Tesla made several changes to the Model 3 and Model Y configurations in Europe last night.
The Model Y got a range increase, with the Long Range variant increasing by as much as 28km (17 miles).
Conversely, the Model 3 Long Range saw its range estimate decrease. The change wasn’t substantial, only dropping by 11km or 12km (~7 miles) depending on the wheels selected.
There was seemingly no explanation for the change, as the source code didn’t note a different battery pack that could lead to a lower range estimate.
It turns out there was an explanation, and it is due to the new AMD Ryzen processors.
According to an internal email sent to European Service Centers this morning, the details of which were shared with Drive Tesla, the new processors require more power than the previous Intel Atom processors, resulting in the slightly lower range estimate.
UPDATE Jan 16 8:34pm PST: Tesla has started notifying customers in Australia about the range drop, confirming our report that it is due to the new processor requiring “more power.”
We will start rolling out FSD beta in Canada cautiously in next 2 to 4 weeks
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 16, 2022
The processor is no slouch with up to 10 teraflops of processing power, enough to rival premium home gaming systems like the PS5.
Additionally, the Rear-Wheel Drive (RWD) and Performance Model 3s didn’t see their ranges adjusted because it had already been factored in when the estimated ranges were updated late last year.
Interestingly, when the Ryzen processors launched in China, there was no corresponding range adjustment in that market. We have also not seen any similar range adjustments in North America.
This could be due to different testing standards (EPA vs WLTP vs CLTC).
Tesla first added the AMD Ryzen processors with the launch of the Model Y Performance in China in December. The change was simultaneously made to the Model 3 and Model Y with it appearing just one day later.
It took a few more weeks to make it North America, with Fremont made cars gaining the feature in late December.
Side-by-side performance comparison of AMD Ryzen and Intel Atom processors
