Bobbed noses, cronuts, minisubs and fetal Maseratis: Tesla's Model 3 and what people are saying

The world finally knows what the Tesla Model 3 looks like and seemingly everyone has an opinion on it. Tesla CEO Elon Musk pledges the car will bring an affordable EV to the masses. Here’s what journalists, analysts and others are saying about the car that has already attracted over 130,000 reservations.

“... the design ... rides the line of being conventional enough for people to accept, while feeling just different and futuristic enough to get people excited and interested. There’s a lot of unbroken surface area here, so colors will be important, more so than on many conventional cars, and I hope Tesla makes equally bold choices here.” -- Jason Torchinsky, Jalopnik

“In terms of design, you can draw your own conclusions. From our close-up look, we saw shades of Porsche and Ferrari in the front clip, while the back end was much more normal-looking. The Model 3 is a sedan, not a hatchback, as Musk averred that 'half the market wants a sedan and half wants an SUV.' Now, he sells a traditional sedan for the first time.” -- Jeff Jablansky, New York Daily News

"While its performance won't be nearly as breathtaking as its larger sibling, the super-luxury Model S, the Model 3 will be impressive: Zero to 60 miles per hour in less than 6 seconds. To prove the point, Tesla offered test rides with a long straightaway in which the car hurtled down a side road at push-you-back-in-your-seat speeds in near silence." -- Chris Woodyard, USA Today

"The thing to remember about the Tesla Model 3 ... is that the architecture enables the aesthetics. Yes, it is lovely, with an uncommon grace of line and a body shape -- a four-door fastback -- that has long been under-represented in the American market. It dares to be modern, and frankly electric -- note the absence of an air-breathing grille, a bit like the car has tape over its mouth -- but it delivers what to my eye is the most agreeable, most romantic shape in the small-car class ... The Model 3’s lithium ion batteries, promising at least 215 miles range, are concealed within a remarkably thin floor pan structure. The rear-situated electric motor is the size of a bathroom trash can (high-performance versions will get a second motor on the front axle). With much of the necessary hardware nicely tucked away, the Model 3 designers had free play in the design space that other carmakers can only envy ... Also note how clean the surfacing is. Thanks to Tesla’s embrace of complex glass forming for windshields and rear glass, the Model 3 offers nearly polished surface to the wind. The rear glass panel extends to very nearly the middle of the car before it meets a transverse roof support. In the cabin, the experience is strangely like a minisub ... The entire visual drama of the Model 3 comes down to the intersection of the rakish windscreen, the low scuttle and plunging hood line between two prominent front fenders. If it doesn’t look like a Model S, it looks like a fetal Maserati." -- Dan Neil, The Wall Street Journal

“There's no denying it: the Model 3 is an impressive showing. With sporty and premium lines, the thing should have more than Chevy quaking in its boots; Audi, BMW and Mercedes should, too. Admirable, too, is its long range, distinctive tech and safety features. The pricing (at least for the entry-level model) is hard to beat, too. Musk insists the option-less Model 3 will still be a great car.” -- Nick Jaynes, Mashable

“Oh my goodness the car looks gorgeous. Beautiful proportions, stunning crease lines, gorgeous details. It looks like a million bucks. Hope they can deliver it!” -- Rebecca Lindland, senior analyst at Kelley Blue Book

" ... the Model 3 definitely looks and feels like a Tesla. If you completely debadged it and hid the giveaway design elements, you’d still know it was a Tesla. You know it from features like the unreal glass roof that extends basically from the windshield to the back of the car, reminiscent of the giant windshield on the Model X. The seats have Tesla’s trademark shape, too. And it’s fast like a Tesla -- granted, Tesla stacked the deck in its favor by putting journalists in an uprated dual-motor Model 3 that definitely won’t be $35,000, but even with four grown men planted in the seats, the car moves. Stomping on the accelerator of a Model S never gets old, and I can tell already that doing silly things in the Model 3 will put that familiar grin on my face.” -- Chris Ziegler, The Verge

“Elon is off to a good start with the design of the all-new Tesla Model 3. The Model 3 is a perfect blend of the Model S and Model X’s best design features. Although labeled as a sedan, the Model 3 shown ... appears to be more of a hatchback. The design shown may have been deliberate as it appeals to both sedan and crossover shoppers. The standard auto-pilot and 5-Star Safety Ratings is certainly a great selling point for the vehicle that starts at $35,000, before incentives. With total orders of the Model 3 exceeding 115,000, what matters most is that Tesla can meet its delivery goals of late 2017.” -- Tony Lim, senior analyst at Kelley Blue Book

“What wasn't said was as important as what was said. The grille-less Model 3 was announced with a price of $35,000. That's eye-popping low, but what wasn't said was the price of the other versions. Tesla has a history of introducing a vehicle with a reasonably low price and then selling versions that are much more expensive. There was no mention of EV's major Achilles’ heel -- recharge time. 215 mile range and low recharge times make EVs impractical for many buyers.” -- Jack R. Nerad, executive editorial director and market analyst for Kelley Blue Book

“Judging by what we saw ... those who put down money on a Model 3 won’t be disappointed. When Musk strolled on stage at Tesla’s design center in Hawthorne, California, and finally pulled the wraps off the Model 3, the crowd of nearly 800 Tesla fans didn’t just cheer -- they roared.” -- Autoweek

" ... We can hear it loud and clear (even over all the noise coming out of the Tesla buzz machine) -- RIP internal combustion engine. We’ve seen more than our fair share of headlines on how the Model 3 is a game changer, with the EV revolution imminent. Adios gas-powered cars. With those points in mind, it’s not a surprise that Tesla is the only stock on our screen that’s green today. But ... before we get too carried away, let’s remember that: Model 3 deliveries likely won’t begin to ramp significantly until 2019, and we’d expect that orders that come in at the end of 2Q (i.e. once there are already 250-300k orders in the backlog) likely won’t get their vehicle before 2020. Moreover, battery costs still need to come down significantly -- not only for Tesla, but also for the rest of the industry -- for EVs to become a more feasible option." -- Barclays analyst Brian Johnson, in a note to investors on Friday

“From the side and back, the sedan Model 3 looks like a Model S with a very tall roof and a bobbed nose and tail. Up front, it has a blunt upturned snout that evokes the original Tesla Roadster as well as the new, sealed-up prow of the Model X. It is genetically linked to all of its ancestors -- both in the styling and in the many pounds of lithium ion batteries packed into the floor (also, all but the Roadster have front and rear trunks). It owes a heavy debt to the other cars in Tesla’s lineup ... This is the car that will either save Tesla or kill it. To tool up for the expected volumes, which could be in the range of 75,000 a year the first couple of years, Tesla will risk a lot of capital on ramping up production, retail and service capacity, making the Model 3 Tesla’s do-or-die moment. Everything will be bigger, from the factory parts inventory to the number of robots in the body shop to the size of the fleet of trucks needed to ship the product to the financial risks of a recall.” -- Aaron Robinson, Car and Driver

“We took a quick ride inside the higher end sport trim, with dual motors and an optional air suspension. Aside from the screen that looks like an high-definition PC monitor attached to the center console (there’s no dash cluster), it’s high-end luxury through and through. French-stitched leather adorn the door panels, with real metallic touches, and a stunning rear window arches over your head providing a panoramic view of your surroundings. While not providing the mind-bending acceleration of a P85D, the dual motor Model 3 feels like it has more kick from a stop than a BMW 340i, and my neck actually got sore from the snap of the low-end torque. The test driver did an impromptu mini-slalom on a closed off street, and there was minimal body roll with ample grip from the front 235/35/R20 and rear 275/30/R20 tires. Tesla gave no word of price for the pricier trims, but even at $50,000 it’d feel like a bargain.” -- Aki Sugawara, Yahoo Autos

"This has to be a first for the automotive industry: lines of people waiting to place an order for a car that won't be available for over a year. This is the type of buzz that you see with Star Wars movies or new iPhones or even cronuts. And it's not just in Silicon Valley or LA; this is a phenomenon we're seeing across the country. If there's ever been any evidence that Tesla is primed to make the leap to mainstream car buyers, this is it. To be a full-fledged car company Tesla needs to build volume and it needs to do it sooner rather than later. We may look back at today as a truly landmark moment for Tesla." -- Jessica Caldwell, Edmunds.com director of industry analysis

“In person and on paper, the Model 3 is a stunner. It’s a handsome sedan, with four doors and five seats, and all the comfort and practicality you’d expect of an upscale midsize sedan.” -- Alex Davies, Wired

“We were surprised at how much of a departure the Model 3's cabin is from other Teslas. Like its bigger siblings, the Model 3's dashboard is dominated by a large screen, but mounted horizontally rather than vertically, as with the Model S. The spare, stark layout of the Model 3’s cabin makes the touch screen look tacked on, rather than neatly integrated.” -- Aaron Gold, Consumer Reports

“Even by Tesla’s minimalist standards, the inside of the Model 3s we saw ... were especially sparse. Instead of a giant portrait-style tablet screen taking up most of the central real estate, we got a 15-inch, landscape screen seemingly tacked on to the dash, elevated above it.” -- Patrick George, Jalopnik

“Like Hollywood’s sunglasses-shod Invisible Man, the Model 3’s front end is featureless but for its headlights. No nose. No mouth. None of the familiar vents on our gas-powered cars because, of course, battery-powered vehicles don’t need openings to cool the radiator. Yet, even big brother Model S featured a non-functional, plastic grille -- complete with Tesla logo -- because we humans are comforted by anthropomorphic features on the front of our cars. The Model 3 is a bold -- if somewhat creepy -- re-interpretation of front car design. Tesla insists that the prototype Model 3 shown in Los Angeles is production ready -- but I would urge Tesla to add some graphics or sculptural elements (check out a McLaren or Acura NSX hybrid, for example) to its mug to compliment the car’s otherwise familiar, sexy Model S-like body lines. It’s so naked. But hardly unfamiliar. Indeed, the face harkens back to the first mass market EV to hit California in 1996: The equally blank GM EV-1.” -- Henry Payne, The Detroit News