Last night Tesla made some significant changes to its Design Studio by changing the naming convention of their vehicles, as well as increasing the range of some of them.
The increased range was a result of a shift to 2022 model year production, and was also suspected to be because of a shift to lithium iron phosphate (LFP) battery packs, something the company announced last month in the Q3 2021 earnings report.
Customers who had already placed an order before last night’s changes have been contacting Tesla to find out more information.
According to one Sales Advisor in Vancouver, BC, the change in range is in fact because of the LFP packs, which are described as having a “higher energy capacity.”
The downside to this is that the acceleration to 60mph has decreased from 5.6 seconds to 6.1 seconds, something which we noted in our reporting last night.
Another Sales Advisor sent a similar email to a customer in Ireland, but added that the entry-level RWD Model 3 now comes with a heated steering wheel as standard equipment. (via Reddit)
Until now, only the Long Range (LR) and Performance Model 3 comes with a heated steering wheel as standard. As recently as yesterday we reported the feature might finally come to existing owners through a paid software update.
This piece of information should be taken with caution. First, the email originated from Ireland, which means if true, it might only be for cars made at Giga Shanghai.
Additionally, Tesla’s website for North America still shows only the LR and Performance as having the heated steering wheel included.
If you have heard similar information from any Tesla employees, let us know in the comments below or reach out to us at tips@driveteslacanada.ca.
