What simply occurred? If you happen to’ve been contemplating Tesla’s entry-level Mannequin 3 Customary Vary as your ticket into Elon Musk’s electrical car lineup, there’s some unlucky information. Tesla has quietly discontinued the trim, making the Lengthy Vary rear-wheel drive the brand new place to begin for the Mannequin 3.
The transfer raises the beginning value of Tesla’s most reasonably priced car to $42,490 – $3,500 greater than the discontinued Customary Vary, which had a sticker value of $38,990. However there’s extra to this modification than only a value bump.
For one, the timing is handy for Tesla. The shift occurred as the corporate reported delivering 426,890 autos in Q3 2024, a quantity that fell wanting expectations. Discontinuing the cheaper Customary Vary might assist bolster these crucial revenue margins.
Nevertheless, a extra seemingly issue is regulatory stress. The Customary Vary was the final Tesla mannequin to make use of the extra reasonably priced LFP battery cells imported from China. New tariffs have elevated the price of these cells, making the Customary Vary ineligible for federal EV tax credit. With these extra prices, conserving this specific configuration not is sensible.
An aspiring Tesla proprietor on a price range will now have to contemplate different choices, and the $42,490 Lengthy Vary RWD may very well be an honest compromise. Regardless of the upper price ticket, it presents 90 miles of extra vary in comparison with the discontinued Customary Vary mannequin. When factoring within the $7,500 federal tax credit score (if eligible) and potential gasoline financial savings, the efficient value drops to round $35,000 earlier than state incentives.
Nonetheless, that is a big leap for a lot of consumers, particularly with $30k EVs from different manufacturers beginning to enter the market. Tesla appears to concentrate on this affordability hole, with rumors circulating about an all-new price range EV slated for 2025. Whether or not this shall be a stripped-down Mannequin 3 variant or a wholly new mannequin stays to be seen.
Within the meantime, choices for the Mannequin 3 have slimmed down. The Lengthy Vary rear-wheel drive is now the entry level, adopted by the all-wheel-drive variant at $47,490, and the Efficiency mannequin at $54,990.
Tesla has a historical past of fluctuating costs, adjusting them as market situations demand. The corporate additionally quietly discontinues fashions with out a lot discover, because it did with the $60,990 single-motor RWD Cybertruck.