The Tesla Model 3 is a battery electric mid-size sedan with a fastback body style built by Tesla, Inc., introduced in 2017.
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The vehicle is marketed as being more affordable to more people than previous models made by Tesla. The Model 3 was the world's top-selling plug-in electric car for three years, from 2018 to 2020, before the Tesla Model Y, a crossover SUV based on the Model 3 chassis, took the top spot.
In June 2021, the Model 3 became the first electric car to pass global sales of 1 million.
A facelifted Model 3 with revamped interior and exterior styling was introduced in late 2023 for countries supplied by Gigafactory Shanghai and in early 2024 in North America and other countries supplied by the Tesla Fremont Factory.
Within a week of unveiling the Model 3 in 2016, Tesla revealed they had taken 325,000 reservations for the car. These reservations represented potential sales of over US$14 billion.
Tesla said the refreshed Model 3 improved range around 10%, largely from a lower and more aerodynamic nose along with a better rear diffuser and more aerodynamic wheels. The tires protrude slightly from the rims, protecting them from curb rash. They have lower rolling resistance, but no compromise in lateral performance or steering response. This was enabled by changing materials and removing 1 ply (made possible by lowering the top, rarely used, speed). The gap between tire and body was reduced The drag coefficient of Cd=0.219 improved from 0.225.
Redesigned tail lights eliminated the vertical break between trunk and side.
Interior additions included a 8-inch (200 mm) touchscreen (with Bluetooth audio) for rear seat passengers, ventilated front seats, up to 17-speaker sound system (up from 14), customizable interior accent lighting, and a new steering wheel without turn signal and gear selector stalks.The touchscreen for rear seat passengers and the steering wheel without stalks are changes that were previously implemented on the Model S and X during their "Palladium" refresh.
The upgrade had shock-absorbing technology called Frequency Selective Damping, which uses a hydraulic amplifier to concentrate vibration in the 4-6 Hz range.
The update came equipped with HW4 camera and processing technology. This permitted a wider field of view, which improved Autopilot's cross-traffic emergency braking.
Gigafactory Shanghai was the first of Tesla's factories to begin making the refreshed Model 3, with the company offering the vehicle for sale in China and markets to which Tesla exports from China, including Europe, the Middle East, Australia and JapanThe refreshed Model 3 was made available for order in North America on January 10, 2024, with these models being produced at the Tesla Fremont Factory.
In February 2016 Tesla expected the Model 3 to repeat the delivery schedule of the S and X models: selling at first the highest-optioned cars with higher margins, to help pay for production equipment.
