- The Tesla Model 3 has been called a mass-market EV.
But that's really not true.
It's more like an entry-level luxury vehicle
that stands up pretty well to its peers.
Hi, I'm Ben Sullins with Teslanomics,
and today we're gonna take a look at the Tesla Model 3
versus the BMW 3 Series, the Mercedes-Benz C-Class
and the Audi A4 entry-level luxury vehicles
and see how it stacks up.
When it comes to entry-level luxury or
compact executive cars, as they're sometimes called,
you're looking generally at cars under around $50,000 US
that offer a great driving experience.
The class leader in this category for a long time now
has been the BMW 3 Series.
The BMW 3 Series offers a classic look
with premium finishes and great acceleration.
The 2017 3 Series offers loads of options
that can make it work for nearly any budget.
For many, this car is a timeless classic.
In 2017, BMW has revised their naming
of the various trim levels
and revised exterior trim, interior color options,
with the sport and luxury lines
being wrapped up in two separate packages.
The Sedan version of the 3 Series is BMW's bread and butter.
They also offer a Sport Wagon and Gran Turismo body style.
Now, like the 3 Series, another leader in this category
is the Mercedes-Benz C-Class.
The C-Class is no longer Mercedes' only option
in the entry-level luxury category,
and they offer loads of powertrain options and body styles.
They have three performance AMG models to choose from,
and, as you might expect,
the interior finishes for the Mercedes
are second to none in this category.
In 2017, Mercedes added the rear-view camera
as standard equipment
and put out some new colors for you to choose from.
To round it out, we have the Audi A4,
another leader in its class.
The Audi A4 is another compact Sedan in this category
originally introduced in the United States around 1996.
It has a timeless design similar to the BMW
and offers decent acceleration
with some pretty cool tech inside.
The new 2017 Audi A4, for example,
has a virtual cockpit inside with a 12.3-inch screen
that replaces the traditional gauges and buttons.
Even they know that buttons have been on their way out
since the original iPhone was released.
The Tesla Model 3, released just this past July,
is making major waves in the affordable luxury segment.
While it's been called a mass-market car
with a base price of $35,000, we now know that
most of the options you're gonna want will
easily push you into the $50,000 range.
The interior is completely free of buttons
and controlled by a 15-inch center console
that has been placed perfectly for the driver
to see from their peripheral vision
and for passengers to use to control things like
music and navigation and some of the other features.
Every Model 3 comes with the hardware
to one day be full self-driving,
and they already offer the enhanced autopilot ability,
making those hours spent in traffic
a little bit more bearable.
Because the motor is mounted underneath the rear seat,
the Model 3 includes a sizable trunk
as well as a small trunk area in the front called a frunk.
A complete newcomer to this category,
I thought it would be interesting to see how it stacks up
against the competition.
So here it goes.
So if we're looking at the Tesla Model 3 Long Range,
we have the highest price in the category of $44,000.
Next on our list would be the
2017 Mercedes-Benz C-Class C300 at 39.5.
Then you have the BMW 3 Series, the 330i
coming in at 38,750.
And the 2017 Audi A4
with our cheapest car in the category here at $37,300.
Now, this is before any other tax incentives
or things that may reduce the cost of your Tesla Model 3,
and you also could go with the Standard Model,
the $35,000 one.
But since we're comparing this to luxury vehicles,
I thought it made sense to use the higher-end version.
Now, when it comes to miles per gallon,
obviously, the Tesla Model 3 doesn't take gas.
And so what the EPA has done
is they've come up with something called MPGe,
which is a miles per gallon equivalent,
as a way for us to try to compare
its mileage or its range or its efficiency
to a regular gas-powered car.
Starting from the top, you have the Tesla Model 3
taking the cake here with 126 miles per gallon equivalent.
Then the rest of them are actually almost the same.
The BMW slightly edges out the Mercedes and the Audi
with 29.5 miles per gallon.
And the Mercedes and Audi tying for 29.
And that is an average between the highway and city miles.
So like that MPGe, the miles per gallon equivalent,
we have a different way of coming up
with the horsepower number,
because an electric motor doesn't really
operate the same way a regular motor does.
In fact, Elon has even stated that
a better way to measure this would be in g-forces.
So, yeah, there's that.
But we do have the EPA
estimated horsepower number for the Model 3.
So let's see how it stacks up.
So coming in again on top, you have the Tesla Model 3
with 258 horsepower.
Then you have the Audi A4 with 252.
The BMW 3 Series with 248.
And the Mercedes-Benz C-Class
rounding out the bottom with 241 horsepower.
So part of the thing here is the
electric drivetrain has some real
standout advantages for the acceleration and everything.
So that's why, almost always, you see an EV,
especially a Tesla, win in the performance category.
Now, let's take a look at the zero-to-60 times
to see how it works with the acceleration.
Coming in on top again, you have the Tesla Model 3
with the zero-to-60 time of 5.6 seconds.
Next to that, you have the Mercedes-Benz C-Class at six,
the Audi A4 at 6.7
and the BMW 3 Series at 7.1.
Overall, pretty fast cars.
All of them around are gonna be
quick enough to get the job done for sure,
but the Tesla Model 3 here does really stand out
as the highest performing vehicle in its class.
Now, a quick side note about the electric motor,
specifically, how Tesla has done the electric drivetrain.
The Model 3's big brother, the Model S,
recently went head to head
in the ultimate drag race from Motor Trend.
Now, they pitted super cars,
cars that are generally way outside of the price range
of the normal person,
and they put them against a car
that is somewhat in the range, the Tesla Model S P100D.
And the P100D smoked the competition
in the quarter-mile track.
Now, on a longer track, the other cars
probably would have won because they would have caught up.
They were still accelerating,
where the P100D had already hit peak acceleration.
But, honestly, it doesn't matter.
All of these cars are incredibly fast.
And an interesting thing about this is that
the P100D in this drag race was the heaviest car.
So the power that you get from the electric drivetrain
truly is second to none.
All the cars we're looking at here are five-seaters,
but when it comes to space in the interior,
the Tesla Model 3 just barely edges out the BMW 3 Series,
with similar headroom, similar legroom,
but over an inch more of shoulder room.
So, if you're a bigger or taller person,
this might be something to try out before you buy.
Make sure that you're gonna fit and feel comfortable
driving around in it.
As for cargo space, none of these cars are gonna give you
a tremendous amount of storage,
but the Tesla Model 3 is tops again with 14 cubic feet,
with the BMW 3 Series and Audi A4
tied for second at 13 feet,
and the Mercedes-Benz C-Class coming in last
at 12.6 cubic feet of storage.
Thankfully, all of these cars
come with a five-star safety rating.
However, it's worth mentioning that the Tesla Model 3
did exceptionally well in the side impact test
compared to the Volvo S60.
So there you have it,
a side-by-side comparison of all of the leaders in the
affordable luxury or entry-level luxury market.
I'm curious to know what you think.
Are you looking at getting one of these cars?
Which way are you leaning and why?
I'm really curious, what is the deciding factor for you?
So please leave me a comment down below.
So thanks for watching.
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Each week we take a look at the data
and economics behind Tesla and related industries
to really try to see what's going on.
And lastly, remember,
when you free the data, your mind will follow.
Thanks for watching and I'll see you back here next time.