[Car Review] Tesla Model 3 Premium Long Range RWD 84kWh: I’m surprised

Born from Humanity’s Survival

I have to be upfront with you. I used to idolise Elon Musk.

Don’t get me wrong. Not in a parasocial, poster-on-the-wall kind of way. More like a strong respect for someone who thinks on a scale that most people cannot comprehend. You see, Elon has always been about one thing: humanity’s survival. And once you understand that, everything else he does suddenly makes sense.

For humanity to survive, we need to eventually move beyond Earth. To do that, we need to dramatically lower the cost of space travel and improve rocket technology, which is why he started SpaceX. On another planet, there is no fossil fuel, so we need electric vehicles and the infrastructure to support them: enter Tesla. Solar energy will be the primary power source on any future planetary habitat, so he invested in SolarCity. Underground living is the most plausible habitat structure, so there is The Boring Company. And to keep humanity relevant in an age of artificial intelligence, he invested in OpenAI in its early days and founded Neuralink to eventually merge the human brain and AI.

One man. One overarching goal. An insane number of bets.

He is a real-world Tony Stark, complete with the same occasionally insufferable sense of humour. And here is a piece of trivia I love sharing: from the very beginning, Elon had planned for Tesla’s lineup to spell the word “SEXY.” Model S. Model E. Model X. Model Y. The only issue was that Ford held the trademark on “Model E,” so he had to improvise. The result is Model 3. Get it? The number 3 is a backwards E.

And that, my friend, is the company history I was thinking about when I slid behind the wheel of the Tesla Model 3 Premium Long Range.

Highland

For the uninitiated, Model 3 was refreshed in 2024 and nicknamed “Highland”.

The Highland refresh did something to the Model 3’s face. The old car looked minimalist and approachable, almost friendly and cheerful. Now, an angular LED headlights, a cleaner front bumper, and the absence of a Tesla badge at the rear (replaced now with “TESLA” in full lettering) all add up to a car that looks sleeker, perhaps slightly less “friendly” (read: fiercer), and altogether more high-tech.

Inside, the sleek design continues. With an interior devoid of most buttons and dials, the 15.4-inch central touchscreen handles virtually everything, and it is well organised with a clean, minimalist layout. Every setting I needed regularly was within one tap. Nothing meaningful was buried under a second layer. That sounds like a low bar to clear, but you would be surprised how many cars with giant screens still fail it.

The truly sleek and minimalist interior also meant one thing – there are lesser things that could creak, rattle or spoil. And that is an important factor for car ownership.

Having double-glazed glass on a car is a luxury that is hard to come by. Many mid-tier luxury cars today only come with double-glazed glass on the front windows, and you have to reach much higher in the price bracket to enjoy full coverage all round. With the Highland refresh, Tesla introduced double-glazed glass to the Model 3’s rear passenger windows, meaning it now has full coverage across the entire car, greatly enhancing the soundproofing of the Model 3. The old car only had it on the front windows.

The rear passenger experience is also top notched.

Apart from the comfortable seats and generous leg and head room, an 8-inch touchscreen sits between the rear seat passengers, letting them adjust the air-conditioning independently and stream Netflix or YouTube. If you have young children, this can be a bane or a boon, depending on your attitude towards screen time.

The expansive panoramic glass roof is the feature Singaporeans are often concerned with, and reasonably so. Our sun does not mess around. What I can tell you from experience is that the glass is pre-tinted and treated to be reflective from the factory, and even in the midday heat, you simply do not feel it inside the cabin. I was genuinely expecting to bake. I did not.

With the original Highland refresh, Tesla controversially removed the signal stalk entirely, replacing it with touch buttons on the steering wheel. It has since been reinstated in late 2025. Unlike on other cars, there is only one level of press: no “short” three-blink mode. My first reaction was that this seemed like a cost-cutting oversight. It is not. The signal cancels itself automatically when you complete a lane change or finish a turn. You never have to decide between a temporary blink and a permanent one. The car already knows when you are done. It is a small thing, but it perfectly encapsulates Tesla’s minimalist yet detail-obsessed design philosophy.

The Octo-pacity Test

To better communicate the amount of enclosed cabin storage each car has, I have also started a new tradition in my car reviews: the Octo-pacity test. I now bring along a set of Octopus plushies to measure how much usable enclosed storage a car actually offers.

The glovebox in the Model 3 Long Range fits three octopus plushies, though it takes some squishing to get them in just right. This meant that the glovebox on the Model 3 is shorter than most. However, more storage can be found elsewhere.

Tesla splits typical centre console/armrest storage into two distinct enclosed sections, and each half fits five plushies comfortably.

That is thirteen total. For a cabin that looks this minimal and sleek, the storage space available is canverous and more than sufficient.

If you are interested in a full 360 degree view of the cabin, check out our our Insta360 page view here.

One-Leg Driving

Now, one-pedal driving. I want to tell you something I do not usually admit: on most EVs I review, I simply turn regen braking to the lowest setting. I am too used to ICE cars, and aggressive regenerative braking tends to feel jerky and abrupt, like the car is lurching every time you ease off the accelerator. I was fully prepared to not enjoy the drive given that you cannot turn off or significantly reduce the regenerative braking on the Model 3.

I was truly apprehensive about getting used to one-pedal driving as I head to the showroom to pick up the car. In my mind, how could that produce a great driving experience?

My concerns were unfounded.

The Model 3 Long Range’s regen system is so well-modulated that even when I accidentally lifted my foot due to old ICE muscle memory, it never felt sudden or unpleasant. It just responded progressively, like a well-trained co-driver easing you into a corner. It took me only less than 15 minutes and I have already adapted well to the one-pedal drive. I’m surprised.

The ride quality sits in exactly the right place for Singapore. Firm enough to corner without meaningful body roll, composed enough on the expressway, and forgiving enough when you hit the inevitable speed bump or patchy tarmac. It is the definition of well-sorted. Not once did I feel like I was being punished for roads that were less than perfect.

Autopilot performs well in local conditions. On the expressways, lane-keeping is confident and adaptive cruise control handles our stop-start city traffic without drama. Note however, that Tesla’s Full Self-Driving is not legally permitted in Singapore yet, so that was not within the scope of my test.

Numbers, for those keeping score: 294 bhp, 430 Nm of torque, 0 to 100 km/h in 5.2 seconds. WLTP range is a whooping 750km which translates to true motoring confidence and freedom. On charging, the Model 3 supports DC fast charging at up to 250 kW, recovering from 10% to 80% in less than 30 minutes. Tesla’s Supercharger network across Singapore has expanded significantly, making range anxiety increasingly hard to justify as an objection.

The Model 3 Premium Long Range RWD 84kWh I tested is priced at S$205,999 (19 March 2026), which is highly reasonable for a Singapore buyer who wants a technology-forward, genuinely premium EV where every detail has been deliberately considered rather than casually included. Love him or hate him, Elon Musk’s vision that started with rockets and tunnels and solar panels produced, among other things, a very fine sedan. And it turns out, a very fine sedan is exactly what Singapore needed.

The Tesla Model 3 Long Range used for this review was provided by Tesla Singapore. All opinions expressed are the author’s own and have not been influenced by the brand.