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Steve Hanley wrote a good article about the new, cheap Tesla Model 3 and Model Y, and that should be your starting place if you missed that. He covered some of the biggest changes in the new, more affordable Teslas. However, I wanted to go ahead and log all of the changes here in an easy-to-view way.
If you go to design a Model 3 or Model Y, under the different trim options and pricing, you have a “View & Compare Features” button. When you click that, you get a popup that starts with a sort of useless option to scroll various pictures and features of each option — Standard, Premium, and Performance. However, there’s also a link on the top right there on “Compare Models.” That’s where you can actually see all of the differences in a long table. I’ll include screenshots of that table below for the Model Y (which is slightly different from the Model 3), but first, here’s a simple bullet list of what the Standard Model 3 is missing or weaker in:
- 321 miles — versus 363 miles (Premium RWD), 346 miles (Premium AWD), 309 miles (Performance)
- 5.8 seconds to 60 mph — versus 4.9, 4.2, and 2.9 (in same order as above)
- Up to 170 miles added Supercharging in 15 minutes — versus 195, 185, and 162
- 0 subwoofers — compared to 2 in the Premium AWD and Performance trims
- no FM radio
- different 18″ wheel design
- no 8″ second-row touchscreen
- Manual-adjust steering wheel (instead of power-adjust)
- No “customizable wraparound ambient lighting”
- Only textile decor — instead of “Microsuede and textile decor” or “Microsuede and carbon fiber decor”
- Second-row air vents are manually adjusted instead of touchscreen adjusted
- Seats are vegan leather with textile inserts rather than perforated vegan leather
- Second-row seats aren’t heated
- Manual-adjust side-view mirrors — instead of power-adjust and auto-dimming side-view mirrors
- Passive shock absorbers — instead of frequency dependent shock absorbers, or electronic continuously variable shock absorbers in Performance trim
- No Autosteer
- Only exterior color options are black, white, and grey
- Only interior color option is black
So, there are actually quite a few changes. Some of the things that have been removed were not in the Model 3 and Model Y a few years ago. Other changes remove or change things that even my 2019 Tesla Model 3 SR+ has. What are your thoughts?
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