Tesla Brings Back the Model 3 Long Range

Tesla’s Model 3 is its most popular sedan, and now the automaker has added a highly-coveted variant of the electric vehicle back to its online order configurator. The variant, a Long Range Model 3, is now available again, after being discontinued last August due to high demand.

Above: A Tesla Model 3 (Image: Casey Murphy / EVANNEX).

Last week, Tesla reintroduced the Model 3 Long Range variant, which is a mid-range option between the base and Performance trim levels, Business Insider reports. The popular Model 3 trim sells for $47,240 before the destination fee, and the reintroduction of the vehicle follows suit with CEO Elon Musk’s statements made when the vehicle was discontinued last year.

“Waitlist is too long,” Musk wrote on Twitter in August, responding to another user’s question about the Long Range Model 3 no longer being available. “Will enable again as we ramp production.”

Tesla says its Long Range Model 3 has a range of 325 miles per charge, with a top speed of 145 mph and a 0-60 mph acceleration of 4.2 seconds. Currently, Tesla estimates that deliveries of the trim will begin in June, and the vehicle also qualifies for the reduced $3,750 federal EV tax credit.

By comparison, Tesla’s base Model 3 is $7,000 less than the Long Range, while the Performance trim is $6,000 more than the mid-range option. The Model 3 Performance also includes all-wheel drive and increased horsepower, as well as better wheel and brake options.

While Tesla doesn’t detail its U.S. quarterly numbers apart from global delivery numbers, Cox Automotive estimates that the automaker delivered roughly 54,954 Model 3 units in the U.S. between January and March, representing about 21 percent of all U.S. EV sales in the quarter. Tesla is forecasting roughly 1.8 million and 2 million vehicles produced globally this year, after reporting about 1.4 million produced in 2022.

Tesla produces vehicles at its U.S. factories in Fremont, California and Austin, Texas, along with production facilities overseas in Shanghai, China and Grünheide, Germany. Additionally, Tesla announced plans this year to build a new factory in the Mexican state of Nuevo León, where the automaker will produce its next-generation EV platform.

The news also comes after reports said that Tesla is working on a simplified “Highland” Model 3, with many spotting apparent camouflaged versions of the EV thought to be prototypes. The design is expected to include both internal and external changes, as well as changes to cameras and the inclusion of supercomputer HW4.

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