I always compare the Tesla Model 3 to the Toyota Corolla. This is how they actually stack up.

Matthew DeBord

Oct 18, 2019, 23:09 IST

I always compare the Tesla Model 3 to the Toyota Corolla. This is how they actually stack up.

I often compare the Tesla Model 3 to the Toyota Corolla in terms of basics: both vehicles are compact sedans.
I've driven several Model 3s. Recently, after reviewing a new Toyota Corolla, I decided to put my comparison to the test.
The Model 3 is a more compelling and important car - full of ideas, with a revolutionary attitude.
But after decades in the US market, the Corolla is still always just there for you. That counts for a lot in my book.
Also, Tesla never stops talking about how hard it is to make the Model 3. Toyota, meanwhile, has been quietly cranking out Corollas since the late 1960s.
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Whenever I generalize about Tesla and the Model 3, I often point out that although the vehicle is in many ways revolutionary, if you boil it down to its automotive essence - and take out the battery pack and electric drivetrain! - it's a Toyota Corolla.

In other words, a compact family sedan. The Model 3 and the Corolla are almost exactly the same size, while the Model 3 is significantly heavier thanks to its fairly large battery. They each have four doors, six windows, and four wheels (the Model 3, of course, has a panoramic glass roof.

The fastback Model 3 and the more traditional deck-lidded Corolla are also kin when it comes to the trunk: because the aforementioned panoramic glass roof can't move, the Model 3 isn't a true hatchback.

Obviously, we have gas versus electrons here. But the cheapest Corolla comes in at under $20,ooo. The least expensive Model 3, as listed on Tesla's configurator at the time of this writing, is just under $40,000.

I've driven several different Model 3 variants, but the one I officially reviewed was the rear-wheel-drive, single motor, Long Range Premium example, then priced at $57,500.

More recently, I reviewed a 2020 $29,189 Toyota Corolla XSE. And an opportunity knocked: Why don't I test out my compulsive comparison of Corolla and Model 3, to determine if I actually have a point?

A quick note before we get started: YES, I KNOW THESE ARE VERY DIFFERENT CARS CONCEPTUALLY. But formally they aren't so divergent. You could electrify the Corolla or gasify the Model 3 and have something of an interchangeable experience.

Read on to see how it went down.

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Tesla doesn't do model years, but the $57,500 Long Range Premium I tested was more or less a 2019. It had a 75-kilowatt-hour battery pack and could travel 310 miles on a single charge.

The 2020 Toyota Corolla XSE, arrived in "Celestite Gray Metallic" livery. "Celestite," for the record, is a mineral that's admired for its delicate blue color

Let's start with the Model 3, which had a cool red multicoat paint job. My tester was fully loaded with options, including about $5,000 worth of Premium upgrades, plus another $5,000 for Enhanced Autopilot semi-self-driving systems.

The Model 3 is a sharp-looking set of wheels, but it's hardly anything radical. This is by design: Tesla has never sought to make its vehicles come off as too space-age. The Model 3 is sleek, not overly curvaceous, and something of a hybrid of midsize and compact sedan. No grille because ... there's no gas engine to feed air!

So the biggest obvious difference between the Model 3 and the Corolla is that the Model 3 has to be recharged.

The 15-cubic-foot trunk can easily swallow a week's worth of groceries ...

... while the smaller front trunk or "frunk" adds enough extra space to give the Model 3 crossover SUV-like cargo capacity.

The Model 3's interior is a study in minimalism. The steering wheel has a just a pair of thumbwheels to control various functions.

The black-upholstered cabin featured brushed-metal trim and a single piece of open-grain wood for a dashboard. Tesla makes its own seats, by the way, and they're rather comfy.

In the rear, pretty terrific legroom!

The panoramic glass roof is a wonderful feature. Sadly, while I had the Model to test, the weather was uncooperative.

The Model 3's attention-getting center touchscreen controls almost all vehicle functions — everything from navigation to Autopilot settings to climate to unlocking Easter eggs — and the important instrument-cluster display take up the left third of the panel.

The Corolla isn't a cool-looking as the Model 3, but the 12th-generation design is perhaps my favorite in decades.

Toyota has been selling the Corolla in the US since 1968. It's been around almost as long as the Ford Mustang (1965)! The Corolla's most recent US sales peak was 2007, when over 370,000 units were sold. Last year, that number was a still-impressive 280,000.

The base Corolla starts at just under $20,000. Our tester was the top-level XSE trim, priced at $25,450 before the addition of a few thousand dollars in extras took the sticker to $29,189.

A rock-solid, 2.0-liter, four-cylinder engine — with no turbocharger! It makes a 169 horsepower with 151 pound-feet of torque. The fuel economy is fabulous! A whopping 31 mpg city/38 highway/34 combined. I drove the car a lot and barely dented the fuel supply.

The Corolla's trunk has 13 cubic feet of cargo space. That's average for the segment, but the Model 3 can haul more stuff.

Toyotas aren't noted for premium interiors — that's more Lexus, Toyota's luxury brand. However, the Corolla XSE was, I thought, rather nice. The seats were predictably comfy, yet not too soft, with good bolstering. And the plastics weren't too plastick-y.

Toyotas aren't noted for premium interiors — that's more Lexus, Toyota's luxury brand. However, the Corolla XSE was, I thought, rather nice. The seats were predictably comfy, yet not too soft, with good bolstering. And the plastics weren't too plastick-y.