In the USA the Tesla Model 3 Long Range she had been missing for a while. Precisely from August 2022, when from the homepage of the site it was still visible among the cars for sale but you could no longer click on it.
The car had "disappeared" due to the numerous requests that had lengthened waiting times dramatically. Now returns to order with changed technical characteristics and list price. Blame (or merit) the battery. Let's see why.
Battery from China
The car, first of all, declares a range of 325 miles (approx. 523km). Previously the same model declared it 358. What caused this reduction of about 10%?
Almost certainly to the fact that on the Long Range, as already happened on the Rear Wheel Drive, we switched to a different battery. Many say it is of the lithium iron phosphate type.
There is another clue to this. The Tesla Model 3 Long Range has access to a tax credit of 3.750 dollars (about 3.400 euros at current exchange rates). 50% of that $7.500 introduced by the Biden administration with theInflation Reduction Act. This is due to the way government subsidies are structured. To qualify for the full relief, an electric car must be assembled in North America and must receive at least 40% of its critical minerals and 50% of its battery components from North America.
This happens on Teslas that have a traditional type pack, with lithium-manganese-cobalt chemistry. Not on those with LFP battery, which is supplied by CATL and which is produced in China.
The mystery thickens
Sifting through the various information reported on the manufacturer's website, however, we read that if you live in places where it is very cold in winter, to keep the values on autonomy and mileage high, it is advisable to evaluate the purchase of a Model 3 Performance or Long Range. Therefore, we do not recommend the RWD, which is the only one on which you are sure that LFP batteries are present.
But then, it must be said, on the Long Range there is no LFP battery. Yes and no. In fact, it is likely that it is a LFP with enriched chemistry manganese. CATL has adopted this solution precisely to increase the performance of its cheaper accumulators without excessively increasing costs. However, until there is an official communication, we cannot go beyond the assumptions.
A small savings
Now we come to the list price. The new Tesla Model 3 Long Range costs 47.240 dollars (about 43 thousand euros at current exchange rates). The Performance, on the other hand, costs 53.240 dollars (about 48 thousand euros): 6.000 dollars more. But with the increased tax credit, eventually the difference between the two narrows down to just 2.250 dollars (about 2 euros).
A figure that will still push some to prefer a Long Range to a Performance, but which will convince many others to make an extra effort and switch to the top-of-the-range version.
Having said that, it is also advisable to keep an eye on the Spanish Tesla site, just to see if things will change here too or not.
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