Tesla Model 3
Midsize electric sedan · 2017–present. This review has not established this model’s 2024 U.S. sales.
How it began
Tesla, Inc., led by chief executive Elon Musk, developed Model 3 as the more affordable car in its product plan. Tesla’s filings call it a third-generation electric vehicle, following the Roadster and the Model S/Model X platform stages. Franz von Holzhausen, Tesla’s chief designer since 2008, led the design studio; CNBC’s original interview credits him as a lead designer of Model 3, Model S, Model X, Model Y, Cybertruck and Semi.
It was unveiled at Tesla’s design studio in Hawthorne, California, and final assembly began in Fremont in July 2017. Its initial drive units and battery packs using the proprietary 2170 cell format were produced at Gigafactory 1 in Nevada, where Tesla worked with Panasonic and other suppliers. Tesla’s 2019 annual report dates Shanghai Model 3 production to December, following earlier trial builds. Shanghai supplies China and export markets; regular U.S. supply is assembled in Fremont. In its Q1 2025 letter, Tesla said U.S. Model 3 and Model Y deliveries now used entirely U.S.-built battery packs.
It was unveiled on March 31, 2016. Production began in Fremont in July 2017, and Tesla handed roughly the first 30 cars to customers on July 28, 2017, at a party at the factory itself. The refreshed version, known by its code name Highland, launched in China and Europe in September 2023 and reached the U.S. in January 2024 as a 2024 model.
The 3 takes the place of E in Tesla’s S-3-X-Y naming joke. In 2014 Musk told shareholders that Tesla wanted Model E but Ford objected and threatened to sue. Ford told CNBC that it had enforced a 2010 agreement under which Tesla would not use or register Model E. Musk joked that Ford had killed the S-E-X plan; the Model Y later completed S3XY.
Until 2016 Tesla sold only luxury cars, the Model S and the Model X. The Model 3 was its 'lower priced sedan designed for the mass market': a $35,000 starting price, meant to be appealing even without government incentives, and a production-line design targeting more than 500,000 Model 3s a year. To get there it was designed with fewer parts and fewer equipment combinations than the Model S. It was the proof that an electric car with real range did not have to be only for a few.
Generation by generation
- Gen. 12017–2023 · Original (con actualización 2021)
The Tesla for a lot of people
Photo: Elise240SX · CC BY-SA 4.0 What changed. The first Model 3: smaller and cheaper than the Model S, with five seats. It was announced from $35,000 with at least 215 miles of range, but the first cars were Long Range models with the premium interior; the dual-motor and Performance versions arrived in mid-2018. The $35,000 version, with 220 miles and 0 to 60 mph in 5.6 seconds, only went on sale on February 28, 2019, alongside the $37,000 Standard Range Plus with 240 miles. For the 2021 model year it got a heat pump, a power trunk, double-pane front side windows, black trim in place of chrome, USB-C ports and up to 353 miles of range.
The innovation. An almost empty cabin. There is no instrument cluster behind the wheel: speed, climate and nearly every control live on a single 15-inch center screen, and the air vents hide in a slot that runs the width of the dash. Inside the factory the idea was the same: Tesla designed the car with fewer than 100 equipment combinations at launch, versus more than 1,500 for the Model S, to build it faster and cheaper.
If you buy one usedNHTSA gave the 2018 rear-wheel-drive Model 3 a five-star overall rating, and IIHS named it a 2019 Top Safety Pick+. In the retained November 2, 2026 inventory for MY2017–2023, 20 of 31 distinct campaigns prescribe software-only remedies and 11 require physical service, but confirm by VIN that the car has the remedy. With physical repairs: the rearview camera harness, which could be damaged by opening and closing the trunk, on every 2017–2020 Model 3 (21V00D, 356,309 vehicles; inspection, guide protection and harness replacement if necessary); front suspension lateral link fasteners that could loosen on certain 2018–2021 cars (21V835 and 23V235); brake caliper bolts on certain 2019–2021 cars (21V387); front seat-belt fasteners on certain 2018–2020 cars (21V389); rear seat belts reassembled incorrectly after service on certain 2017–2022 cars (22V798, 24,064 vehicles), and low-beam headlights that were too bright on certain 2017–2023 cars (26V507, 20,349 Model 3 and Model Y vehicles combined, headlight replacement). By software, the biggest: Autosteer controls (23V838, 2,031,220 Tesla vehicles), brake warning-light font size (24V051, 2,193,869), windows that did not reverse properly (22V702, 1,096,762), open-hood detection (24V554, 1,849,638, including 2021–2024), the tire-pressure warning light (24V935), FSD Beta at intersections (23V085) and, on 2023 cars, power steering assist (25V092, 376,241 Model 3 and Model Y) and the taillights (22V844). These are prescribed remedy types, not a count of completed repairs. For 26V507, the published notice distinguishes the interim risk notification from a later repair-availability notice; confirm availability and completion with Tesla. - Gen. 22024–present · Highland
Highland: the same car, redone inside and out
Photo: Chanokchon · CC BY-SA 4.0 What changed. Tesla calls it the updated Model 3 and does not number generations; we split it out because almost everything you see and touch changed. It has a sharper nose, new headlights and taillights, a noticeably quieter cabin, ventilated front seats, an 8-inch screen for the second row and an ambient light strip inside. It reached the U.S. in January 2024 from $38,990 with rear-wheel drive and 272 miles, or $45,990 for the all-wheel-drive Long Range with 341 miles. In April 2024 the Performance joined: 510 horsepower, 0 to 60 mph in 2.9 seconds and adaptive dampers, at $52,990. Switching the line in Fremont cut production in the first quarter of 2024, and in October 2025 the Standard version arrived from $36,990.
The innovation. At its January 2024 U.S. introduction, Highland removed the traditional steering-column stalks: gear selection could be automatic or performed on the screen. It made the cabin more minimalist. Later equipment changes belong to their own trim and production date; the original October 2025 Standard configurator comparison already showed a turn-signal stalk.
If you buy one usedIt is recent. IIHS named it a 2025 Top Safety Pick, with Good ratings in the small overlap front test and the updated side test, and Acceptable in the updated moderate overlap front test; Tesla reports five stars from Euro NCAP and ANCAP. NHTSA lists loss of the rearview camera image from a short on the computer board on certain 2024–2025 cars (25V002, 239,382 vehicles, software update plus computer replacement if needed), the tire-pressure warning light on certain cars through 2025 (24V935, by software), battery pack contactors that could fail and cut drive power on certain 2025 cars (25V690, 12,963 vehicles with 2026 Model Y, contactor replacement) and loose seat-back fasteners in a combined 48 MY2026 Model 3/Model Y vehicles (25V410). A rare but useful case: a combined 15 Model 3/Model Y vehicles built for another market, without knee airbags, ended up in the U.S. and Tesla’s published remedy is repurchase of noncompliant vehicles registered in the U.S. (26V445). Check the VIN at nhtsa.gov before buying.
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