Tesla customers in Europe are in shock after the EV maker decided to significantly hike the price of the base version of the Model 3. In most European countries, the Model 3 RWD has now a starting price of €49,990 ($55,100) but can get as high as €54,990 ($60,400) in Italy and Portugal. The recent price hike also means that Tesla Model 3 customers will lose some of the subsidies in certain countries, including Germany.
Tesla started to raise the prices of its vehicles about a year ago, but things seem to have gotten out of control in the past months. With the cost of materials rising and a huge demand for the Model 3 and Model Y, Tesla saw the opportunity to adjust the prices and has done it brutally. No further than mid-March, Tesla increased the prices for the Long Range and the Performance trims of the Model 3 but left the price of the base model unchanged.
This made sense, considering the skyrocketing nickel prices and the fact that the base version features an LFP battery which is both cheaper and easier to build. Nevertheless, it didn’t take long and Tesla corrected this oversight with one of the highest price increases in its short history. In Germany and France, the Model 3 RWD is now €49,990 ($55,100), or €7,000 ($7,700) more expensive than before. The customers in both countries are lucky though, as the Italian and Portuguese customers pay €54,990 ($60,400) from now on.
The Germans also lose o big chunk of the environmental bonus because the Model 3 now falls into the luxury cars category. Until last month, this amounted to a €9,000 ($9,900) bonus, with €6,000 ($6,600) coming from the state and €3,000 ($3,300) from the manufacturer. Now the bonus drops to €7,500 ($8,250), so the real price hike is even bigger. But again, the Italians get no bonus and still pay a lot more for the Model 3.
There’s no apparent reason for the price increase of the LFP-powered Tesla Model 3 and certainly no reason for such a steep hike. It might be just a rude way on Tesla’s part to encourage customers in Europe to buy the Model Y, for which there is now more production capacity available. Indeed, the Model 3 Long Range and the Model Y Long Range have now the same price, at €56,990 ($62,600).
As of now, there is no LFP-battery Model Y in Europe, but things might change soon. If Giga Berlin will start producing a cheaper Model Y in the future, we expect this to retail for more or less the Model 3 RWD’s current price. This would effectively push customers in Europe to ditch the Model 3 altogether, leading to fewer vehicles imported from China.
This made sense, considering the skyrocketing nickel prices and the fact that the base version features an LFP battery which is both cheaper and easier to build. Nevertheless, it didn’t take long and Tesla corrected this oversight with one of the highest price increases in its short history. In Germany and France, the Model 3 RWD is now €49,990 ($55,100), or €7,000 ($7,700) more expensive than before. The customers in both countries are lucky though, as the Italian and Portuguese customers pay €54,990 ($60,400) from now on.
The Germans also lose o big chunk of the environmental bonus because the Model 3 now falls into the luxury cars category. Until last month, this amounted to a €9,000 ($9,900) bonus, with €6,000 ($6,600) coming from the state and €3,000 ($3,300) from the manufacturer. Now the bonus drops to €7,500 ($8,250), so the real price hike is even bigger. But again, the Italians get no bonus and still pay a lot more for the Model 3.
There’s no apparent reason for the price increase of the LFP-powered Tesla Model 3 and certainly no reason for such a steep hike. It might be just a rude way on Tesla’s part to encourage customers in Europe to buy the Model Y, for which there is now more production capacity available. Indeed, the Model 3 Long Range and the Model Y Long Range have now the same price, at €56,990 ($62,600).
As of now, there is no LFP-battery Model Y in Europe, but things might change soon. If Giga Berlin will start producing a cheaper Model Y in the future, we expect this to retail for more or less the Model 3 RWD’s current price. This would effectively push customers in Europe to ditch the Model 3 altogether, leading to fewer vehicles imported from China.
THIS IS NOT AN APRIL FOOLS JOKE
— Tesla_Adri (@tesla_adri) April 1, 2022
Tesla increased the price of the Model 3 RWD by 7000€ in Germany to 49990€
With that, the Model 3 is no longer able to get the 9000€ incentives by the government. It know only gets 7500€ pic.twitter.com/MZ6mHpn2iu