Latest sticker revision follows big registrations month.

IN the wake of recording its second strongest month of Model 3 registrations, Tesla has slipped in a second price drop this year for the volume-chasing entry car.

Firmly established as the country’s most popular full electric car even before it achieved 220 registrations last month the Model 3 has also become a less expensive buy-in.

Tesla notifed last week that the entry level Standard Range is now $66,900, the Long Range $82,900, and the Performance $95,900.

Those stickers preclude on-road costs, which add just under $2000 to each car’s tally and must be taken into account when seeking the Clean Car rebate – which, of course, still only applies to the least expensive car, the others still sitting above the $80k cut-off.

Before this latest price alteration, those cars were respectively $69,990, $87,900 and $100,900 – as result of price tweaks that hit in April. Prior to that, they were $74,900, $94,900 and $101,900.

The move doesn’t change anything with regards to how many Tesla models are eligible for the government’s Clean Car Discount. The Model 3 Standard Range is still the only variant that slides under the $80,000.

But,anyway, local Teslarati have understandably become animated that the car is virtually $60k now – so, basically $20k less than it was this time last year. Great for new buyers, perhaps not such good news for existing owners considering the inevitable impact this will have on residual values of stock bought back in 2020.

Tesla lacks a spokesperson in this market but some, including NZ Autocar magazine’s website, suggest the discount is mainly to do with Australasia’s new Model 3 supplier.

Standard Range and Long Range models now all come from Tesla’s new GigaFactory in China, whereas the Performance and Tesla’s other cars, the far more premium Model X and now decade-old Model S – which in its headline-making Plaid performance format increased in price from $209,990 to $224,990 – continue to come from the United States.

The June count for Model 3 was the second-best monthly tally for the type this year, being 50 short of March’s total, and takes year-to-date registrations for the car to 722.

Other recent Tesla news is that advertised driving ranges of all its vehicles is being revised by the brand – though without making any alteration to the drivetrains and battery.

Rather, Tesla has now determined to update to providing economy outcomes garnered by using the Worldwide Harmonised Light Vehicle Test Procedure formula.

This measure of energy consumption of vehicles has replaced the New European Driving Cycle (NEDC) rating, which the brand previously used as a measure.

As result, in the Model 3 family, the cited range of the Standard Range Plus has gone from 508km to 448km, the Long Range falls to 580km from a claimed 657km and the Performance now attests 567km, instead of 628km.