Tesla Model 3 News
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Last year employee parking lots overflowed at Tesla’s Fremont, California, plant. By comparing the headcount of Tesla's factory at present versus historically, it’s easy to grasp why the facility has seemed so crowded. At its heyday, Toyota and GM needed 4,400 people at Fremont. Tesla has an on-site workforce estimated to be 10,000—including some administrative staff, according to Tesla—although that's for a pace of maybe 250,000 cars annually (versus Toyota and GM's 450,000 vehicles). Even at that, not every Model 3 is assembled under the roof of the assembly plant...
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Tesla removes Full Self Driving option from website for all modelsFriday marked exactly two years since Tesla announced that every one of its cars was being produced with the hardware needed for Full Self-Driving. Friday was also the first full day that Tesla removed the option from its configurator—at the same time that it introduced a new $45k Model 3 Mid...
Bengt Halvorson -
Is the Tesla Model 3 the top-selling car from an American brand?Earlier this week we reported the Model 3 is possibly the fifth best-selling car in the U.S., based on Tesla’s update on deliveries. These Model 3 numbers released Tuesday are likely an anomaly; they’re based on a coordinated surge in U.S. deliveries in September. But also to be fair...
Bengt Halvorson -
NHTSA gives 2018 Tesla Model 3 perfect marks for crash safetyThe 2018 Tesla Model 3 aced its federal crash-test regimen and earned top, five-star scores on all of its sub-tests, safety officials said this week. The Model 3 follows the Model S and Model X, which have both aced the NHTSA's tests. The insurance industry-funded IIHS has only rated the Model S...
Aaron Cole -
What's the most exciting electric car for 2019?Tons of new electric SUVs are hitting the market for 2019. None, though, can apparently hold a candle to the entry-level Tesla Model 3, in our Twitter followers' estimation. That's the result of our Twitter poll last week, which asked, "What's the most exciting electric car for 2019?" In response...
Eric C. Evarts -
Tesla updates, EPA plans, Porsche specs, and Faraday Future progress: The Week in ReverseWhat cars were Tesla Model 3 buyers most likely to trade in? Which company just announced the largest diesel emissions recall in history? This is our look back at the Week In Reverse—right here at Green Car Reports—for the week ending Aug. 3, 2018. Friday, we learned that Teslas will...
Eric C. Evarts -
Apparently the problem with the Tesla Model S and Model X was that they're too normal. They have a separate instrument cluster—a digital one—behind the steering wheel and a few solid controls. Tesla must think that's too much. The company is designing a new interior for them that looks a lot like the one in the Model 3, first reported by Electrek. Electrek reported it had received internal company documents and photos that show drawings of the new interior with a large, horizontal touchscreen mounted in the center of the dash and a band of hidden climate-control vents running the...
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What Tesla Model 3 buyers trade in says something about themBuyers driving home Tesla Model 3s are moving up. In its second-quarter earnings call Wednesday, Tesla executives revealed the top five cars they have taken in on trade for new Model 3s and the results were unexpected. Rather than other entry-level luxury sedans that form the Model 3s competition...
Eric C. Evarts -
Early Tesla Model 3 Performance reviews are positiveThe first reviews of the Tesla Model 3 Performance are in, and they are positive—even occasionally glowing. Tesla has trickled out cars for review to a handful of outlets so far, including the The Wall Street Journal (and its affiliated website, Market Watch), CNET, CleanTechnica, Motor...
Eric C. Evarts -
Tesla Model 3 Performance to get new "track mode"Tesla is developing a new track mode for performance versions of the Model 3. YouTube reviewer Marques Brownlee posted a video on Instagram showing a development version of the "track mode" in action. Green Car Reports reached out to Tesla for comment, and the company confirmed in a statement that...
Eric C. Evarts -
Tesla asks suppliers for money back on Model 3 partsIn its ongoing effort to reach profitability by the end of this year, Tesla has asked several of its suppliers to lower prices retroactively on components of the Model 3, including some contracts that date back to 2016. In a memo sent to the suppliers last week and reviewed by The Wall Street...
Eric C. Evarts -
Tesla Model 3 production target reached but did automaker cut corners?Tesla pulled out all the stops to get 5,000 Model 3s built by July 1 including pulling workers from other assembly lines, halting Model S and X production to paint nothing but Model 3's, but also critically eliminating an industry standard brake test designed to ensure quality, according to a...
Eric C. Evarts -
Tesla started off Model 3 sales in Canada in May with a bang and sold 456 cars after a flurry of deliveries at the end of the month, according to vehicle registration data compiled by IHS Auto. Model 3 sales in Canada continued building through June. The evidence points to Tesla boosting Model 3 deliveries to Canada for two reasons. First, sending vehicles to Canada could have helped postpone Tesla's 200,000th delivery in the U.S. until the third quarter. The 200,000th sale triggers the roll-back of the $7,500 federal tax credit in the U.S., and extending it into the third quarter could...
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Tesla Model 3 production reaches 5,000 cars in last week of JuneTesla released critical production numbers for its Model 3 early Monday, showing that in the last week of June, it produced 5,031 Model 3s. CEO Elon Musk has said repeatedly that reaching production of 5,000 Tesla Model 3s a week is critical to the company's financial survival, and that he expected...
Eric C. Evarts -
Tesla Model 3 order guide, pricing details revealed for Performance and all-wheel-drive models (Updated)Now that Tesla Model 3 orders are open to all U.S. and Canadian reservation holders, we have more insight into features and pricing. As shown by a new post on Teslarati with screen shots from the Tesla Model 3 order guide, reservation holders can now configure a Model 3 with the Dual Motor and...
Eric C. Evarts -
Tesla Model 3 orders open to all US, Canada buyersTesla Model 3 reservation holders who have been patiently waiting for their turn to order their cars just got a chance to move up in line. The company invited all reservation holders in the United States and Canada to place their orders, according to a Bloomberg report. To place their orders...
Eric C. Evarts -
Tesla Model 3 gets new features via OTA updateBuyers of the Tesla Model 3 never thought they were getting all the luxury features of the Model S or Model X. Now, with the latest over the air update, Model 3 owners will get a few more that will bring them closer to the levels of luxury found in Tesla's more expensive cars. As part of the...
Eric C. Evarts -
First Tesla Model 3 Performance AWD built; Musk claims company was "sabotaged"After laying off 9 percent of its workforce last week, Tesla CEO Elon Musk sent a company-wide email in which he claimed an employee had committed "extensive and damaging sabotage" against the company. The news comes on the heels of another Musk tweet that congratulated employees for building the...
Eric C. Evarts -
Tesla has staked a lot on the number of reservation deposits it has received for the Model 3. When the company first opened reservations for the car two years ago, it said that more than 400,000 people had put down a $1,000 deposit for what Tesla billed as a $35,000 car. That number eventually rose to 450,000. The deposits are fully refundable, and with Tesla's cash supply running low and reported production numbers not living up to expectations, the number of customers who have maintained their reservations has become a matter of heated speculation. New data is now showing that about 23...
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Tesla Model 3 earns Consumer Reports recommendation after software brake upgradeA week after Consumer Reports announced that it could not recommend the Tesla Model 3 because of poor braking performance, a software update improved its performance sufficiently to earn the magazine's recommendation. Consumer Reports announced the update to the Model 3's ratings Wednesday. In the...
Eric C. Evarts -
Problems dog Tesla Model 3 in Edmunds testsHundreds of thousands of people waiting to order their Tesla Model 3s are also anxiously waiting for word of the car's reliability and build quality. Now Edmunds.com has released its second update on the early car that it bought, and the news isn't good. DON'T MISS: Some Tesla Model 3 cars haunted...
Eric C. Evarts -
Which Tesla Model 3 would you order or have you ordered? Twitter poll resultsBragging rights don't rank high on the priority lists of Green Car Reports readers. At least, they don't if you consider the number of our Twitter respondents who hope to buy a Performance version of the Tesla Model 3. In the results of our latest Twitter poll, which asked the question: "Which...
Eric C. Evarts -
Tesla Model 3 gets over-the-air update for brakesIn a tweet on Friday, Tesla CEO Elon Musk said the company had started rolling out an over-the-air software update for its Model 3 electric cars to address a problem with their braking performance, a problem revealed by Consumer Reports last week. In the tweet, Musk said the update should improve...
Eric C. Evarts -
Tesla adds Model 3 build complexity: too early, or on time?When Tesla opened up orders this week for the all-wheel drive Dual Motor and Performance versions of its Model 3, some reports suggested it was early and might complicate the company's ability to ramp up to 5,000 units a week. Tesla emphatically says the move only represents the company sticking to...
Eric C. Evarts