Tesla has re-launched one of its most popular variants, the Model 3 Long Range, in the US after months of having it off the shelf for American buyers. This time around though, it comes with a twist that has many experts guessing Tesla’s secret sauce.
The re-launched version of the Model 3 Long Range had been off the market since August when the wait time for customers blew right out due to high demand.
Waitlist is too long. Will enable again as we ramp production.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 13, 2022
Now that it’s back on Tesla’s US order page, it shows a “325+ miles” range estimate which is around 523 km. This is the only variant with the range figure having a “+” associated with it.
Before this model was taken off the order page, the Tesla Model 3 Long Range has 358 miles of claimed range. That makes it 33 miles less this time around.
Another interesting factor about the new addition is that it’s eligible for only half of the US Inflation Reduction Act tax credit for buyers. Tesla’s order page now states:
“Up to $7,500 Tax Credit: New Model 3 vehicles qualify for a federal tax credit for eligible buyers: $3,750 for Rear-Wheel Drive and Long Range, and $7,500 for Performance.”
The criteria for buyers to get the full tax credit of $7,500 includes the batteries in the EVs to be manufactured in the US.
This would indicate that on the Long Range model, the batteries are manufactured in another country.
This could be a similar situation to the Model 3 RWD variant currently manufactured at Tesla’s Fremont, California factory, which used lithium-iron-phosphate (LFP) cells that are sourced from CATL in China.
If that’s the case, then Tesla may be trialling a new battery from CATL on their Long Range models, which is quite a significant development, although little is known about this new battery.
The rumours are that these could be CATL’s new M3P batteries which offer a longer range at a lower cost.
These would need to be confirmed over the coming months as the re-launched Model 3 Long Range variant makes it to the US. Deliveries are estimated to begin next month in June.
Riz is the founder of carloop based in Melbourne, specialising in Australian EV data, insight reports and trends. He is a mechanical engineer who spent the first 7 years of his career building transport infrastructure before starting carloop. He has a passion for cars, particularly EVs and wants to help reduce transport emissions in Australia. He currently drives a red Tesla Model 3.