Tesla has increased the price of the Model 3 Long Range (LR) in the US, just a few weeks after the upgraded version of the electric sedan launched in North America. The price increase also comes just a few days after Tesla slashed the price of the Model Y in Canada.
According to an update to the online configurator on Sunday, the Model 3 LR now starts at US$46,990, a $1,000 increase compared to the previous price. The Model 3 Rear-Wheel Drive (RWD) has remained the same at US$38,990, while the Performance variant continues to be unavailable to purchase.
As we all know Tesla doesn’t give a reason for their price adjustments most of the time, and this time is no different. Without an official comments, there are two possible explanations for this latest increase.
The first, and most likely, is that demand for this variant of the Model 3 in the US is very high after the launch of the upgraded version, most commonly known as the Project Highland refresh. This is backed up by the fact that the Design Studio is estimating new orders for the LR variant will be delivered in March or April, whereas deliveries of the RWD variant, which saw no price increase, and estimated to take place between February and March.
The other possible explanation is that demand might be at typical levels, but Tesla may not be able to make enough to meet that demand. The Fremont factory had to be shut down last month for production line upgrades to accommodate the new design, and they may be still working to ramp production. However, this seems less likely as there was no price increase on the RWD version.
There is also the fact that Tesla just launched free FSD transfers and unlimited Supercharging transfers, so they may be expecting a surge in orders for the Model 3 LR.
