Tesla Model 3 Performance Range Increases With Official EPA Rating, Tesla Adds New Wheel Option (2024)

Last night Tesla unveiled the official EPA rating for the Model 3 Performance, along with price changes to wheels, and new Gemini wheel covers for the Model Y on the same day.

Model 3 Performance Range

The official EPA rating for the Model 3 Performance is 303 miles (approx. 487km), which is six miles higher than Tesla’s estimate. Originally, the range was estimated by Tesla to be 297 miles (approx. 478km). This update, with a slight range increase, marks the first time that Tesla has had a performance variant of the Model 3 or Model Y at over 300 miles of EPA-rated range.

Canadian Differences

The Canadian Model 3 Performance will be shipping from China, and as such has received a different range – 476km (approx. 295 mi). This small difference is also present in the slightly different acceleration – the US variant has a 0-60 mph at 2.9 seconds, while the Canadian one has a 0-60 (or 0-100km/h) of 3.1 seconds.

Canada has also recently announced that they are looking into Chinese imported EV tariffs following a recent US announcement that they would be increasing tariff rates on Chinese-imported EVs and batteries – which means we could possibly see the same variant in Canada.

Black Gemini Wheel Covers & Nova Wheels

The Model 3 19” Nova wheels, which are available on the Long Range and Standard Range variants, are now available at a lower price – reduced to $1,000 from $1,500.

Alongside this change, Tesla has also introduced new black 19” Gemini wheel covers for the Model Y in the United States, available at a $500 additional charge. The original silver wheel covers are standard.

This wheel cover change is currently not available in Canada, most likely due to the import of Model Y vehicles from China.

Baidu Vice President Shang Guobin recently announced a collaboration with Tesla to integrate the latest version of Baidu Maps into Tesla vehicles in China. Since Tesla relies partly on map information for Autopilot and FSD, this move may get Tesla closer to launching FSD in China.

At the event last month, Baidu presented the latest version of Baidu Maps, which includes four different versions. They include Basic, 3D leading, 3D flagship and Smart Edition for ADAS (Advanced Driver Assistance Systems). Tesla vehicles will receive the new “3D Leading” version from Baidu which features over 300 customized elements. Similar to the 3D version of Apple Maps and Google Maps, it includes 3D models for buildings, trees and information on roads and lanes. Baidu Maps is available for a variety of operating systems, including Android, iOS, and Linux.

Tesla has added a new 3D map view in update 2023.44.32 for China.

Instead of an image-based, overhead map view, these new maps show your vehicle as it moves through a 3D environment that visualizes lanes, buildings, trees and more.

It’s very similar to FSD visualizations… pic.twitter.com/Qke0uP3Wcy

— Not a Tesla App (@NotATeslaApp) January 25, 2024

Besides Tesla, BYD’s Vice President Guobin added that Baidu will also collaborate with Huawei and electric vehicle startup JiYue. Huwaei is involved in three well-known car brands in China including Avatr (with Changan and the battery giant CATL), Luxeed (with Chery) and Aito.

The addition of 3D maps being added in China could open up the door for Tesla to implement 3D maps from Apple or Google in other regions.

Voice Assistant

Tesla recently added a voice assistant in China to replace the aging voice command system. Although the voice assistant is currently exclusive to China, Tesla is already working on voice assistant in English for other regions. Other languages are likely to follow.

FSD in China

It appears that China may be Tesla’s next FSD market. Elon Musk recently traveled to China to discuss FSD and how data would be gathered and stored. Musk also hinted at the possibility of Tesla offering FSD in China by saying, “It may be possible very soon” when he was asked about FSD arriving in China.

Baidu’s Robotaxi

Earlier this year, Baidu introduced a 24-hour operation for its Apollo Go service in select areas of Wuhan, China — becoming the first company in China to offer a 24/7 autonomous driving service.

Baidu’s journey in autonomous driving began in 2013 and, as of today, Baidu Apollo’s advanced autonomous driving systems have completed over 100 million kilometers (62 million miles) of testing and over 5,000 patents granted. In comparison, Tesla has about 1.3 billion miles driven on FSD, with 300 million miles traveled on FSD v12 alone.

Tesla Sales in China

Last year, Tesla remained the world's leading BEV brand, selling 1.8 million units while China’s BYD sold a total of 3.02 million new energy vehicles (NEV), of which 1.57 million were fully electric.

Tesla recently celebrated its 10th anniversary in China and has delivered more than 1.7 million cars since its first delivery of the Model S.

In Tesla’s investor video posted yesterday on X, there was a quick peek of what is expected to be the Robotaxi’s interior. The image only flashes on the screen for a split second, but thanks to an eagle-eyed reader, we may now have our first glimpse at the Robotaxi’s interior.

It looks like it has a two-seat interior, with no steering wheel, and a large center console. The doors look similar to the picture of the Robotaxi concept that was revealed in Elon Musk’s biography in 2023. It also matches up almost exactly with the prototype Franz von Holzhausen was seen working on in a video that aired on CBS last year.

The sharp angles of the interior also match up nicely with its official name, the Cybercab.

Robotaxi App

Tesla recently revealed their Robotaxi app, showing a very simplistic interface that lets you summon a taxi, see its progress, and lets you set the music and climate in the vehicle. In the video on X, Tesla showed off a brief clip of the Robotaxi app in action. Although nothing new is revealed in the short clip, it’s the first time the app has been seen on video.

Here is a quick sneak peek of Tesla's upcoming ride-hailing app released in their shareholder video today. pic.twitter.com/oM7MKNaOvz

— Sawyer Merritt (@SawyerMerritt) May 21, 2024

Robotaxi Announcement

The Robotaxi will be officially unveiled on August 8^th, which is just under three months ago. While Tesla previously mentioned that the Robotaxi would take a backseat to the release of its next-gen $25K USD model, we could see Tesla announce firmer timelines, Robotaxi-specific features, and full previews of the interior and exterior in August.