Tesla Unveils Long Awaited Model 3 Upgrade: It’s Got Buttons, and It Costs More

Tesla has finally unveiled its upgraded Model 3 electric sedan – the long awaited result of Project Highland – that features significant changes to its exterior and the interior layout.

The new features include an 8″ rear touchscreen for passengers to control climate and entertainment, along with a remastered steering wheel that replaces stalks with on-wheel controls that include both haptic switches and physical buttons – in a gesture to the many people who wanted something more than a screen to touch.

Tesla has also improved the suspension and cornering, and has added sound-dampening materials, including what is described as 360˚ acoustic glass technology.

The new Model 3 has already been added to Tesla’s configurator in China, Australia and New Zealand even prior to Tesla’s home market in the US.

Two variants are now available to order in Australia, which include the single-motor RWD version with 513 km of WLTP range. That’s an additional 24 km of range compared to the current model. It starts at $61,900, which is also an increase of $4,500 before on-roads over the existing model.

For those looking at the dual-motor AWD variant, the Long Range model now starts at $71,900. That’s a bump of $1,500.

Estimated delivery times for the new model start from January – March 2024 for Australian order holders.

The upgrade is a landmark for the Australian EV market, given the prominent role that the Model 3 has played in the rapidly increasing uptake of electric cars in this market. Although it has now been overtaken by its sister car, the Model Y, it has sold more than 11,500 units in the first six months of 2023, as the share of EVs leaped to more than 7 per cent of the new car market.

The new Model 3 has been upgraded in five various areas with key upgrades. These include efficiency, safety, performance, utility, and style.

From the outside, the new car has a sleeker look, and even gives the impression of the new Tesla Roadster 2.0, which is yet to go into production. The tail light also gets a refresh, making it look more modern than the first-generation car.

Dimension-wise, the new Model 3 is 26 mm longer, coming in 4,720 mm in length. The ground clearance has also been reduced by 2 mm, coming in at 138 mm.

Two new paints are now on offer in the Australian and New Zealand markets which include the Ultra-Red and Stealth-Grey. Both of these are offered at a premium price for metallic colours.

The interior has had a major refresh with new ambient lighting along with the removal of the indicator and gear selector stalk. Tesla is now offering smart shifts in new vehicles instead of the gear shifter it offered previously.

The interior has new materials along the dash and redesigned elements around the door trims. Seats on the new car offer ventilation for cooling along with the heated function offered on the current car.

On the infotainment front, the screen in the upgraded Model 3 is slightly larger than the outgoing model, now coming in at a 15.4-inch screen.