Tesla Model 3

The Tesla Model 3 is an electric four-door sedan developed by Tesla. The Model 3 Standard Range Plus version delivers an EPA-rated all-electric range of 250 miles (402 km) and the Long Range versions deliver 322 miles (518 km). At least one Model 3 was driven 606.2 miles (975 km) on a single charge.

The Model 3 carries full self-driving hardware, with periodic software updates adding functionality.

Limited production of the Model 3 began in mid-2017, with the first production vehicle rolling off the assembly line on July 7, 2017, with the official launch and delivery of the first 30 cars on July 28. On July 1, 2018, Elon Musk announced that Tesla had met its production goal of 5,000 cars in a week.

Total deliveries passed the 100,000-unit milestone in October 2018, and cumulative sales since inception totaled 448,634 through December 2019. The Model 3 topped global sales of plug-in electric cars in 2018, and also listed as the top-selling plug-in passenger car in the U.S. and California.

Model Naming

During an interview recorded in 2006 Musk referred to "Model 2" (later Tesla Model S), and to "Model 3". The Model 3 was codenamed Tesla BlueStar in the original business plan in 2007. The intended name was Model E, which was abandoned due to Ford's trademark on an electric vehicle it originally planned to release in early 2019. Model 3, originally stylized as "Model ☰", was announced on Musk's Twitter account on July 16, 2014. Musk wanted the three current models to spell SEX, but settled for "S3X". In early 2017, after trademark opposition regarding Adidas's three stripes logo, the triplicate horizontal-bar stylization was abandoned and changed to a numeric "3".

Design

In 2013, design chief Franz von Holzhausen said that the Model 3 will "be an Audi A4, BMW 3 Series, Mercedes-Benz C-Class type of vehicle that will offer everything: range, affordability, and performance" that is targeted toward the mass market. While technology from Tesla's Model S will be used in the Model 3, it will be 20% smaller than the Model S and have its own unique design.

                                       

According to Tesla's CTO, JB Straubel, in October 2015, most Tesla engineers were working on the 3 rather than S or X. Since electric cars have lower cooling needs than combustion cars, the Model 3 does not have or need a front grille. Musk intended for the final design to be released on June 30, 2016 but when the design was finished on July 27, it was not publicly released. After the final design of the first Model 3, any further changes would be included in future versions of the Model 3. The standard glass roof developed by Tesla Glass is made of the same glass used for Tesla's roof tiles.

Engineering

The Model 3 is mostly steel, with some aluminum. The 185 cm (6.07 ft) width was chosen to fit with automated parking systems in Japan. Due to its smaller size, the 3 consumes less energy than the Y, and thus has longer range.

Traditional stability control is not made for dual-motor control or the faster response time in electric motors, and Tesla modified the control unit. The motors have magnets arranged in a Halbach array. The cooling system is integrated to reduce size and cost.

Specifications

As production began in 2017, the base Model 3 was announced to have a 50-kWh battery with a range of about 220 miles (350 km) while the optional 75-kWh battery would have a range of about 310 miles (500 km). In the event, Tesla did not produce any base Model 3s in 2017 or 2018. The battery uses 2170-size lithium-ion cells

As of 2017, the 350-volt Model 3 battery pack was made of four longitudinal modules each containing the individual battery cells. The Standard Range version carries 2,976 cells arranged in groups of 31. The Long Range version carries 4,416 cells arranged in groups of 46, and weighs 480 kg.

Tesla continues to improve the design of the 2170 battery cell and introduces incremental improvements into the manufacturing line periodically. Tesla began manufacture of the "lighter, better, cheaper" 2170 cell during 2018, with a company goal of reducing the cost of assembled battery packs to US$100 per kilowatt-hour (kWh) by December 2018, and moving the new cell into volume production at Gigafactory 1 during the first quarter of 2019. Electrek reported in late 2018 that the improved battery cell design was needed to further reduce battery costs as Tesla was planning to begin to deliver the Model 3 Standard Range for the promised base price of US$35,000 the following year.

The inverter for the Model 3 drive unit uses 24 pairs of Silicon Carbide (SiC) MOSFET chips rated for 650 volts each.

In July 2018, media reported that a Model 3 prototype was seen in California and Nevada while towing a trailer in an apparent evaluation of a tow bar. In May 2019 Tesla started offering an optional tow bar rated for 2,000 pounds (910 kg) available with Standard Range Plus and Long Range for the European Model 3.

The Model 3 uses regenerative braking, which was tweaked and improved in October 2018 via a software update.

In October 2019, Tesla released a software update including a 5% power upgrade to owners of the Model 3, via 2019.36.2.1 with peak power optimization, showing noticeable improvements in acceleration and overall speed. In December 2019, Tesla offered Long Range dual-motor Model 3 owners with software version 2019.40.2 the option to purchase a $2000 "Acceleration Boost" software upgrade enabling a Sport driving mode, advertised to reduce 0-60 time from 4.4s to 3.9s; road testing confirmed further improved acceleration with drivers in Sport mode reaching 0-60 mph in 3.67s from standstill and 3.47s with a 1 ft rollout.