After first launching overseas, the refreshed Model 3 “Highland” can now be ordered in the U.S.
A few months ago, Tesla released a long-awaited facelift for its Model 3. However, despite North America being Tesla’s home market, and the Model 3 being its bread-and-butter car in the United States, the heavily refreshed sedan launched in China and Europe first. As of today, the facelifted Tesla Model 3 (internally known as “Project Highland”) is available for U.S. customers to buy.
Customers can head straight to Tesla’s site and order their newly nipped and tucked Model 3, which carries a $40,630 starting price for a rear-drive model. If you want the dual-motor, long-range version, you’ll have to shell out $47,630. Specs for the new Model 3 aren’t much different than before, with the standard rear-drive car getting 272 miles to a charge and hitting 0-60 mph in 5.8 seconds. The dual-motor, long-range model gets 341 miles to a charge and hits 60 mph in 4.2 seconds. Go-fast fans will have to wait, though, as the updated Model 3 Performance isn’t available just yet.
Visually, the Model 3 “Highland” gets slimmer headlights and a much sharper front end. It looks a little more like a sports sedan now, rather than an egg with drawn-on eyes. Its taillights also now have a very Volvo-esque claw shape to them that’s a little more eye-catching than the old blobby design, even if they do look plucked right from an S60.
The new Model 3 is as barren on the inside as before, but at least what’s there is more stylish. Its new wraparound dash looks better, as do its door cards, and its steering wheel seems sportier. Thankfully, the wheel even connects at the top, the way steering wheels are supposed to. Fear not fans of minimalism: the Model 3 didn’t gain a gauge cluster with its update, so the only screen is still the massive dashboard-mounted touchscreen.
These sorts of facelifts are common in the auto industry, as car companies like to freshen up their models every few years. What makes Highland special for the Model 3 is that it’s been such a long time coming. The Model 3 was first launched in 2016, and eight years is a long time to go without a noticeable update. Some cars’ entire lifecycles don’t last that long. Even with the Cybertruck finally launching, the Model 3’s update is more substantial news for Tesla customers, because the brand’s most popular product is finally getting some meaningful changes to help it keep up with an ever-growing list of new competitors.
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