The Tesla Model 3 entered production in July 2017. From 2018 to 2020, it was the world's best selling electric car. Last summer, it became the first EV to sell more than a million units and its ‘number one spot' for sales performance has only recently been overtaken by the Model Y. Changing a winning formula can be tricky, but that's what Tesla has decided to do – with the re-vamped Model 3 due on sale in 2024. WhichEV takes a look at the changes and what they mean for the regular motorist and competing brands.
Despite only just hitting the mainstream media, this story has been bubbling under the surface for quite some time. Rumour has it that Shanghai has already begun production and that the first 7,000 units rolled off the line in August with an additional 10,000 scheduled for this month. UK prices for the old model are around £42,000 right now, but you can expect reductions soon enough if the step up in production on the 2024 model goes well. That will, of course, impact second hand pricing for existing Tesla owners.
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Acoustic glass is generally at least twice as expensive as traditional glass, but when you're selling a car at £44,000 – it's not that hard to absorb the difference. The new Model 3 has acoustic glass all round, which should shield you a little more from the outside world. Downside? You may hit the horn and not notice.
Despite having a quieter cabin, the speakers have been given a turbo-charge and you should notice a lot more volume – especially at lower frequencies. There has been a bass boost. Rear passengers can take control of the car's audio through a centre panel and the onboard chargers now give the 65w necessary for charging larger products like laptops on USB-C.
It has improved suspension and, according to Tesla, the mounting system is new – which should help with drive comfort, cornering and noise. By designing the new car to have a top speed that's 20mph lower (now 125mph), meant they were able to fit a different tyre that has better noise characteristics as well as a more comfortable ride. That comfort has also been augmented to include ventilated seats – helping your rear to steer clear of sweat on a hot summer's day.
Noise in a car also comes from the flow of air across the body. We're used to seeing spoilers at the rear of sporty cars (even when they're just for show), but on the new Model 3 there is now a ‘front spoiler' – in the sense that they have moulded the bonnet to ‘flick up' as it arrives at the base of the windscreen. This is intended to help airflow, reduce drag and – again – lower noise levels. The drag coefficient of the new Model 3 is 0.219. To put that into perspective, a Porsche 911 Turbo is closer to 0.33, the Lamborghini Aventador is 0.38 and 0.312 for the Ferrari Portofino.
Airflow inside the car has been improved and you will find it easier to control the temperature/breeze for passengers. All of this is controlled through a much brighter display.
Battery packs are 75kWh and 57kWh, depending on whether you've chosen long or standard range. Existing rear wheel drive Tesla Model 3 units offer a WLTP range of 305 miles with a 0 to 60mph of 5.8 seconds.
The new Model 3 has the same acceleration off the line, but top speed will be closer to 125mph instead of 145mph. Combined with the other changes, it will give you an increased WLTP range of 344 miles on the basic model. The Long Range variant has seen its range increased from 374miles to over 420.
From London, that means there is now an outside possibility that you could drive to Newcastle on a single charge.
Those boosts of around 40 miles to both the Standard and Long Range models, means that you now have a very useable amount of extra range – and that could mean the difference between ‘panicked searching' for a charge point Vs a ‘comfortable end' to your next long journey.
