Tesla has yet to officially announce the new Model 3, but that is expected to happen on Friday in China, which with the time difference is later tonight in North America. But it looks like someone may have beaten them to the punch, at least when it comes to what the Project Highland refresh will look like.
On Thursday afternoon several photos were posted to a Spanish car forum that were said to be of the new Model 3, and based on everything we have seen so far, from test vehicles to other leaked photos, these appear to be real, or they are really good fakes.
UPDATE 3:05pm PT: According to our sources these images are real and came from a press kit that was sent to media in China, which somehow found their way online.
Since late last year when the first test vehicle was spotted in California, all of them have featured camouflage on the front and the rear, leading to speculation that those two areas would get the biggest redesign. In these photos we can see the headlights match exactly with what we saw a few months ago in another leaked photos, and the same goes with the glimpses of the taillights we have seen over the months.
Other details that make us believe these photos are real are smaller details, like the side repeater camera which as we have seen on the test vehicles flows through to the side doors. Then there are the wheels. The design matches exactly with what we showed you yesterday, the only difference being the colour (black and silver), but this combination matches exactly what we saw on a test vehicle in France earlier this week.
It doesn’t look like we were wrong about the black wheels as appear to be on the Model 3 in the background of one of the photos.
While these photos appear to be the real thing, they don’t reveal what has changed “under the hood,” or inside the vehicle. But based on rumours and reports over the months that is where some of the biggest changes will be taking place. Hopefully we won’t have to wait long to find out.
Do you think these photos are real? Do you like the redesign? Let us know in the comments below.
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