Tesla has updated its Parts Catalog and Collision Repair Manuals to reveal the company is preparing to debut a new Model 3 Plaid, along with several new wheel designs.
Tesla unveiled the new Model 3 last month, but conspicuously absent from the announcement was the Performance version, with only the Rear-Wheel Drive (RWD) and Long Range (LR) variants debuting. Since then we have discovered a bit of information on the top-of-the-line trim from European certification documents, which we suggested meant it was going to come with upgraded performance, potentially adding a motor from the Model S Plaid.
Based on the Parts Catalog, it looks like that may be exactly what is happening. First spotted by The Kilowatts, the catalog shows the Model 3 with the same Plaid badging found on the Model S and Model X. The badge is labeled as item 7, but there is no corresponding item 7 in the description below.
UPDATE 10:31am PT: One of our readers noted this isn’t actually a Plaid badge, but is very similar and appears to be more like the scene from Spaceballs when they hit ‘Ludicrous speed.’ (h/t:@antibrunch)
Further supporting the theory of improved ‘Plaid’ performance with this new Model 3, there are also new sports brakes and suspension parts included in the Catalog.
The Collision Repair Manual also confirms the Plaid badging. In the section that details how to install the carbon fiber spoiler, we can see the ‘Plaid’ badge above the ‘Dual Motor’ badge on the trunk lid.
Along with revealing the Model 3 Plaid, Tesla has also shown off several new wheel designs. In the Parts Catalog and the Collision Repair Manual, there are five different wheel options listed. (h/t: @TeslaNewsWire). There are the 18″ aero wheels, which are referred to in this document as ‘Glider,’ as well as the optional 19″ wheels listed as ‘Helix,’ both of which were included with the original launch last month.
However there are three new options added to the Catalog. There is a 19″ and 20″ version of what Tesla refers to in the Collision Repair Manual as the ‘Warp’ wheel. This wheel is also listed in the Parts Catalog, but also in a black finish. There is also two more wheel designs included, both of which have a black and silver finish and appear to be identical, but we don’t know what they are called, or what sizes they come in, as neither are included in the Collision Repair Manual and have no corresponding description in the Parts Catalog.
Since these new wheels do not have corresponding entries in the description, it likely means that Tesla is not quite ready to release them. It could even be possible that this was accidentally added to the Parts Catalog and Collision Repair Manual early, and it would not be surprising if they removed them now that they have been leaked.
UPDATE 2:38pm PT: As we predicted, Tesla has removed all references to the Ludicrous badging and new wheels from both documents.
UPDATE: Looks like it was an oopsie.
Tesla has already removed images from the Parts Catalog showing the Ludicrous badge, and removed the images of the new wheels from the Parts Catalog and the Collision Repair Manual. pic.twitter.com/6TK7307jj7
— Drive Tesla 🇨🇦 (@DriveTeslaca) October 19, 2023
