Tesla bumps up Model 3 price in Australia as supplies dwindle

US electric vehicle giant Tesla has raised the price of the entry level Model 3 in the Australian market, with customers now set to pay $A66,235 drive-away for the RWD variant, a $1,000 increase on the starting price for the enormously popular EV.

The increase in price – outed on Twitter and confirmed by The Driven using Victorian inputs on the configurator and factoring in the up to $3,000 subsidies available in that state – comes as Tesla advises of an up to seven month wait for Australian customers.

And Tesla is not alone in the supply doldrums. Kia reckons it could sell 10 times as many of its new EV6 electric SUVs if it had the supply, and Hyundai has also placed its Ioniq 5 on rations in Australia.

Tesla also recently raised its prices in the Chinese and Canadian markets, also of the entry-level Model 3, bumping it in China up from ¥250,900 ($A54,523 converted) to ¥255,652 ($A55,555).

In China, the price rise was put down to the increasing supply chain shortages, with reports quoting researcher David Zhang as also noting that “Tesla has the tradition of adjusting prices to strike a balance between supply and demand.”

This time last year in Australia, prices for the Model 3 were headed in the opposite direction, dropped from $66,900 to $62,900 in April 2021, and then again in July to a new low of $59,990, before on-roads, and before the $3,000 rebates in Victoria and NSW were factored in.

Still, despite the recent hike, the price remains well below the late 2020-mark of $73,900 before on-roads after the EV maker raised it from its initial $66,000, ostensibly to counter falling currency rates.

The Model 3 remains the highest selling EV in Australia, popular even among politicians – at least four federal MPs, the latest being Labor’s Chris Bowen, and the NSW energy minister Matt Kean, have chosen Model 3s as part of their parliamentary car allowances.

Just this week, The Driven learned that former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull and his wife Lucy have also joined the lengthening queue for a Model 3.