Ina nutshell: Tesla is reportedly working on an upgraded version of its five-year-old Model 3, which aims to reduce production costs with an emphasis on convenience that customers like. The project, codenamed “Highland”, aims to reduce costs by reducing the number of individual components used in the car interior.
According to a source familiar with the matter, as reported by Reuters, additional changes, including changes to the appearance of the sedan and transmission, may also accompany the update.
Tesla is known to use foundry machines to create individual larger components to reduce costs and speed up assembly. Limiting the number of individual components used in an assembly is also likely to reduce the burden on the supply chain.
“Time and time again we have found details that are not needed. They were put there just in case or by mistake. We removed so many parts from a machine that did nothing,” Musk said during an interview at the Baron Funds conference earlier this morning. month.
Sources said that the updated Model 3 will be put into production at the Tesla Gigafactory in Shanghai, starting in the third quarter of 2023. Production is also expected to take place at Tesla’s Fremont, California plant, but it’s unclear when work will begin there. Reuters also does not know what potential cost savings Tesla can expect as a result of the changes and whether any savings will be passed on to buyers in the form of price cuts.
Tesla is facing increasing pressure from traditional automakers on the electric vehicle front, including Chevy with its new Blazer EV and the all-electric Ford F-150 Lightning. GMC also recently announced the release of a 2024 Sierra Denali EV pickup truck priced from $107,000 excluding dealer fees.
The electric car manufacturer is also feeling the heat from foreign competitors. In China, which is Tesla’s second-largest market after the United States, sales of the Model 3 in the first 10 months of 2022 were down nine percent from a year earlier.
The most affordable Tesla Model 3 model costs from $46,990 at the time of writing, excluding potential gas savings. In the last quarter, Tesla produced a total of 345,988 Model 3 / Model Y vehicles.
