If you’ve been holding your breath for U.S. availability of the updates Tesla Model 3, you can finally exhale now. Tesla’s facelifted entry-level car is finally on sale in America, and although it offers an enhanced feature set, it doesn’t currently get those sweet, sweet federal incentives that buyers crave.
We first saw the facelifted Tesla Model 3 debut in China, where its new styling and updated feature set should help it keep up with the EV pack. New features like ventilated seats, ambient lighting, and a blind-spot monitoring alert light in the door-mounted tweeter’s grille bring stuff that’s been available on Hyundai EVs for years to Tesla’s entry-level model, and tweaks to cabin insulation, tires, and suspension components should make the new car more comfortable than the outgoing model.
The Base Car
Expect to spend $40,380 including a $1,390 freight charge to get your hands on the base rear-wheel-drive Model 3, assuming you don’t opt for premium paint. With a claimed 272 miles of EPA range and zero-to-60 mph in 5.8 seconds, this should be plenty of range and acceleration for most people, especially considering the reliability of the Supercharging fast charging network for road trips. Even on the base car, the updates bring a solid number of new features. Rear seat occupants can play with their own eight-inch touchscreen, new tires and extra laminated glass should cut down on cabin noise, and there’s a nine-speaker stereo on deck.
Model 3 Long Range AWD
Stepping things up to the Model 3 Long Range AWD brings the price tag up to $47,380, including a $1,390 freight charge while boosting performance and range substantially over the base trim. The extra motor up front helps drop the claimed zero-to-60 mph time by 1.6 seconds to 4.2 seconds, while the larger battery pack increases EPA range by 69 miles to 341 miles. As for other perks, the all-wheel-drive trim can see peak charging speeds of 250 kW, while the base model is limited to 170 kW. Unsurprisingly, this more expensive car also gets a better audio system, stepping things up to 17 speakers. Considering there’s only a 139-pound weight penalty for the all-wheel-drive model, it seems like a worthwhile upgrade.
If you’re a real EV speed junkie, you’ll just have to hang on for future news. The Model 3 Performance trim has essentially been discontinued, but don’t be surprised if it returns in the future. You can still buy a Model 3 Performance for now out of Tesla’s inventory, but it won’t have the updated styling and tech of the refreshed car, and supplies are limited to whatever’s on hand. Since the outgoing Model 3 Performance qualifies for federal tax credits, it could be a good deal, but that leads us on to a key point about the new car.
No Tax Credits For You
It’s worth noting that the updated Tesla Model 3 currently isn’t on the federal government’s approved vehicle list for EV tax credits, so you won’t be able to get a $7,500 tax credit if you order the facelifted Model 3 right now. While it’s possible that Tesla may be in the process of submitting the updated car for eligibility, don’t automatically assume that tax credits will come later on. Non-Performance trims of the outgoing Model 3 lost their tax credit status after 2023, and if the new car uses the same battery supply chain, a sudden reappearance of rebates is off the table. 
Still, with or without tax credits, expect to see these facelifted Model 3s everywhere soon. Thanks to a mix of competitive pricing, solid range, outstanding infrastructure, and sheer availability, Tesla’s entry-level sedan has been a seriously popular vehicle for years, and there’s no indication of that stopping soon.
(Photo credits: Tesla, Inc.)
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According to several side by side comparisons, the new and improved version is improved:
Less power consumption.
Less noise.
Improved comfort and ride.
Etc.
Only critique is the missing indicator stalk:
See Carwow, Bjørn Nyland and Autogefuhl.
Keep in mind that the standard range has LFP chemistry, that has no issues beeing charged to 100% and kept at 100%, where as the long range prefers 80%.
What you will get up to, most mornings:
SR = 57,5 kWh
LR = 60 kWh (75*,8)
But generally good news all around.
If you are into Teslas, you get more for your money.
If you are not into Teslas, most competitors have adjusted prices significantly afther the release of Highland.
Only 138 lbs increase for a front motor, inverter, drive axles, cabling, and oh btw a roughly 30% bigger battery… Looks like the base models are still making use of the LFP cathode cells vs the more power dense NCA cells. However, NCA is roughly 2x as energy dense (per mass), and the extra drivetrain components are probably more than that 138 lb weight gain on their own, so I’m guessing that the volume in the NCA pack isn’t completely filled ( so there are fewer individual cells in the NCA pack, despite there increase in power) making room for an even more powerful, longer range model in the future. I wonder if the LFP pack has more cells in series to try to get to the same voltage range as the NCA pack, or if the NCA pack just has empty “dummy” cells in the parallel groups
Add another one to the list…
That being the broken claim that Tesla would never redesign their vehicles and that the styling would be the same until the end of the company. That was a stupid thing in the first place to claim, but I so wanted it to come true just to see the stupid engineering solutions as tired marketing designed to make the cars keep up with competitors in stats and features.
Have I been living under a rock? When did they say that? I remember them saying there wouldn’t be “model years” and thus the vehicles wouldn’t be updated following the typical “model year” playbook.
Heck, the Model S got revised styling like 8 years ago.
Well, it has less of a “duck-face” now, so that’s an improvement.
All good except the turn signal screw up.
At this point I wish they would make turn signals a service center installed $1000 option. They’d make money on it, and it wouldn’t fundamentally change the greatness of the deal.
Don’t forget it has the world’s worst turn signal design, using a capacitive touch pad on the wheel. Given that it is currently -18c where I live, a car I couldn’t drive without gloves is a no so hard it has started an OnlyFans.
That’s annoying. I have been driving a 2021 Model 3 for the last few days, and while the control setup seemed a bit odd at first, I got used to it quickly and it really isn’t much different from a normal car (aside from the sheer stupidity of needing to use a touchscreen to open the glove compartment). I presume Tesla overcomplicates everything to make these cars more appealing to hardcore Tesla fans, but it seems odd to do something that reduces the appeal of the car for all but a small subset of people.
It’s always been about cost. The Tesla fanboys try to justify it. But it’s about saving money for Tesla and reducing manufacturing steps. Nothing more. They put silly marketing spin on it, but when you look at the actions over time it’s hard not to think that finding every extra bit of margin is ultimately their goal.
That makes sense. I always assumed the overcomplication made Teslas more expensive, but in hindsight I am not sure why I thought a company would do something that reduces their profit.
They do have heated steering wheel as standard.
> a no so hard it has started an OnlyFans.
I loled.
It seems like Tesla is really moving away from the performance end of things. They’ve dropped the performance 3, hardly even sell the S and haven’t mentioned the updated roadster in ages.
I suppose it would have been harder to get investor interest if you just said you were planning to be the top seller of electric econoboxes. Harder to bill yourself as a luxury brand too.
Following the market, I suppose. Sports cars and sedans are out. CUVs and pickups are in
I’ve generally found the Model 3 to be a nice looking sedan…that should be a hatchback. This refresh makes it even better in my eyes, even if the 5th door is still MIA.
But, whilst I am a big fan of minimalism (and yes, I’ve shopped at Ikea), the interior is a bridge too far, and the continued lack of Android Auto is a disappointment.
It doesn’t look like a sedan to me. It looks like the hatchbacks I used to drive.
In Canada there are still rebates, $5000 off from the federal government
Dear Everyone,
Stop giving Elon money.
Why does it matter to you?
I plan on giving Elon money JUST TO SPITE YOU!!!!
The only way he’s directly getting any of mine is if he offers a product that I want.
Alternatively, I applied to his company to work for him before, but never got hired. I suppose giving him value-adding labor where his company extracts surplus value would be an indirect way of giving him money… but again that never transpired.
I haven’t given them any money, but damn, can some other manufacturers start competing better on price/performance (not talking strictly about speed/power when I say performance) here? I mean, Hyundai has gotten close, but still, build one out and compare them dollar to dollar.
I prefer this new look and they added ventilated seats which I miss in my current Model 3. I will wait for a performance variant before I upgrade. They also added an LED for blind spot monitoring in the speaker grill that is on the interior side of the side rearview mirrors which is a small quality of life improvement with the car. Reviews have shown the interior is much quieter as well.
Having the new model not qualify for rebates for a little while sounds like a great plan to clear out the old models without Tesla having to discount them significantly. Maybe it’s deliberate.
Model 3 is basically their unloved child. I am sure the US made batteries are going to the S X Y and Cybertrucks.
Hate to say I told you so:
https://www.theautopian.com/tesla-slashes-range-figures-for-multiple-models-but-why/comment-page-1/#comment-279144
Sooo is that 341 Elon miles or 260 real world miles instead?
It’s definitely not 341 miles of highway use.
I rather like the new exterior styling over the previous version. But then I see the discount imitation Ikea wasteland of an interior and remember why I have no interest in a Tesla.
I’ll be honest, I can’t see any difference from what it looked like before, still fine.
agreed though, their interiors are still terrible.
Had the same thought. It’s a worthwhile and well done stylistic upgrade, but I can’t bring myself to want one because of the interior ergonomics with that screen.
As I’ve said several times, their interiors remind me of a corporate suburban office park from 10-15 years ago. They’re just so sterile, soulless, and vaguely Ikea ish. They feel like a place where I’d slowly lose my mind spending 40 hours a week staring at TPS reports….
Grey low pile carpet, white drywall walls, grey rubber baseboards, grey plastic laminate-over-chipboard desks, white ceiling tiles, and they spec’d a plastic faux woodgrain laminate for the doors to add some color
That hurt. Especially the baseboard.
It’s so very true. I guess at least this has windows, like a corner office? You gotta’ do something to take the sting out of TPS reports.
Just needs to have the display show black-framed inspirational posters of eagles and landscapes with vaguely wise sounding fortune cookie sayings underneath.
If you could put that on my desk ASAP that would be just great.
What…you don’t want to drive an Ipad around?
I don’t!
Almost no car made from 2016 and later appeals to me… and I absolutely love electric drive systems.
Still very much not my thing but I’m sure this is big news to a lot of people. The new car definitely looks fresher than the old one but the design still isn’t particularly inspiring to me. I actually thought that the Model 3 was a great looking car when it came out but I don’t think it’s aged all that well. It’s very much a product of the 20-teens.
Anyway, hopefully there are some sweet lease deals because that’s what you should be doing with a current gen EV. That or buying used once someone else has taken the depreciation nut punch for you.
Some lease deals are attractive, especially if you drive about the national average miles per year, or less. I am stuck due to driving closer to 20k+ per year. I was never a fan of the head on look of the car, never looked right. New design is at least a step in the right direction.
As far as depreciation, the EVs I track new and used are still not seeing a huge difference new vs lightly used, assuming that the car you were looking at qualifies for the $7,500 (and you qualified for it too). I expect the market to change a bit over this year as mfgs race to qualify but for now look out for large mfg rebates, like you can get on some Hyundai Ioniq models.
I would like to see a bigger gap in price between new (including rebates/tax advantages) and used. Starting to see more older (2019-2021) Tesla models dropping more but still not enough to make me jump. I still prefer the Ioniq models more anyway due to better interior space and interior in general but I will likely stick with the Sonata N Line longer due to trade in value on that dropping lately. I wasn’t going to be saving anything significant, if anything, vs an EV (locally high electricity prices vs moderate RUG prices – 2.5T gets away with 87 octane) so anything for me now is a want vs a need.
Leasehackr seems to be a pretty interesting place if you’re looking to save. If I’d do any lease shenanigans right now (ie: use the lease tax credit loophole and then an immediate buyout), it’d be for the alleged $15,000 off Hyundai is doing for the Ioniq. https://electrek.co/2024/01/08/hyundai-doubles-ioniq-5-lease-deal-15000-off/
Sounds like my local dealer isn’t advertising any of that. So who knows if that is even available in my area, which is a shame because I refuse to even talk to them ever since trying to buy a Ioniq 5 from them ~18 months ago. Worst dealer experience of my entire life.
Never thought about using the lease credit and then buying the lease out. Wonder how the math actually works out.
I dislike the new look, but do like the slight drag reduction. Cd value has been reduced to 0.219, from the previous generation’s 0.23.
I like the new front a little better than the old one. They both look weird to me, but I have spent the vast majority of my life looking at cars with proper grilles.
The front of the car has an air intake no larger than it actually needs to be for everything in the car to function properly. As it should be.
I’d love this car’s looks if it had the old headlights, got rid of all the creases, got rid of the ever-so-slight fender flaring(I’d rather the body be flush with the wheels), and adopted rear wheel skirts. Make it look more like a 4-door VW XL1, except with the old Tesla Model 3 front end.
I bet there’s potential to get the Cd value down to 0.19-0.20 with this platform and keeping the same proportions/passenger space/trunk volume.
I get the point of rear wheel skirts for aero reasons. However, they don’t look that great (IMO). When I think of them, old landyachts and hyper efficient cars (EV-1, Insight) are what come to mind.
I love them. 1st gen Honda Insight has them.
Even without them, the 2020 GAC Eno.146 has a Cd value of 0.146. This is close to the 0.137 value of the Ford Probe V concept, which has both front and rear wheel skirts, the front being made out of a flexible material that pops out when you turn the wheels.
Rear skirts are good for maybe a 0.01-0.02 reduction in Cd value by themselves in most cases.
Citroen needs you to come see him in his office at recess.
D’oh, forgot the DS
I do like the new front end, its how the Model 3 should have looked from the beginning, IMO
Me too. Looks less weird than the outgoing model
I think this is properly referred to as the door-mounted X grille now.
Door-mounted X’s (formally tweeter’s) grille.
I know you are, but what am I?