Photo: Tesla Owners Silicon Valley
The facelifted Tesla Model 3 has been spotted on US roads for the past few months, even though, for the moment, it is only being manufactured in China. The car has recently been seen at a supercharger in Firebaugh, sitting right next to a Cybertruck.
The Tesla Model 3 Highland, stationary next to the Cybertruck, is a sight to behold. The pickup truck, with its intimidating angular lines and stainless steel body, looks like Gulliver in Lilliput next to the compact sedan with no edges whatsoever, sporting the Deep Blue Metallic paintwork. The two of them were spotted at the Firebaugh Supercharge in California.
The Model 3 displays Chinese lettering at the rear, something that we have seen before. So, it surely isn’t a prototype built in the United States for the American market, but one shipped from China and built specifically for the Chinese market.
The facelifted Model 3 is currently only built in China at the Giga Shanghai, China’s only automotive production center operated entirely by a foreign company. At the end of December, thousands of Model 3s and Model Ys, which are currently built at the Tesla plant in Shanghai, were spotted at the Shanghai South Port, ready to be shipped to Europe.
The vehicles to be sold on the American market will roll off the production line of the Fremont factory in California. But the Model 3 Highland has not entered production there yet. The plant is expected to kick off manufacturing the new Model 3 in the first quarter of this year.
Closer to that moment, American customers will find out the performance numbers of the car, which should be slightly different than those of the sold elsewhere in the world. The Standard Range RWD variant received a WLTP rating of 513 kilometers (319 miles) on a single charge, while the Long Range AWD can drive as far as 629 kilometers (391 miles) before it needs to be plugged in again.
Before that happens, though, several Model 3s were spotted on public roads in the United States. Every single month, we have reported about various prototypes being seen stateside. First, back in September, a facelifted Model 3 was caught cruising in California, not far from the SpaceX headquarters.
One month later, another one was seen driving in California. A driver of the pre-facelift Model 3 snapped some shots and uploaded them on former Twitter/current X. The car had California manufacturer plates, but it sported Chinese lettering on the tailgate, which was an indication that the car was made in China for the local market.
Then, in November, another one, a prototype in Ultra Red, this time wearing black camouflage and red brake calipers, with the latter being standard equipment on the Performance version.
The Model 3 displays Chinese lettering at the rear, something that we have seen before. So, it surely isn’t a prototype built in the United States for the American market, but one shipped from China and built specifically for the Chinese market.
The facelifted Model 3 is currently only built in China at the Giga Shanghai, China’s only automotive production center operated entirely by a foreign company. At the end of December, thousands of Model 3s and Model Ys, which are currently built at the Tesla plant in Shanghai, were spotted at the Shanghai South Port, ready to be shipped to Europe.
The vehicles to be sold on the American market will roll off the production line of the Fremont factory in California. But the Model 3 Highland has not entered production there yet. The plant is expected to kick off manufacturing the new Model 3 in the first quarter of this year.
Closer to that moment, American customers will find out the performance numbers of the car, which should be slightly different than those of the sold elsewhere in the world. The Standard Range RWD variant received a WLTP rating of 513 kilometers (319 miles) on a single charge, while the Long Range AWD can drive as far as 629 kilometers (391 miles) before it needs to be plugged in again.
Before that happens, though, several Model 3s were spotted on public roads in the United States. Every single month, we have reported about various prototypes being seen stateside. First, back in September, a facelifted Model 3 was caught cruising in California, not far from the SpaceX headquarters.
One month later, another one was seen driving in California. A driver of the pre-facelift Model 3 snapped some shots and uploaded them on former Twitter/current X. The car had California manufacturer plates, but it sported Chinese lettering on the tailgate, which was an indication that the car was made in China for the local market.
Then, in November, another one, a prototype in Ultra Red, this time wearing black camouflage and red brake calipers, with the latter being standard equipment on the Performance version.
Tesla Model 3 Highland full walk around. I saw this today at the Firebaugh supercharger. #tesla #tsla #model3 #fyp #viral #cybertruck #teslacybertruck pic.twitter.com/Vi7h3u0FIf
— Tesla Owners Silicon Valley (@teslaownersSV) December 29, 2023
Tesla Cybertruck and Highland Model 3 at Firebaugh supercharger pic.twitter.com/pGK9ypgOiy
— Tesla Owners Silicon Valley (@teslaownersSV) December 29, 2023
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