WHICH AWD EV GOES THE DISTANCE?
HYUNDAI IONIQ 6
TESLA MODEL 3
POLESTAR 2
It’s easy to get worked up about the country not being "ready" for electric cars if you haven’t taken a moment to appreciate how far we’ve come in the past decade. The bestselling electric vehicle in 2014 was the Nissan Leaf, with about 30,000 examples sold. In 2022, Tesla sold almost 197,000 Model 3s in the U.S. In that same period, public charging infrastructure ballooned from just 25,000 public charging ports to more than 143,000 and counting.
Yes, more Americans than ever before are considering going electric. With the refreshed-for-2024 Model 3 Highland, Tesla hopes to keep those shoppers in its fold. But competition is coming on strong. The 2024 Hyundai Ioniq 6 aims to offer Lucid Air levels of aerodynamics and next-gen 800-volt charging speeds at Model 3 prices. Meanwhile, the refreshed Polestar 2 turns up the wick on performance while melding Tesla’s hassle-free sales model with Volvo’s expansive dealer network. So, the question is whether the Model 3’s updates are too little too late in the face of stiff new competition.
Tesla pulls a page out of the legacy automaker playbook as it attempts to stave off competition from those same companies. Essentially an extensive midcycle update of the Model 3 that arrived in 2017, the Highland (an unofficial code name) aims to be more stylish, luxurious, and enjoyable to drive than pre-refresh examples. Outside, every panel save for the rear doors and quarter panels is new, with special attention paid to the sleek new Roadster-inspired nose and blink-and-you’ll-miss-it hawk-eye-shaped taillights. Inside, the Model 3 gets a more luxurious treatment, with the biggest changes being a smaller steering wheel, textured cloth trim, a rear entertainment screen, and quieter dual-pane glass.
Under the skin, the Model 3—represented here by an Ultra Red dual-motor Long Range model—is largely unchanged from pre-refresh examples. Its 84.6-kWh battery pack and dual motors combine for 394 hp and 377 lb-ft of torque, good for an EPA-rated range of up to 341 miles; our car, on 19-inch wheels, comes in at 305 miles.
Of note: Our test Model 3 was built in Shanghai for the European market and features some European-specific equipment, like rear foglights and Hankook iON evo
