With the $35,000 price Model 3, Elon Musk promised to bring electric cars to the masses. Well, when the EV was released, in July 2017, the automaker offered only the much more expensive Long Range and Performance models. Only earlier this year, Tesla delivered the agreed $35,000 Model 3 and guess what? Since its introduction, the carmaker removed the car from its online ordering system and raised the price. Thus the long-awaited $35,000 Tesla, survived on the market for less than three months.

On May 22nd, Tesla confirmed a price increment for all variants of Model 3. According to Electrek, in an email sent to employees, Tesla said:

TESLA MODEL 3 NEW STARTING PRICES


Model

Price before savings

Price after savings

Base Standard Range

$US35,400

$US27,350

Standard Range Plus

$US39,900

$US31,815

Long Range

$US49,900

$US41,850

Performance

$US59,900

$US51,851


MODEL 3 - BASE STANDARD RANGE

So the $35,000 Tesla Model 3 disappeared from the market in less than three months when Tesla came up with a new starting price of $US35,400, excluding delivery fees. The off-menu Model 3, not available online, can be ordered only by calling Tesla or reaching a store. Besides, according to Car and Driver, the cheapest Model 3 is the Standard Range Plus with a software-limited battery which drops the range of the most affordable model to 226 miles.

MODEL 3 - STANDARD RANGE PLUS

The Standard Range Plus - with a 240 miles range, 140mph top speed, and a 0.60 mph of 5.3 sec - became the cheapest Model 3 available online.

MODEL 3 - LONG RANGE

Tesla stated: “Long Range Rear-Wheel Drive will also now include Autopilot in the base price. As a result, the base price of Long Range Rear-Wheel Drive will increase by $1,400 in the U.S. and by $1,000 (or market equivalent) in all other markets where it is available off-menu”.

According to Tesla's statement, the off-menu Long Range Rear-Wheel Drive - with a 310 miles range, 145mph top speed, and a 0.60 mph of 4.4 sec. - not only has been subject to the starting price rise, but it is also no longer available without the now standard $1,000 Autopilot.

MODEL 3 - PERFORMANCE

The Performance model - with a 310 miles range, 162mph top speed, and a 0.60mph of 3.2 sec. - keeps being the most expensive Model 3 version.



CONCLUSION

Wondering what customers will get from this increase of prices, Electrek questioned a Tesla spokesperson:

Well, in my opinion, Tesla is just pushing the sales of the more expensive Model 3 versions. With another sleight of hand, Tesla backed away from the lowest-priced model 3, starting with shutting down the online sales. Many buyers might have not even realized the $35,000 version was a possibility. Also, by requiring buyers to place phone orders or reach a store, they are forced to interact with a salesperson who is paid to upsell the more expensive and updated Model 3.

Tesla also stated that the price increase applies to all new Model 3 orders as of May 13th but not on inventory vehicles produced before May 12th, so good luck!

Further reading

Read our full review on the 2018 Tesla Model 3.