**A Comparison of Electric and Hybrid Cars: The BMW, Mercedes, and Tesla**

As we set out on our journey to compare three popular electric and hybrid cars - the BMW i3, Mercedes C-Class, and Tesla Model 3 - we couldn't help but feel a sense of excitement and curiosity. Each car has its unique features, advantages, and disadvantages, making this comparison a must-read for anyone considering a switch from traditional internal combustion engine vehicles.

**The BMW i3: A Long-Distance Cruiser**

When you get out on the motorway, the BMW i3's electric powertrain shines, allowing it to use electric power for longer than its competitors. This means that you can save more fuel if you're doing longer journeys and cruising along at high speeds. The car is also very quiet and relaxing, making it a great option for long-distance travel. The seats are comfortable, and the interior design gives off a luxurious feel, making you feel good about yourself as you drive around.

However, when it comes to performance, the BMW i3 doesn't quite hold its own against its competitors. It's not as quick or agile as the Tesla Model 3, especially when it comes to overtaking other cars. But overall, the BMW i3 is a great choice for those who want an electric car that can handle long distances with ease.

**The Mercedes C-Class: A Hybrid Option**

The Mercedes C-Class offers a hybrid version of its popular compact executive car, which we had the pleasure of testing on our journey. The car's ride quality is surprisingly good, making it a comfortable option for both city driving and motorway cruising. The seats are also very nice and comfy, and the interior design gives off a premium feel that's hard to match.

However, when it comes to electric power, the Mercedes C-Class hybrid version falls short of its competitors. It's not as quiet or relaxing as the Tesla Model 3, especially at high speeds. And while it does offer some benefits over traditional diesel engines, such as lower emissions and quieter operation, we couldn't help but feel that it's not quite as fun to drive as the BMW i3.

**The Tesla Model 3: A Unique Driving Experience**

When we got behind the wheel of the Tesla Model 3, we were immediately struck by its unique driving position. The low dash gives great forward visibility, making it a joy to drive in tight spaces or on twisty roads. The car also feels compact and agile, with a slightly firmer edge than the Mercedes C-Class hybrid.

But what really sets the Tesla Model 3 apart is its instant power delivery. When you floor it, the car takes off with incredible speed and responsiveness, making it an absolute blast to drive. The handling is also very good, staying flat and composed even on twisty roads.

However, when it comes to range anxiety, the Tesla Model 3 can be a bit of a concern. The battery life isn't as long as some of its competitors, which means you'll need to stop and charge more frequently, especially if you're planning long road trips. But with the Tesla Supercharger network on hand, this is no longer a major issue.

**A Verdict**

So, which car comes out on top? In our opinion, it's a bit of a mixed bag. If we were going to be doing lots and lots of motorway miles, we'd opt for the diesel version of the C-Class due to its better ride quality and more efficient fuel economy.

However, if you want an electrified car that's fun to drive and offers a unique driving experience, we think the Tesla Model 3 is the way to go. It may not have the longest range, but it makes up for it with its instant power delivery and agile handling. And with the Tesla Supercharger network on hand, you'll never be far from charging.

Ultimately, our verdict comes down to personal preference. If you're willing to sacrifice a bit of range for the sake of fun and uniqueness, the Tesla Model 3 is an excellent choice. But if you prioritize efficiency and practicality above all else, we think the Mercedes C-Class hybrid version is still worth considering.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enmercedes has just released the new c-class the question is is it better than the bmw 3-series or should you forget both of these germans and just go fully electric and get a tesla model 3. well in this video we're going to find out buying a new car then head to car wow and my team will help you find your next car at a fair price car wow your one stop car buying comparison site let's start this video by talking about the prices so the bmw 3 series range kicks off from around 33 000 pounds the mercedes c-class range starts from around 39 000 pounds and the tesla model 3 range starts from 41 000 pounds however that's not really comparing like we like when you spec these cars up for similar trim levels and performance they work out roughly the same price for instance this is the hybrid version of the bmw and it starts from 40 000 pounds that is the hybrid version of the c-class and that starts from around 42 000 pounds and obviously the tesla is one version it's electric now if you want to make sure you're paying a fair price for the next car you buy click on the pop-out banner up there or follow the link in the description to get a car wow alternatively after this video just simply google help me carl wow and my team and i'll help you choose the right car for you and get it for a fair price for one of our trusted dealers now let's compare the design of these cars there is no mistaking the tesla to be fair it's not the most exciting looking thing but it's not that offensive either there are a few things that do annoy me about it there's not that much choice in terms of paint colors nor alloy wheel designs though at least the entry level model gets 18 inches as standard and these rather cool aero wheels for reduced drag and improved efficiency and there's some features i like such as the poppy outed door handles seem quite nice oh yeah and oh yes of course frameless windows lovely compared to the tesla the bmw just looks a lot more muscular though it's also a lot busier so the tesla's smooth flowing lies it's very simplistic this has a lot going on different surfaces different shapes different angles the front back and down the side also the alloy wheel sizes start at 17 inches now if you go for m sport you get 18 inches and really you do need the end sport version of this car for the more aggressive nose as lesser specs can just look a little bit meh well i'm not sure about this right the charge port for this plug-in hybrid it's a little bit too big and the one on this car doesn't quite fit right finally the mercedes combines the smooth simplicity of the tesla with the swagger of the three series and for me it's the best looking i really do like his paint as well it's gorgeous it's not all perfect though aloe wheels once again start from 17 inches and while these are the 18s the same sizes on the tesla they look slightly smaller just because of this black room that they have sort of makes the car look a bit underwhelmed the door handles aren't as cool as the teslas but the worst thing on this car which i just don't know why mercedes does it it's got awful fake exhaust pipes lasers on the bmw are real and obviously the tesla doesn't have any doesn't even try to have any it's electric the mercedes also has the best design here on the inside as well it really does look pretty cool there's nice textures to the top of the dash the shape of the air vents is really nice expensive feeling leather but it's not all perfect bits do feel a bit cheap and look at the way that moves it's a bit odd however it does feel like a mini s-class and you get two big digital screens though these are the larger screens aston you get slightly smaller screens but it is interesting isn't it that mercedes has gone for a portrait central screen a bit like tesla introduced the actual infotainment system itself is fairly easy to use and this being the hybrid has some specific hybrid menus where you can manage your battery and all that kind of stuff overall though very nice cabinets very nice inside the bmw things a little bit more dour than in the mercedes though it's not ugly and it is rather functional for instance i like the fact that you have actual physical buttons for the climate control unlike in the merc now unlike in the merc you've got a landscape infotainment screen but like with the mercedes if you want the biggest screen possible you have to pay extra for it and it's the same with the digital dials speaking which this e-drive hybrid version has some special blue dials wow now the thing that really stands out for me about the bmw is the quality i think of all three cars it just feels the most solidly built inside the tesla it's very different to the other two cars i mean it's so minimalist there are no buttons really at all just want to open the door and film the steering wheel everything is done through this huge screen and it is a really nice big crisp display though it can be a bit of a faff to get used to the different menus and things that you have to do for instance sometimes you have to mess around and go into a menu to be able to do things such as move the door mirrors but once you live with this car you get used to it and it's actually quite a good system the one thing that is a big problem with it is the speedo because you don't have a speeder right in front of you it's actually just there so you're always having to look across to check out what speed you're doing however there is one thing that's good about it and that's the voice commands now the other cars have voice commands but the ones in the tesla actually work and it does understand what you want one of the problems that you might think is that you don't have apple carplay or android auto like you do in the other two cars but you don't really need to connect your phone up to the tesla because it's got google maps anyway if you pay for the right subscription and you've got spotify and stuff like that playing through tesla's account so you just pay a bit extra money and you've got all the functionality you need and it's all dead simple plus the design is just so cool and relaxing less relaxing is part of the build quality doesn't feel quite as solid as the germans though to be fair it's not really that far behind here in the back of the tesla there's sufficient room so knee room's pretty good headrooms all right even people over six foot will just about have enough space and it's great that you get this glass roof as standard it makes it feel really light back here especially if you go for these bright white seats another great thing about this car is that you have a completely flat floor so there is lots of foot room for everyone if you need to carry a middle passenger slight issue though is that the front seats are quite low so you can't stretch out underneath them and because you've got a whole bunch of batteries underneath the floor the floor is quite high in relation to the seat base so you do feel like your knees are a little bit higher than you'd like and that can make it a little bit more uncomfortable on longer journeys without a glass roof and with this dark interior trim it's a lot gloomier here in the back of the 3 series however i'm ever so slightly more comfortable for starters the seat base is slightly deeper and it's half the ground plus i can stretch my feet out underneath the seat in front knee room is about the same as the tesla headroom very similar another feature of the three series is this look you've got some through loading which you don't get on the tesla what's not so good though is this huge hump in the floor so if you want to carry three people in the back that's going to get in the way of the middle person's feet the c-class has the same problem as the three series with this huge hump in the center of the floor which means if you want to carry three people in the back at once it's not ideal however if you're just carrying two people at once this is the nicest car to be in the back of the seats are just that little bit more sculpted feels just that touch more roomy than the other two cars and look i've got a glass roof on this car it does it into head room a little bit compared to not having the roof but there's still enough head room for people over six foot i like it back here another thing to note is look yes it has the through loading like the bmw has and the tesla doesn't so like the other two cars it's pop out it's just a little bit better thought through now let's compare these cars luggage carrying capabilities so the big capacity on the mercedes c-class is 455 litres though if you have the hybrid version because you've got batteries underneath the boot floor the boot capacity reduces all the way to 315 liters and because you've got no under floor storage you have to keep your charging cables in the boot in this bag and they take up space moving on to the bmw so its big capacity is normally 480 liters which is really good however once again with the hybrid because you've got batches under there the boot capacity reduces to 375 liters at least here you do have some underfloor storage for all your cables finally then the tesla so its boot capacity is 425 liters you've also got some extra storage under there which is good and there's even a front boot as well with 117 liter capacity and that's where i keep the cables on this car so this has the best load carrying capability it's not all perfect though if you want to fold down the rear seats on the tesla you have to go round to the back seats to do it like that whereas on the mercedes and the bmw you can do it from the boot still overall this is the best for carrying stuff the tesla isn't quite as good as the other cars though when it comes to fitting a child seat the main reason is that the isofix anchor points are harder to get to so you have to just try and locate them in between the seat back and the seat base it can be a little bit hard to do whereas in the bmw and the mercedes you have flip up covers i'm very worried about hurting this lovely leather i think that's there is that one there no all right finally got it okay yeah i got it now this isn't a problem once you've got the seat located and there is enough room look there's plenty of room for a rear facing seat actually better than in the bmw about the same as in the mercedes but if you're regularly moving the seat from car to car because you're trying to fit it and do it is a bit of an ass now we need to compare the propulsion systems from these guys now the reason i say that is because with the mercedes and the bmw you can get them as petrol or diesel cars or if you want some electrification to save some money in terms of company car tax you can get these hybrids so in the case of the mercedes you have a two liter turbocharged petrol engine mated to an electric motor and combined you have 312 horsepower but you can also get a diesel hybrid which has a two liter diesel with the electric motor with 306 horsepower now the bmw that has a two liter turbocharged petrol mated to electric motor with 292 horsepower as for the battery sizes this has a battery capacity of 12 kilowatt hours which gives you an electric only range of just 37 miles the mercedes has a battery capacity of 25 kilowatt hours which gives you an electric only range of 62 miles now you can charge the mercedes on a rapid dc charger of up to 55 kilowatts with the bmw you can only charge it using ac up to a maximum of 22 kilowatts let's move on to the tesla so this is the standard range plus version of the tesla it's the entry-level version which means you've got a single electric motor and it gives you 272 horsepower now you can get dual motor versions of this car with more power and more performance so i'm just going to talk about this car here in terms of the battery capacity this standard range plus model has a 54 kilowatt hour battery which gives you a range of 278 miles now you can charge this thing at a rate of 170 kilowatts which means you can actually charge this car fully quicker than you can charge both those two cars fully and obviously you get way more electric only range now i'm not quite sure why we've got the bonnet up on this because obviously it's got no engine actually if you want to compare all the engines motors and specs and prices of these cars i've actually created a dedicated page for these cars on carway and if you click on the pop out banner up there i'll follow the link in the description you can go check it out and do all your homework anyway let's drive these things i'm going to start off in the three series and it's nice and quiet when you're just driving around slowly in electric power you can tell it sort of suits the car but there is something that i'm noticing compared to a normal diesel petrol 3 series and that's the fact that it just feels a little bit more uncomfortable over bumps reason being all the electrical system adds weight about 200 kilos and so they have to fit this car with slightly firmer suspension to prevent it from like leaning about loads in the bends because that added weight you notice it a little bit when you go over things like speed humps which i'm about to go over now oh yeah it's just not as comfy as the standard car is it worth it though for the silence when you're just driving around town it's a decent trade-off now if you do suddenly need to accelerate you put your foot down there and it takes a second for the car to go oh oh you want to accelerate and then it makes the petrol motor start up and has to blend it all with gears it's not the most seamless in terms of acceleration but once you're accelerating it's fairly nippy this thing now one of the things that the three series is always good at and that's the way it goes around corners and because this hybrid is heavy it's just not quite as sharp feeling as a standard car the standard version of the three series would be the spoilers to drive but this hybrid yet again is hamstrung slightly by the weight will most people notice probably not in day-to-day driving but when the opportunity presents itself on a twisted bit of road you'd probably rather be in the standard car when you're getting a higher speed you know this plug-in hybrid is absolutely fine the only thing is you're going to rinse through your battery pretty quickly and you're just going to be relying on the petrol motor there'll always be a bit of battery reserve for overtaking but yet again you do have to wait for the gearbox and the motor and the engine to work in harmony to give you the power you need but once you've got it all hooked up it does hurry along at quite a decent rate this thing it's not a bad car to drive this plug-in hybrid version of the three series it's just not quite as good as a standard car jumping out the three series and straight into this c-class you can tell this has been set up with softer suspension as a result it just deals with bumps better that bmw for instance here comes a speed hump and it just seems to ride over it better and with less drama now you're doing a bit more pitching wallowing that's not too much of a problem though i tell you what's also not a problem driving around in electric only mode in the mercedes because you have about twice the electric only range as you do in the bmw but what's it like when you put your foot down and need to accelerate is it seamless the pickup so that seems to do a better job getting the motor the petrol engine and the gearbox to work in harmony i'm gonna do it again just floor it yeah it responds a little bit quicker when you start accelerating hard though you do get a little bit of from that petrol motor well the mercedes isn't quite as good at as the bmw is handling i think the steering's a little bit more vague it doesn't go around bends with quite the same level of grip but really for how you're going to drive these hybrids i don't think that matters all that much and you're much better off just like sitting back and relaxing and cruising along when you get out on the motorway you're more likely to be able to use electric power for longer than in the bmw just because of that added range it does mean that you can actually save more fuel if you're doing longer journeys and when you're getting quickly on the motorway this car is very quiet and relaxing and easy to travel in and the seats are nice and comfy as well good long distance cruiser though not quite as good as the diesel however it doesn't matter which c-class you're in they all feel blooming lovely when you're just sat in them driving along they make you feel good about yourself just because of that interior design and the cool look to it it feels like a more expensive car than the bmw finally then we come to the tesla and it feels very much like a more unique car than the other two the main reason for that is just the driving position you've got such a low dash that you get great forward visibility it really is quite special how it feels to sit in this car feels compact as well compared to the other two it's pretty much the same size over bumps it's good it has a slightly firmer edge than the mercedes but it's not clunky in the same way that the bmw is yeah the normal bmw the non-hybrid version does ride slightly better than this tesla though but yeah this is still a comfy car and easy to drive around town it's also quiet as well and if you want to overtake you just floor it and this thing takes off there's no delay it's instant power from the electric motor you're not having to wait for a motor engine and gearbox to all synchronize it's just easier you've got more control over the car the handling's good as well so it goes around bends really nicely as well better than the mercedes stays nice and flat because you've got all the batteries low down and it helps keep the center of gravity as low as possible and then of course you've got that instant power for just smashing uh bends it's surprisingly good fun this car the position of the steering wheel and the way it's quite small just adds to the sporty feel of the car i like it i think it's a fun car to drive now admittedly something like a bmw m3 ultimately sporting the sportiest version of the tesla the performance model but as an everyday car this standard range plus actually feels sporty than the hybrid version of the bmw 3 series and that mercedes c-class and you can never tire of the instant response you get from that motor it's funny to think that this car actually has the least amount of power on paper but it feels the quickest by quite some margin it really does just take off and it's super easy to just overtake other cars and then when you're cruising along even at high speed it's nice and quiet because you never have a petrol engine kicking in you do have a slight worry though occasionally looking at your range if you're going for long distances and you will have to pull over and charge whereas with those other cars you can just rely on the petrol engine to get you home whereas with this you are going to have to stop at some point but obviously you have the benefit of the tesla supercharger network and you can just input destination into your sat nav and it will take you via supercharger if it thinks you need a charge it's all very simple and well thought out overall then out of all the cars i prefer to drive this tesla model 3. i think it's just a nicer experience than those two hybrids who ever thought that motoring journalists would say that a tesla is better to drive than a mercedes or a bmw so then what's my final verdict well it's a little bit of a confusing one this because if i was gonna be doing lots and lots of motorway miles i would go for a diesel version of the c-class however if i want some form of electrification between these two hybrids once again i think the mercedes is the better choice because you can just go further on electric power but if you're gonna go for an electrified car just go the whole hog don't bother with a hybrid and therefore get the tesla and i think for a lot of people nowadays they could ditch these normal internal combustion engine cars or hybrids and quite happily live with the tesla and they are really nice to drive and of course you can refuel it at home and that's why wins this test i hope you'll enjoy the video if you did give it a like let me know whether you agree my verdict in the comments below click on those windows there for more videos and on that box there to sell your car through car wow we'll make sure you get a fair price for itmercedes has just released the new c-class the question is is it better than the bmw 3-series or should you forget both of these germans and just go fully electric and get a tesla model 3. well in this video we're going to find out buying a new car then head to car wow and my team will help you find your next car at a fair price car wow your one stop car buying comparison site let's start this video by talking about the prices so the bmw 3 series range kicks off from around 33 000 pounds the mercedes c-class range starts from around 39 000 pounds and the tesla model 3 range starts from 41 000 pounds however that's not really comparing like we like when you spec these cars up for similar trim levels and performance they work out roughly the same price for instance this is the hybrid version of the bmw and it starts from 40 000 pounds that is the hybrid version of the c-class and that starts from around 42 000 pounds and obviously the tesla is one version it's electric now if you want to make sure you're paying a fair price for the next car you buy click on the pop-out banner up there or follow the link in the description to get a car wow alternatively after this video just simply google help me carl wow and my team and i'll help you choose the right car for you and get it for a fair price for one of our trusted dealers now let's compare the design of these cars there is no mistaking the tesla to be fair it's not the most exciting looking thing but it's not that offensive either there are a few things that do annoy me about it there's not that much choice in terms of paint colors nor alloy wheel designs though at least the entry level model gets 18 inches as standard and these rather cool aero wheels for reduced drag and improved efficiency and there's some features i like such as the poppy outed door handles seem quite nice oh yeah and oh yes of course frameless windows lovely compared to the tesla the bmw just looks a lot more muscular though it's also a lot busier so the tesla's smooth flowing lies it's very simplistic this has a lot going on different surfaces different shapes different angles the front back and down the side also the alloy wheel sizes start at 17 inches now if you go for m sport you get 18 inches and really you do need the end sport version of this car for the more aggressive nose as lesser specs can just look a little bit meh well i'm not sure about this right the charge port for this plug-in hybrid it's a little bit too big and the one on this car doesn't quite fit right finally the mercedes combines the smooth simplicity of the tesla with the swagger of the three series and for me it's the best looking i really do like his paint as well it's gorgeous it's not all perfect though aloe wheels once again start from 17 inches and while these are the 18s the same sizes on the tesla they look slightly smaller just because of this black room that they have sort of makes the car look a bit underwhelmed the door handles aren't as cool as the teslas but the worst thing on this car which i just don't know why mercedes does it it's got awful fake exhaust pipes lasers on the bmw are real and obviously the tesla doesn't have any doesn't even try to have any it's electric the mercedes also has the best design here on the inside as well it really does look pretty cool there's nice textures to the top of the dash the shape of the air vents is really nice expensive feeling leather but it's not all perfect bits do feel a bit cheap and look at the way that moves it's a bit odd however it does feel like a mini s-class and you get two big digital screens though these are the larger screens aston you get slightly smaller screens but it is interesting isn't it that mercedes has gone for a portrait central screen a bit like tesla introduced the actual infotainment system itself is fairly easy to use and this being the hybrid has some specific hybrid menus where you can manage your battery and all that kind of stuff overall though very nice cabinets very nice inside the bmw things a little bit more dour than in the mercedes though it's not ugly and it is rather functional for instance i like the fact that you have actual physical buttons for the climate control unlike in the merc now unlike in the merc you've got a landscape infotainment screen but like with the mercedes if you want the biggest screen possible you have to pay extra for it and it's the same with the digital dials speaking which this e-drive hybrid version has some special blue dials wow now the thing that really stands out for me about the bmw is the quality i think of all three cars it just feels the most solidly built inside the tesla it's very different to the other two cars i mean it's so minimalist there are no buttons really at all just want to open the door and film the steering wheel everything is done through this huge screen and it is a really nice big crisp display though it can be a bit of a faff to get used to the different menus and things that you have to do for instance sometimes you have to mess around and go into a menu to be able to do things such as move the door mirrors but once you live with this car you get used to it and it's actually quite a good system the one thing that is a big problem with it is the speedo because you don't have a speeder right in front of you it's actually just there so you're always having to look across to check out what speed you're doing however there is one thing that's good about it and that's the voice commands now the other cars have voice commands but the ones in the tesla actually work and it does understand what you want one of the problems that you might think is that you don't have apple carplay or android auto like you do in the other two cars but you don't really need to connect your phone up to the tesla because it's got google maps anyway if you pay for the right subscription and you've got spotify and stuff like that playing through tesla's account so you just pay a bit extra money and you've got all the functionality you need and it's all dead simple plus the design is just so cool and relaxing less relaxing is part of the build quality doesn't feel quite as solid as the germans though to be fair it's not really that far behind here in the back of the tesla there's sufficient room so knee room's pretty good headrooms all right even people over six foot will just about have enough space and it's great that you get this glass roof as standard it makes it feel really light back here especially if you go for these bright white seats another great thing about this car is that you have a completely flat floor so there is lots of foot room for everyone if you need to carry a middle passenger slight issue though is that the front seats are quite low so you can't stretch out underneath them and because you've got a whole bunch of batteries underneath the floor the floor is quite high in relation to the seat base so you do feel like your knees are a little bit higher than you'd like and that can make it a little bit more uncomfortable on longer journeys without a glass roof and with this dark interior trim it's a lot gloomier here in the back of the 3 series however i'm ever so slightly more comfortable for starters the seat base is slightly deeper and it's half the ground plus i can stretch my feet out underneath the seat in front knee room is about the same as the tesla headroom very similar another feature of the three series is this look you've got some through loading which you don't get on the tesla what's not so good though is this huge hump in the floor so if you want to carry three people in the back that's going to get in the way of the middle person's feet the c-class has the same problem as the three series with this huge hump in the center of the floor which means if you want to carry three people in the back at once it's not ideal however if you're just carrying two people at once this is the nicest car to be in the back of the seats are just that little bit more sculpted feels just that touch more roomy than the other two cars and look i've got a glass roof on this car it does it into head room a little bit compared to not having the roof but there's still enough head room for people over six foot i like it back here another thing to note is look yes it has the through loading like the bmw has and the tesla doesn't so like the other two cars it's pop out it's just a little bit better thought through now let's compare these cars luggage carrying capabilities so the big capacity on the mercedes c-class is 455 litres though if you have the hybrid version because you've got batteries underneath the boot floor the boot capacity reduces all the way to 315 liters and because you've got no under floor storage you have to keep your charging cables in the boot in this bag and they take up space moving on to the bmw so its big capacity is normally 480 liters which is really good however once again with the hybrid because you've got batches under there the boot capacity reduces to 375 liters at least here you do have some underfloor storage for all your cables finally then the tesla so its boot capacity is 425 liters you've also got some extra storage under there which is good and there's even a front boot as well with 117 liter capacity and that's where i keep the cables on this car so this has the best load carrying capability it's not all perfect though if you want to fold down the rear seats on the tesla you have to go round to the back seats to do it like that whereas on the mercedes and the bmw you can do it from the boot still overall this is the best for carrying stuff the tesla isn't quite as good as the other cars though when it comes to fitting a child seat the main reason is that the isofix anchor points are harder to get to so you have to just try and locate them in between the seat back and the seat base it can be a little bit hard to do whereas in the bmw and the mercedes you have flip up covers i'm very worried about hurting this lovely leather i think that's there is that one there no all right finally got it okay yeah i got it now this isn't a problem once you've got the seat located and there is enough room look there's plenty of room for a rear facing seat actually better than in the bmw about the same as in the mercedes but if you're regularly moving the seat from car to car because you're trying to fit it and do it is a bit of an ass now we need to compare the propulsion systems from these guys now the reason i say that is because with the mercedes and the bmw you can get them as petrol or diesel cars or if you want some electrification to save some money in terms of company car tax you can get these hybrids so in the case of the mercedes you have a two liter turbocharged petrol engine mated to an electric motor and combined you have 312 horsepower but you can also get a diesel hybrid which has a two liter diesel with the electric motor with 306 horsepower now the bmw that has a two liter turbocharged petrol mated to electric motor with 292 horsepower as for the battery sizes this has a battery capacity of 12 kilowatt hours which gives you an electric only range of just 37 miles the mercedes has a battery capacity of 25 kilowatt hours which gives you an electric only range of 62 miles now you can charge the mercedes on a rapid dc charger of up to 55 kilowatts with the bmw you can only charge it using ac up to a maximum of 22 kilowatts let's move on to the tesla so this is the standard range plus version of the tesla it's the entry-level version which means you've got a single electric motor and it gives you 272 horsepower now you can get dual motor versions of this car with more power and more performance so i'm just going to talk about this car here in terms of the battery capacity this standard range plus model has a 54 kilowatt hour battery which gives you a range of 278 miles now you can charge this thing at a rate of 170 kilowatts which means you can actually charge this car fully quicker than you can charge both those two cars fully and obviously you get way more electric only range now i'm not quite sure why we've got the bonnet up on this because obviously it's got no engine actually if you want to compare all the engines motors and specs and prices of these cars i've actually created a dedicated page for these cars on carway and if you click on the pop out banner up there i'll follow the link in the description you can go check it out and do all your homework anyway let's drive these things i'm going to start off in the three series and it's nice and quiet when you're just driving around slowly in electric power you can tell it sort of suits the car but there is something that i'm noticing compared to a normal diesel petrol 3 series and that's the fact that it just feels a little bit more uncomfortable over bumps reason being all the electrical system adds weight about 200 kilos and so they have to fit this car with slightly firmer suspension to prevent it from like leaning about loads in the bends because that added weight you notice it a little bit when you go over things like speed humps which i'm about to go over now oh yeah it's just not as comfy as the standard car is it worth it though for the silence when you're just driving around town it's a decent trade-off now if you do suddenly need to accelerate you put your foot down there and it takes a second for the car to go oh oh you want to accelerate and then it makes the petrol motor start up and has to blend it all with gears it's not the most seamless in terms of acceleration but once you're accelerating it's fairly nippy this thing now one of the things that the three series is always good at and that's the way it goes around corners and because this hybrid is heavy it's just not quite as sharp feeling as a standard car the standard version of the three series would be the spoilers to drive but this hybrid yet again is hamstrung slightly by the weight will most people notice probably not in day-to-day driving but when the opportunity presents itself on a twisted bit of road you'd probably rather be in the standard car when you're getting a higher speed you know this plug-in hybrid is absolutely fine the only thing is you're going to rinse through your battery pretty quickly and you're just going to be relying on the petrol motor there'll always be a bit of battery reserve for overtaking but yet again you do have to wait for the gearbox and the motor and the engine to work in harmony to give you the power you need but once you've got it all hooked up it does hurry along at quite a decent rate this thing it's not a bad car to drive this plug-in hybrid version of the three series it's just not quite as good as a standard car jumping out the three series and straight into this c-class you can tell this has been set up with softer suspension as a result it just deals with bumps better that bmw for instance here comes a speed hump and it just seems to ride over it better and with less drama now you're doing a bit more pitching wallowing that's not too much of a problem though i tell you what's also not a problem driving around in electric only mode in the mercedes because you have about twice the electric only range as you do in the bmw but what's it like when you put your foot down and need to accelerate is it seamless the pickup so that seems to do a better job getting the motor the petrol engine and the gearbox to work in harmony i'm gonna do it again just floor it yeah it responds a little bit quicker when you start accelerating hard though you do get a little bit of from that petrol motor well the mercedes isn't quite as good at as the bmw is handling i think the steering's a little bit more vague it doesn't go around bends with quite the same level of grip but really for how you're going to drive these hybrids i don't think that matters all that much and you're much better off just like sitting back and relaxing and cruising along when you get out on the motorway you're more likely to be able to use electric power for longer than in the bmw just because of that added range it does mean that you can actually save more fuel if you're doing longer journeys and when you're getting quickly on the motorway this car is very quiet and relaxing and easy to travel in and the seats are nice and comfy as well good long distance cruiser though not quite as good as the diesel however it doesn't matter which c-class you're in they all feel blooming lovely when you're just sat in them driving along they make you feel good about yourself just because of that interior design and the cool look to it it feels like a more expensive car than the bmw finally then we come to the tesla and it feels very much like a more unique car than the other two the main reason for that is just the driving position you've got such a low dash that you get great forward visibility it really is quite special how it feels to sit in this car feels compact as well compared to the other two it's pretty much the same size over bumps it's good it has a slightly firmer edge than the mercedes but it's not clunky in the same way that the bmw is yeah the normal bmw the non-hybrid version does ride slightly better than this tesla though but yeah this is still a comfy car and easy to drive around town it's also quiet as well and if you want to overtake you just floor it and this thing takes off there's no delay it's instant power from the electric motor you're not having to wait for a motor engine and gearbox to all synchronize it's just easier you've got more control over the car the handling's good as well so it goes around bends really nicely as well better than the mercedes stays nice and flat because you've got all the batteries low down and it helps keep the center of gravity as low as possible and then of course you've got that instant power for just smashing uh bends it's surprisingly good fun this car the position of the steering wheel and the way it's quite small just adds to the sporty feel of the car i like it i think it's a fun car to drive now admittedly something like a bmw m3 ultimately sporting the sportiest version of the tesla the performance model but as an everyday car this standard range plus actually feels sporty than the hybrid version of the bmw 3 series and that mercedes c-class and you can never tire of the instant response you get from that motor it's funny to think that this car actually has the least amount of power on paper but it feels the quickest by quite some margin it really does just take off and it's super easy to just overtake other cars and then when you're cruising along even at high speed it's nice and quiet because you never have a petrol engine kicking in you do have a slight worry though occasionally looking at your range if you're going for long distances and you will have to pull over and charge whereas with those other cars you can just rely on the petrol engine to get you home whereas with this you are going to have to stop at some point but obviously you have the benefit of the tesla supercharger network and you can just input destination into your sat nav and it will take you via supercharger if it thinks you need a charge it's all very simple and well thought out overall then out of all the cars i prefer to drive this tesla model 3. i think it's just a nicer experience than those two hybrids who ever thought that motoring journalists would say that a tesla is better to drive than a mercedes or a bmw so then what's my final verdict well it's a little bit of a confusing one this because if i was gonna be doing lots and lots of motorway miles i would go for a diesel version of the c-class however if i want some form of electrification between these two hybrids once again i think the mercedes is the better choice because you can just go further on electric power but if you're gonna go for an electrified car just go the whole hog don't bother with a hybrid and therefore get the tesla and i think for a lot of people nowadays they could ditch these normal internal combustion engine cars or hybrids and quite happily live with the tesla and they are really nice to drive and of course you can refuel it at home and that's why wins this test i hope you'll enjoy the video if you did give it a like let me know whether you agree my verdict in the comments below click on those windows there for more videos and on that box there to sell your car through car wow we'll make sure you get a fair price for it\n"