter, they will arrive in due time.

Where there is an increase in demand for the car, however, there will be an increased demand for charging on the go. Similar to how a rise in smartphones has resulted in an amplified presence of charging ports in malls and other buildings, an increased number of Teslas on the road means charging may become a challenge. Musk says Tesla has taken this into account, and has planned on tripling the amount of chargers by the end of next year. This works out to be about 18,000 more Superchargers by 2018.

If you still can’t afford a Tesla, have a look at a comparison article between currently available EV cars.