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 made changes to its Premium Connectivity offerings in Europe, Australia, and North America. The company will no longer include ad-free music streaming through the “Streaming” app, now called LiveOne. Similarly, in Europe, Tesla used to offer a free Spotify Premium account in the vehicle, but now this account will be limited as well. We initially covered this rumor last week, thanks to an insider’s tip.
These changes will be made as of December 1st, 2024, and users who previously used Tesla’s Premium Connectivity to avail themselves of either Slacker (Now LiveOne) or Spotify Premium will now be relegated to the free versions of those services.
North America – Streaming/LiveOne/Slacker
In North America, Tesla offered a free Premium subscription to LiveOne (previously known as Slacker) Radio through the “Streaming” app with the orange icon. This subscription wasn’t cheap—$10 USD a month. It offered unlimited song skipping and improved audio quality.
This feature has now been removed, and users will be prompted to sign into LiveOne when they open the Streaming/LiveOne app in their Teslas. Users can either continue to use a free version of LiveOne or sign up for LiveOne Premium to continue using it.
LiveOne Premium will cost $3 USD a month (a discounted price) for Tesla-specific use going forward.
Europe – Spotify Premium
In Europe and Australia, Tesla offered a free Premium subscription to Spotify instead, as part of its Premium Connectivity package. This subscription was actually fairly expensive in comparison to the North American equivalent - $10 USD a month and offered unlimited song skipping and improved audio quality as well.
Just like in North America, this has been removed. Users will have to sign into a Spotify account to continue using Spotify, or they can now use the basic tier of Spotify, which includes ads, limited skips, and some other limitations. A Premium account will be required to use the Premium functionality.
Not a Tesla App
Lifetime Premium Connectivity
However, these changes do not affect everyone. Tesla used to offer lifetime Premium Connectivity for free with every Tesla purchase before Premium Connectivity was introduced in July 2018. Tesla also offers a lifetime subscription to Cybertruck Foundation owners. These owners will still receive the benefits of either LiveOne or Spotify Premium in their respective regions. These Lifetime plans are guaranteed until the vehicle changes hands – at which point Tesla will also wash its hands of the ongoing cost of paying for that vehicle’s Premium Connectivity.
This set of changes is somewhat disappointing, as it has been a core part of Tesla’s Premium Connectivity for many years. The good news is that users will be able to continue using the same service but with some limited functionality and ads. We’re not sure if Tesla will be bringing a new set of features to make up for this gap or if they’ll be reducing the price of Premium Connectivity to match the reduction in service, but in all likelihood, Tesla just wanted to reduce costs.
There are plenty of competing apps that people use, especially with Tesla recently introducing YouTube Music, Apple Music, and Amazon Music in recent updates. Amazon Prime subscribers can enjoy Amazon Music for free since it’s included with their membership.
Tesla’s Head of Autopilot and AI, Ashok Elluswamy, has confirmed on X that legacy Tesla Model S and Model X vehicles will get Actually Smart Summon in Q4 2024. The end of Q4 2024 for Tesla would be approximately January 24th, 2025.
That’s still a few months away, but for legacy vehicle owners, it's still a sigh of relief – as there was nothing mentioned in the release notes, or anywhere in Tesla’s AI Roadmap of when and if legacy vehicles would be receiving these features.
Legacy Vehicles
These legacy vehicles, in particular, were vehicles before the refresh in 2021 but after the arrival of MCU2 (Intel) and Hardware 3. Legacy vehicles can be updated from MCU 1 (NVIDIA) to MCU 2 (Intel) and from HW 2.5 to HW3, so all vehicles after 2016 could gain access to Actually Smart Summon.
According to Greentheonly, the cameras in these vehicles are implemented differently than in other Tesla models, where raw camera feeds are supported. This makes it harder for Tesla to stream video from the vehicle’s cameras to the Tesla app, which Actually Smart Summon uses.
Sentry Mode Live Access
Legacy vehicles also don’t have access to Live Sentry Mode cameras – they can’t upload that data live to Tesla’s servers, and then off to the owner’s app. In order to get Actually Smart Summon functional on these legacy vehicles, Tesla will have to essentially implement Live Sentry Mode – which could be a big win for legacy vehicle owners.
Legacy Vehicles are missing more than just that, though. Due to hardware restrictions, different screen ratios, and more, they’re also missing additional features such as auto seat heaters and blind-spot/turn signal camera feeds. However, getting Sentry Mode Live Access would be a very welcomed feature if Tesla decided to add it with the addition of Actually Smart Summon.
It’s highly likely that all the camera rendering and upload pipeline is tied closely together with Actually Smart Summon, and that the lack of processing capability is the restricting condition for these vehicles.
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