Any experience with 3 adults in the backseat on a trip

[Praxidike]

I can offer a bit of insight here as I was just in a 2020 model three as a rear passenger with five people in the car. For reference two of us in the back were six feet tall and one was about 5'2"

It was not particularly comfortable. I would not want to endure that for longer than necessary unless absolutely necessary. Leg room was not particularly bad though if the person in the front seat is tall then it gets dicey. Middle seat seems to be rather comfortable according to my wife.

 

[KenC]

People are spoiled nowadays. When I was growing up, we moved from Montreal to the US, and we stuffed a family of 6 into our '65 Mustang, including as much stuff as we could bring. I held a box on my lap. Now, the kids want a whole row to themselves in the Yukon XL, captain's chairs, Super Big Gulps! What a World. I think I've become an old curmudgeon.

I get in the back of the Model 3, and find it spacious! Adjust the headrest properly, and I'd think it would be great. Headroom is wonderful. No transmission hump. What's to complain about?

 

[ewoodrick]

Good point. The change was earlier, though. While I forget the exact timing, I can bracket it. My son’s car has the less comfy seats, and his car was built April 2018. Ours has the improved rear seats, built July 2018.

I believe that the seats were changed inMarch. Cars may not have been delivered until April though.

 

[rdcisneros3]

I have a 2020 delivered in December. New seats or not, is it not comfortable with 3 back there. I had my mom and my 2 kids back there last weekend and it was not enjoyable, and none of them are large.

 

[Uncle Paul]

While the Model 3 has more interior space than others of similar size, with a nice flat floor, making it more comfy for the center passenger, it still is a relatively small car, compared to S & X.

It seats 5, but not comfortably. Seats have fold down feature to allow better cargo capacity, but also makes the seats a little less comfortable than fixed seats.

3 hours back there, with normal sized adults will not be pleasant, especially if the driver wants to show off the car's capabilities.

Good idea is always to put the largest passenger in the front seat, the smallest passenger in the rear-middle seat. If the owner is relatively small, it might also work out better if he sits in back and lets the larger people drive. This alone will help the owner decide if riding in the back for 3 hours is going to be pleasant

 

[FB49]

My wife is in a small quilting group and all five ladies decided to take a trip to a Seattle fabric store in the Model 3 (about 160 miles round trip). One lady (the smallest) said she couldn't ride in the back seat because she would get car sick back there, so she rode "shotgun", my wife drove, and the other three (all middle-age and slightly larger) ladies rode in the back. Packing them in and out was somewhat of a chore and finding those tiny seat belt receptors was a real challenge with all three scrunched together. I've since added seat belt extenders, but my advice is to only travel with a maximum of 4 people if possible

 

[JBT66]

This car while it can fit 3 in the back in a bind or a short trip is not meant to transport 3 adults for many hours.

reread your post.
If you have to go to the length of renting a vehicle to fit 5 people I’d say they should suck it up and enjoy the ride.

 

[Praxidike]

People are spoiled nowadays. When I was growing up, we moved from Montreal to the US, and we stuffed a family of 6 into our '65 Mustang, including as much stuff as we could bring. I held a box on my lap. Now, the kids want a whole row to themselves in the Yukon XL, captain's chairs, Super Big Gulps! What a World. I think I've become an old curmudgeon.

I get in the back of the Model 3, and find it spacious! Adjust the headrest properly, and I'd think it would be great. Headroom is wonderful. No transmission hump. What's to complain about?

It just seems odd that you would compare modern amenities to archaic modes of transport. I don't particularly care for this boomer attitude towards progression, though I mean no insult.

Sure, it is leaps and bounds better than my old 94 Camry regarding comfort (though not room) but comparing the two without specifics is just useless anecdotal evidence that doesn't contribute to the conversation at hand. You didn't even bother to qualify your perspective with any reference points or experiential data.

Again, not trying to be confrontational. Just pointing out the perspective from this seat.

 

[KenC]

It just seems odd that you would compare modern amenities to archaic modes of transport. I don't particularly care for this boomer attitude towards progression, though I mean no insult.

Sure, it is leaps and bounds better than my old 94 Camry regarding comfort (though not room) but comparing the two without specifics is just useless anecdotal evidence that doesn't contribute to the conversation at hand. You didn't even bother to qualify your perspective with any reference points or experiential data.

Again, not trying to be confrontational. Just pointing out the perspective from this seat.

LOL, is that how you normally talk?

 

[Kevy Baby]

The best way to get three people to easily fit in the back seat is to chop them up into smaller pieces.

 

[morningstar]

Well, to be fair, they're at the age where they are prone to complain about EVERYTHING.

So true!

But the 70 year olds complained too and that was a shorter trip, like 40 minutes. I just wouldn't do 3 people in the back for a road trip. It's not comfortable for that long of a ride.

 

[Watts_Up]

So relatives coming into town and we will need to make a three hour car trip. I'd like to take them in my LR RWD Model 3 to give them the EV experience, maybe even let a couple of them drive for a portion of the trip. There will be a total of 5 adults however which means there will always be 3 sitting in the back seat. Everybody is over 60 so we'll obviously make a stop or two for bio breaks, snacks and stretching. Wondering if this will just be too uncomfortable for everyone? Anyone out there tried a trip like this? The alternative is for me to rent some larger ICE vehicle like an SUV. What do you think?

I have also a Model 3, and I have been in your situation recently with my relatives coming over.
So I left my car at the airport in a long term parking and rented an Audi Q7 from Silvercar.

I searched for the various car rental, but getting a luxury car was quite expensive
and you often need to pay extra options.

With Silvercar I got a brand new Audi AWD SUV with WiFi hotspot included,
and the Audi navigation Virtual Cockpit is quite good.

I used my own car insurrance and as a first time user I even got a 20% discount,
and the unlimited mileage for two weeks was great. All together this was cheaper than Avis.

It was even hard to have to return the car, as you would like to keep it.
I hope the e-Tron will be available the next time I will use this company.

Note: I also looked with Turo for a Model X but this was more than twice as expensive.

 

[Austindude]

I have also a Model 3, and I have been in your situation recently with my relatives coming over.
So I left my car at the airport in a long term parking and rented an Audi Q7 from Silvercar.

I searched for the various car rental, but getting a luxury car was quite expensive
and you often need to pay extra options.

With Silvercar I got a brand new Audi AWD SUV with WiFi hotspot included,
and the Audi navigation Virtual Cockpit is quite good.

I used my own car insurrance and as a first time user I even got a 20% discount,
and the unlimited mileage for two weeks was great. All together this was cheaper than Avis.

It was even hard to have to return the car, as you would like to keep it.
I hope the e-Tron will be available the next time I will use this company.

Note: I also looked with Turo for a Model X but this was more than twice as expensive.

Thanks, never heard of Silvercar before but they have a rental site here in Austin. I think I will look into a rental of a Q7.