Tesla's very public secret, codenamed Highland, is now in showrooms in China. The company finally publicly revealed the product, as predicted for the beginning of September, and thanks to months of leaks, there weren't a lot of surprises. We’ve been reporting on leaks since the end of 2022, and it turns out our sources were accurate.
Tesla has again made a publicity splash without spending a dime on traditional advertising. Instead, the company gave some automotive YouTubers an early peak at the Model 3. As soon as the embargo was lifted, YouTube channels were filled with views — money in the content creators’ pocket and publicity for Tesla.
Ambient Lighting
Multicolor ambient LED interior lighting extends from the dash to the rear seats. If that’s not cool enough, this color appears to be adjustable to any shade you like, similar to how you can change the color of your Tesla on the screen and in the app. More than half of the refreshed Model 3 is made with new parts. It is also coming in two new colors in China, Ultra Red and Stealth Gray.
Range
The range has increased by 11 to 12 percent, which equates to the rear-wheel drive getting 346 miles (554 kilometers), and the dual motor long-range 423 miles (678 kilometres). This is thanks to several things, including the lighter Model 3, now the most aerodynamic Tesla in the lineup at a stunning 0.219 drag coefficient down from 0.225.
Suspension & Road Noise
Tesla officially announced the refreshed Model 3
Tesla
The upgraded suspension provides a more premium ride with new springs & dampers, new geometry on the front suspension, new bushings, and a new way they mount the subframe to the chassis. Moreover, the tires now have more cushioning for an improved ride.
Tesla has made a 30% decrease in wind and ambient noise, a 25% improvement in impact noise, and a 20% improvement in road noise. This has been achieved by using acoustic glass on the rear windows and back window (it was only on the front windows before), resulting in "360º acoustic glass". Additionally, more sound insulation has been added for a quieter ride.
Even Better Interior
However, you won’t be able to hear the quiet thanks to the new 17-speaker sound system, up from 14 speakers — complete with two subwoofers and two amplifiers.
We knew the interior was getting an overhaul, but we didn’t know about the upgraded ventilation system, allowing the passage side to be turned off and gain separate fan speeds. There are also two microphones for clearers calls and improved Wi-Fi connectivity. There is also an updated center console with real metal handles and a 65W USB-C charger that provides enough power to charge almost any USB-C device, includingarge a laptop. The center touchscreen has smaller bezels, higher contrast, and better responsiveness. Speaking of screens, there is an 8-inch touchscreen for rear passengers, just like the Model S and Model X.
Tesla officially announced the refreshed Model 3
Tesla
Front Bumper Camera
Tesla officially announced the refreshed Model 3
Tesla
The rumored front camera did not appear in any of the YouTube videos. As previously reported, the new Model 3 is still believed to have a front camera, just like the Cybertruck, and did appear with it in several photos. The front camera will eliminate that very real blind spot just in front of the bumper that the cameras in the windshield can’t see.
Details We Already Knew
Tesla officially announced the refreshed Model 3
Tesla
Now for a refresher about the Model 3 refresh. We’ve been talking about this vehicle since December of 2022, as the partially covered cars started popping up around California. Along the way we learned a lot, but we know that not all of you read about Tesla every day (shame, shame!). So here is a list with links to previous articles that discuss the features.
Tesla has been slashing the prices of the current Model 3, but the Highland is getting a price bump. With the cars already on the showroom floors in China, the RWD is 259,900 yuan, $35,800 USD, while the long-range is 295,900 yuan, $40,800 USD. Those prices are about a 10 percent increase — still, no word when the new Model 3 will be available in North America.
The Tesla Model 3 Highland is more than just a refresh; it's a complete overhaul that addresses several aspects of the vehicle, from aesthetics to performance and comfort. Introducing new colors, a more aerodynamic design, an enhanced sound system, and improved noise insulation are just a few of the many upgrades that make this Model 3 iteration stand out. Although there was a slight bump in the price, the host of improvements and added features justify the increase, offering more value to the customers. Time for an upgrade?
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Tesla has drastically improved the connectivity portion of their app in the last year or two. Prior to these updates, if you want to start the vehicle’s climate system, you needed to open the Tesla app, wait for the vehicle to wake up, then press the HVAC icon.
Tesla then introduced “delayed” commands, which allows you to press the HVAC icon upon opening the app, and Tesla would then automatically send the command to the vehicle once it’s awake.
More recently, Tesla made it so the vehicle sends its most recent data to Tesla before falling sleeping, meaning that when someone opens the Tesla app, they’re looking at the most recent vehicle data, even if the vehicle is sleeping.
Now Tesla is introducing offline commands for newer models, letting users send a command to their vehicle over Bluetooth instead of relying on an Internet connection. The process is transparent to users, if the user is in close proximity to their vehicle, the app will send the command over Bluetooth, otherwise it will send it over WiFi or cellular.
Offline commands are faster and more reliable. When you press the button to open the frunk, it’ll now do this instantly, instead of waking up the vehicle first. However, it looks like not every model will be supported.
Legacy Model S / Model X
Legacy Model S and Model X vehicles - so any S/X produced before the 2021 refresh, won’t be able to use offline commands, at least at this time. A user reached out to Tesla Service to find out why their offline commands weren’t working, and a tier two Tesla service rep confirmed that this feature isn’t supported on legacy vehicles.
Legacy vehicles will continue to require internet connectivity for commands, except for unlocking the vehicle.
Legacy Model S and X unfortunately don’t receive the majority of features in recent updates due to various reasons. One of them is likely due to the smaller userbase and another is likely due to the vertical screen orientation that differs from the newer models.
This limitation for offline commands is likely due to a technical limitation preventing Tesla from implementing it on these vehicles, rather than any lack of trying.
Requirements
To use offline commands with the Tesla app, you’ll need to run version 4.38 or higher of the Tesla app. The most recent version is 4.38.5, which is available for Android and iPhones. Your vehicle will also need to be running update 2024.38 or higher, which is currently only available to about a third of the Tesla fleet.
You’ll also need to have one of the supported models, which appear to be the Model 3/Y, 2021+ Model S/X and the Cybertruck.
Future Support?
Tesla has committed to supporting legacy vehicles where possible, with other improvements for safety like improved Forward Collision Warning and Automatic Emergency Braking for MCU1 vehicles and FSD 12.3.6. It is possible that eventually, these vehicles may receive support for offline commands, but it won’t be likely, given Tesla’s priorities to get features working on the newer vehicles.
Tesla is updating the Model 3 and Model Y Rear-Wheel Drive variants with new battery packs. This new pack will replace the current BYD Blade pack in these vehicles. Its interesting to see Tesla making battery pack changes to vehicles, especially in light of recent news on Tesla working with its cell manufacturing partners and internally to make better batteries.
The new pack, which is likely replacing the current BYD 7C pack in the Model 3 and Model Y RWD variants, is going to be called the CATL 6M. The last time we had a CATL LFP pack in the RWD variants was back in 2021.
This pack will be bringing a 6% increase in overall capacity, from 60.1 kWh to 62.5 kWh. At about a 4% increase in energy, it’s not a huge jump, but the pack is also expected to bring improved charging performance due to a higher nominal capacity and voltage. Another benefit will be its reduced mass, with the new battery pack being about 44 pounds (20 kg) lighter. These items all contribute to range and charging performance, so we could potentially see a range increase in these RWD models.
However, Tesla previously software locked the extra 2.5 kWh to match the BYD packs that were being shipped at the same time as the CATL packs - which mostly just resulted in slightly improved charging performance and better battery longevity.
Pack Chemistry
This pack is an LFP - or Lithium Iron Phosphate. LFP packs have more stable chemistry, resulting in less degradation, but less energy density for weight. They also perform poorly in contrast to their NMC siblings in extreme cold or extreme heat. However, they can be charged to 100% all the time, and Tesla actually recommends this. We wrote about Tesla’s battery tech in detail, for those looking for more information.
There is a possibility that manganese will be introduced into this new pack. Manganese improves energy density, and also helps with low-temperature performance, which would help to mitigate some of the concerns with today’s current LFP packs in places that see cold weather on the regular, like Canada or the Nordic nations.
Release Date? North America?
This battery back likely won’t come to North America now, due to tariffs against Chinese batteries and cells. Customers in Europe, Asia, and other markets can expect to see these batteries in their vehicles sometime next year while Tesla works on other solutions to provide the North American market with a cost-competitive LFP pack that’s sourced from materials within the continent.