Another refreshed version of the Tesla Model 3 has been spotted on California roads as Tesla gets ready to update its factory production lines to accommodate the design changes.
The latest sighting was spotted and shared by Reddit user gio6a. It shows a white Tesla Model 3 driving on a highway, first approaching from behind and then overtaking and driving ahead.
What can be seen in the latest video is that under the black front cover are more sharper and sleeker headlights. The rear indicators are vertical rather than horizontal.
On the back of this video, Tesla enthusiasts were apparently pleased by what they saw. “Pretty good view of the new rear turn signals. Looks awesome!” one said.
The sighting came just prior to the Q2 earnings call earlier this week when CEO Elon Musk hinted that Q3 production numbers are expected to not show the same growth as Q2 due to global Tesla factory shutdowns for upgrades.
“We continue to target 1.8 million vehicle deliveries this year. Although, we expect that Q3 production will be a little bit down because we’ve got summer shutdowns to — for a lot of factory upgrades. So, just probably a slight decrease in production in Q3 for sort of global factory upgrades,” Musk said
This suggests that these global factory upgrades may be for the refreshed Model 3 which is also known as Project Highland. With that in mind, it’s likely that first official production cars may start to come off the upgraded production lines by Q4 2023.
The Tesla Model 3 was officially launched in 2017, and first deliveries in Australia came in 2019. Since then, it’s been the best-selling electric car in Australia for multiple years, before losing its crown to the Model Y in 2023.
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.