Without question, Tesla should be appropriately lauded for single-handedly kickstarting the EV revolution. With the release of the Model S a few years ago, Tesla unequivocally demonstrated that it’s possible to develop a high-performance luxury sedan that doesn’t overtly look like a stereotypically clunky EV. With Tesla riding high on the success of the Model S, and later the Model X, traditional automakers like BMW and Porsche had no choice but to start taking EVs more seriously.
At the same time, Tesla vehicles are far from perfect. Though Tesla cars are undoubtedly fast and forward-thinking in a number of ways, the company has long struggled with fit and finish issues. The recently released Model 3, however, was supposed to change that. Not only did Tesla claim to have learned a great deal from the mistakes it made with the Model S and the Model X, company executives boasted that the car would see fewer issues because it was far less complex to assemble.
With this in mind, Munro and Associates — an auto and engineering consultancy firm — recently took possession of a Model 3 with the intent of tearing it apart and taking full stock of any notable issues. As evidenced via the video below, Munro and Associates CEO Sandy Munro found a whole lot wrong with the Model 3, even likening it at one point to a “Kia in the 90s.” Even more jarring is that Munro found a laundry list of issues before his team even began taking the car apart.
Before going any further, it’s worth noting that Munro and Associates primarily do consultancy work for the “Bit Three” automakers, according to a report from Jalopnik. In other words, there are moments in the video where some inherent anti-Tesla bias, however slight, does seem to be shining through.
With that disclaimer out of the way, let’s dive in.
“The gaps on this car,” Munro says early on, “you can see them from Mars.”
“Let’s just have a look while we’re still here at the gaps,” Murno said later while looking at the trunk. “If we look over here, I can barely get my fingernail in. And then if we look over here, I can almost put my thumb in. This is very unusual. The tolerance stack-ups on this car are just like nothing we’ve ever seen before. Not since the ’70s or something. I don’t understand how it got to this point, these are flaws that we would see on a Kia in the 90s. I can’t imagine how they released this.”
And if you’re looking for some more Model 3 review data, this video from Edumunds is worth checking out.
