Difference between these models

[Holy_Song]

I'm looking to buy another M3 but I'd like to secure a LFP battery and the advisors over the phone nor online are much help. When browsing the used inventory I see two the types as follows,

Model 3 Standard Range Plus Rear-Wheel Drive
Range 262 5.3s 0-60

Standard Range Plus Rear-Wheel Drive
253mi Range 5.3sec 0-60 mph

Both are year 2021 model 3 and since I'm ordering online I cannot see the battery information, My question is what is the difference between "Model 3 standard range plus RWD" and "standard range plus RWD"?

 

[Black306]

IIRC, one way to tell if it is an LFP is by the 0-60; LFP is 5.8. So my guess is neither of the ones you posted are LFP.

 

[android04]

I'm looking to buy another M3 but I'd like to secure a LFP battery and the advisors over the phone nor online are much help. When browsing the used inventory I see two the types as follows,

Model 3 Standard Range Plus Rear-Wheel Drive
Range 262 5.3s 0-60

Standard Range Plus Rear-Wheel Drive
253mi Range 5.3sec 0-60 mph

Both are year 2021 model 3 and since I'm ordering online I cannot see the battery information, My question is what is the difference between "Model 3 standard range plus RWD" and "standard range plus RWD"?

Tesla has changed the rated range of the same trim cars even with the same exact battery pack over time, throughout the year (they don't wait until new model years). They do it by making changes and tweaks that increase efficiency (different wheels or tires, weight reduction, newer revisions of parts to be more energy efficient, etc...). If the 253 and 262 mile ranges are the rated ranges (and not just the ranges that they show when charged to 100%, which will change over time) then it was due to Tesla making updates during the 2021 model year.

An example: My car is an early 2018 Tesla Model 3 LR RWD and was rated 310 miles of range. In the same year (2018), Tesla increased that for later cars to 314 and then 325 miles of rated range. Same batteries.

 

[Holy_Song]

Tesla has changed the rated range of the same trim cars even with the same exact battery pack over time, throughout the year (they don't wait until new model years). They do it by making changes and tweaks that increase efficiency (different wheels or tires, weight reduction, newer revisions of parts to be more energy efficient, etc...). If the 253 and 262 mile ranges are the rated ranges (and not just the ranges that they show when charged to 100%, which will change over time) then it was due to Tesla making updates during the 2021 model year.

An example: My car is an early 2018 Tesla Model 3 LR RWD and was rated 310 miles of range. In the same year (2018), Tesla increased that for later cars to 314 and then 325 miles of rated range. Same batteries.

So there's no real way to know unless it's in person or if I know the build date?

 

[jjrandorin]

So there's no real way to know unless it's in person or if I know the build date?

The only way I would know of to check this would be for the seller to show a picture of the charging screen, and see if it it has "Daily" and "Trip" sections, or not. LFP equipped Tesla model 3s do not have that "daily" and "trip" section as far as recommended charging levels.

You could ask a seller to share a picture of the charging screen, and if you see "daily" and "trip" you can be virtually positive that the battery is NOT LFP.

I dont know if build date will help you, since tesla changes stuff all the time. 0-60 time listed might help, since all LFP models are significantly slower there (1/2 a second is a fairly decent difference), but especially at a third party dealer, there is no guarantee they will be listing the right specifications.

 

[android04]

So there's no real way to know unless it's in person or if I know the build date?

jjrandorin posted on how to tell if the battery is an LFP or not, but if you just want to know if the car was originally rated for 253 or 262 miles of range from Tesla with the same non-LFP battery then you would have to look up historic info (Google search) on when Tesla increased that range. I personally would not care because the difference isn't that big to me. You could also look at the Monroney sheet from both cars and see if they have different MPGe ratings, which would indicate that one is more efficient than the other. Just from a quick Google search, I see that some of the Standard Range Plus had 133 and others 131 MPGe on their Monroney sheet. The one with the higher number of 133 would be more efficient and get a higher range.

 

[Holy_Song]

Thanks for all the assistance