Tesla has made a surprise change to its entry-level Model 3 by reducing some of the premium features it offers in the recently upgraded model.
For the first time, Teslaās Model 3 will see cloth seats being offered and the removal of ventilated and heated seats to help it reduce the price of the Model 3 it offers. The heated steering wheel option has also been removed.
The more basic version of the car has just been announced in Mexico and helps save about $A4,000 over the price of the Model 3 with those inclusions.Ā
This new more basic version helps bring the cost of the Model 3 RWD in the Mexico market to the equivalent of around $A60,250. For comparison, Tesla sells the same car without any reductions in Australia for $54,900 before on-roads.
![](https://b2232832.smushcdn.com/2232832/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/Tesla-Model-3-Seats-Cloth-Mexico-1160x649.jpg?lossy=1&strip=0&webp=1)
Other key changes include the removal of the RGB ambient lighting and only offering white light as the option on the new car.
The rear infotainment screen has also been removed and has been replaced with just air vents. On top of that acoustic glass has been removed from the rear and glass roof sections.
Speaking of acoustics, the RWD Model 3 will also see a basic audio system with 9 speakers and 1 subwoofer, down from the 17 speakers and 2 subwoofers found in the Long Range and Performance vehicles.
The changes were highlighted by an Australian EV enthusiast, Rob, who shared it with us on X:
@LudicrousFeed @Rizflip https://t.co/maVcd79U1F
— Rob S (@__Madcat__) August 16, 2024
This is change in strategy for Tesla, which has usually tried to add more premium features into its models. Over the last couple of years, Tesla has incorporated better sound insulation, ambient lighting, a rear screen in the Model 3, a heated steering wheel, ventilated seats, higher resolution cameras and an improved sound system.
Many of these were introduced in the new Model 3 which has continued to find new buyers in a tough car market in 2024.
![](https://b2232832.smushcdn.com/2232832/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Tesla-Model-3-Highland-Riz-Akhtar-1160x870.jpg?lossy=1&strip=0&webp=1)
With some of these features being removed, it hints at an approach Tesla might try in some markets as it looks to reveal its more affordable models in the coming months.
It could also give a heads-up on the features that may not be offered on the more affordable models in the companyās future lineup.
One thing is for certain, Tesla continues to try various approaches to help maintain its sales and plan for the launch of its more popular future models.
![Riz Akhtar](https://b2232832.smushcdn.com/2232832/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/Riz.jpg?lossy=1&strip=0&webp=1)
RizĀ 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.
As a Qlder I’ve always considered heating a very optional extra.
As a Canberran I regard a heated steering wheel and front seats as a necessity in winter.
Tesla in decline due to inattention for far too long.
Letās be fair. Itās a relative decline. But Tesla is definitely under great pressure.
Whether it is due to āinattentionā is a different matter, and highly debatable.
https://evmarketsreports.com/byd-and-tesla-lead-the-global-ev-market-as-sales-surge-in-2024/
Tesla will have to remove Elon Musk before I will buy a Tesla. Anyone that supports Donald Trump is no friend of mine!
Forget the politics, his increasingly erratic behaviour, his disastrous handling of Twitter, the way Telsa has been left with an ageing and restricted product range and all the new projects (Cybertruck, “Model 2”, Roadster, Semi) all running late show to me that he’s not suitable to run on pure grounds of competence.
I partly agree, just remember Musk is surrounded by alot of excellent engineers and factory workers who are being hurt by Musk. Dump the Trump!!
I tend to agree. Musk does not equal Teslaās hundreds of brilliant long term people. I feel sorry for them, but still, 0 interest in Tesla here. Chinaās blowing it away.
Musk might be helping Kamala indirectly. Now all those who hate him won’t vote for Trump because he supports him. Great job! š
Lol speak for yourself. I love him more now that he supports Trump. Musk has done more for this planet with his companies then that fossil of a president we currently have.
According to Wikipedia, the āInflation Reduction Act is the largest piece of federal legislation ever to address climate change. According to the CBO and JCT, it will invest $783 billion in provisions relating to energy security and climate change.ā So your claim is clearly wrong. And in any case must be contrasted with the enormous harms to the climate and the environment of the policies of the Mango Mussolini and his band of eccentric advisors.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inflation_Reduction_Act?wprov=sfti1#Energy_and_climate_change
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Environmental_policy_of_the_Donald_Trump_administration?wprov=sfti1
Seems like a desperate move to me to meet with competition from lower-priced rivals. Where is the “Model 2”? That’s what would be competitive – the cost savings from a decontented Model 3 only allow limited price reductions.
Love my M3. Soon to buy Long Range MY. Elon who?
As soon as I decide that I want a car that gets keyed in parking lots because it’s a trigger for people who hate Musk or EVs, I’ll buy one.
Look at the car and not Elon. If you buy a BYD you are supporting a dictatorship
Elon is supporting a wannabe dictator!
Seriously? As opposed to the US signum crucis, Money, Guns, Lawyers & Celebrities?
Nowadays, “democracy” can be used to sugar-coating everything, “dictatorship” is used for the opposite.
If you still believe that that American ādemocracyā is significantly responsive to the views of ordinary citizens via elections, I have news for you.
This was comprehensively disproven by two of Americaās leading political scientists in a seminal, very highly-cited 2014 work āTesting Theories of American Politics: Elites, Interest Groups, and Average Citizens,ā by Martin Gilens and Benjamin I. Page. Outcomes are affected by economic elites and other pressure groups, but not by ordinary people.
For a summary discussion of the work, see:
https://pnhp.org/news/gilens-and-page-average-citizens-have-little-impact-on-public-policy/
For the original paper:
https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/62327F513959D0A304D4893B382B992B/S1537592714001595a.pdf/testing_theories_of_american_politics_elites_interest_groups_and_average_citizens.pdf
I thought for a split second there you were about to announce a heads up display!
I want to buy a Tesla because of Elon musk. He gets it. The fact that he is now supporting Trump only strengthens my resolve
Geeze ā¦ its back again, isnāt it? So much for losing Discus.
Great point. Unfortunately, what will happen is The Driven will get sued for these comment sections. As they are now held accountable for their users by the Govt.
The gradual, ongoing decline of Tesla is a sad and sorry saga to watch.
Stripping out parts to save a few dollars, while all around them new contenders burst on to scene with new and different and cheaper and superior alternatives.
All the while, loyalists are shouting that FSD v289.12.52 is almost ready, and “looking real good”, and that a robotaxi will be downloaded into their existing car, thereby increasing its value by a factor of 10.
What premium features
Well, the 17 speakers and really good sound quality is premium. My previous Merc had a Harman Kardon system that cost a few thousand dollars extra, and it was not better.
Wanna be dictator?? He lost the election in 2020 and left office. How many dictators do that?
Time for some people to think for themselves instead of listening to liberal media.
Donald Trump did NOT just āleave officeā in the normal, peaceful way at all.
You completely gloss over the fact that Trump was impeached (for a second time) for incitement of insurrection. The evidence clearly demonstrates that Trump intended to overturn the results of the 2020 election by getting false slates of electors recognised instead of the real ones. In this way, he planned to remain President although he had lost the election. His plan came closer to success than many realise.
This is conclusive proof that Donald Trump DOES want to be a dictator. And there is plenty of other evidence as well if you open your eyes.
For the detailed evidence, see these articlesand the many links that support them:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attempts_to_overturn_the_2020_United_States_presidential_election?wprov=sfti1#
āAll the ways Trump tried to overturn the election ā and how it could happen again
Here is a guide to the increasingly radical strategies attempted by Trump and his allies to reverse Joe Bidenās victory, beginning right after the election and persisting after the Jan. 6 assault on the Capitolā
https://wapo.st/3AMt2y0
I see alit if commie bastard haters. Makes me fear for future generations. Oh thatās right, after there done culling the white American which is proudly spouted.
Then thereās mind readers thinks anything Chinese is better. Buy American. Trump should be no oneās defining issue with the right car to buy and now that 17 speakers, reg light and steering wheels normal, more easily affordable
Wow! Thank you for clarifying the MAGA position so articulately, Debi! Keep up the great work, it is really helping the cause.
This generation of people donāt have a clue !! Iāll leave it there. Tesla number one selling car in America why yiu think gas prices down during summer months
It seems very unlikely that the use of EVs in the US is having a significant impact on petrol (gas) prices yet for two reasons:
1 New car sales in the US are rebounding significantly after Covid, and most of this increase is NOT in electric vehicles.
https://www.consumeraffairs.com/finance/new-car-statistics.html
2 The absolute fraction of electric vehicles in use in the US is still very, very low. In 2023, only around 2% of the American car fleet were EVs. This is lower than the World average (!), the EU27 average, and far lower than the figure for China (which is increasing much more rapidly).
https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/share-car-stocks-electric?country=OWID_WRL~NOR~CHN~USA~OWID_EU27
As for your claim that āTesla number one selling car in America,ā (sic) there is only one Tesla in the top 20 selling cars in America this year. That is the Model Y at number 11! Many in the top 10 outsell the Model Y by large numbers.
The rest are mainly ICE vehicles, with the occasional hybrid. In a couple of instances a hybrid or EV option is offered.
https://www.motor1.com/features/716773/best-selling-cars-2024/
What’s with all the fake russian trump supporting comments in here now. This site just keeps falling deeper into the septic tank