Ion Fist Velvet, Shove

THE HOTTEST EV IN AUSTRALIA DEMOLISHES MOUNT BUFFALO, BUT CAN TESLA’S MODEL 3 DELIVER A TRUE DRIVER’S HIGH?

- Ash Westerman

A REAL ARTISAN of a wheelman, piloting a potent rear-driver like, say a Merc-AMG C63 S or an Alfa Giulia QV, could sure unleash a noisy, flamboyant flourish on a road like this. The climb to the summit of Mount Buffalo in the Victorian Alps is only 21km long, and the gradient never kicks much harder than around eight percent, but plenty of the tight turns have good sightlines, and the road, built in 1908 and still in excellent health, offers an intuitive rhythm in which to find a fast groove. Get up early, mid-week, as we have, and you’ll beat the slow-grinding lycra-ites and have the place to yourself.

I’m about as artistic as Mr Squiggle with a skinful, so my first run in this American-built EV disruptor is less of an expression session; instead this car reveals itself a glinting, tempered steel blade, enabling you to slash, clean and clinical, like a near-silent ninja. Holy crap, it is fast.

We’re in the top-spec Model 3 Performance, claiming outputs of 353kW and 639Nm, but the torque feels like much more. We know that twisting force from an electric motor is delivered differently to that of an internal-combustion engine, and this thing is giving me a graphic demonstration of that. With no ratios to shuffle through, and no boost to keep on the boil, the acceleration feels instantaneous and relentless. We’re firing uphill, but even with a claimed 1847kg to haul, this $92,900 mid-sizer seems energised by the task of soundlessly inhaling the ribbon of twisting bitumen like a class-A narcotic.