I ordered a Performance 3. The car at delivery was an AWD.

[yul sam]

I posted this in the Canada forum. I think it might be of interest to the general audience


On Monday I went to the Montreal dealership for delivery of my P3D-, MSM, 18" aeros, white interior. There were 5 or 6 M3's inside the showroom awaiting delivery, and I went to the one that fit my order, and the vin was mine. The car was pristine inside and out, very well detailed and waxed. The paperwork went quickly and smoothly, and the car appeared in my app.

That’s when I noticed that the red line under Dual Motor was missing in the app. I checked and it was also missing on the car’s screen. I also noticed that the choices for Acceleration in the car’s settings were Chill and Standard (Instead of Sport).

I brought this to the attention of the DS, and pretty soon, several technicians were checking the car and their computers, and they got in touch with engineering in the US. They confirmed that the car was AWD and promised a quick fix. It took about 30 minutes for the red lines to appear, and Standard also changed to Sport, and soon I was on my way. I come from a 70D model S, and had taken delivery of my daughter’s RWD back in June and drove it around for a couple of weeks, and this car’s acceleration was totally something else.

Yesterday I did a couple of runs (in opposite directions) with my G-tech RR from 2008, and got 3.3 and 3.4 seconds 0-60. I looked at the old runs from back then, my V10 M6 BMW with launch control was good for 4.45-4.6 seconds. I am in awe, and can't seem to wipe the stupid grin from my face.

Was the car a regular AWD or built with "performance binned" motors and drives? No way to know!
Was the car unlocked to Performance with only the screen settings missing, or was it 100% AWD? Again no way to know.
One thing I know is that the car is still AWD in my "view car details" page on my Tesla account.

I had a great delivery experience, my new car is perfect, not even a minute blemish, and everything works, and it way exceeds my expectations in build quality and performance. Also all the other cars that I checked while waiting were similarly immaculate. I simply cannot understand the horror stories from other delivery locations.

 

[woodisgood]

So Performance is simply a software unlock of the AWD? I assume you don't have a 0-60 pre-SC.

 

[SION1771]

I continue to scratch my head at why this is a mystery - everyone in the dealership must know the truth, and it's not like it won't get out eventually. Still waiting to see something from Tesla that says Performance isn't just software... though maybe I missed the tweet.

 

[cab]

Oh they definitely bin them, as in "You bin an AWD, but now you be a Perf AWD".

 

[Silver_Bullet]

As a non-P owner, i wish it's just a software upgrade. LOL

 

[gambit48]

What does your window sticker say? I'd try and get it sorted out.

I just sold my minivan. I had problems getting quotes from dealers without showing the window sticker. I had the highest trim level, but apparently, my VIN just shows what options I can have, not what I actually do have. The 2nd highest level and my highest level are kind of lumped in together. They even called the dealer where I bought my car, but the stupid dealer said their sales records showed it was the 2nd highest level trim. They called another local dealer asking for tell tale signs, but they still got it wrong. Luckily, they did their own research and took my word for it. I later found the window sticker which made the sales guy really happy.

My local Tesla store doesn't have the most knowledgeable of staff. They're supremely polite and nice, but not the most knowledgeable. I can see you running into the same problem, and having Tesla staff not confirm it's actually a Performance model unless you got written proof somewhere. And have it show up as Performance in your account, etc.

That reminds me. I need to get my Model 3's window sticker. They gave me the wrong one when I picked up my car.

 

[jsrawa]

I think this is further proof Ps are simply software unlocked. I hope that means we can uncork our AWD down the road for some $$, it would be nice to have the option and could be a nice money maker for Tesla.

 

[M109Rider]

That would be a nice option down the road.
I think if this was ever possible, it would never happen unless the risk of pissing off all performance owners was for some reason, a non issue.
Not sure how that would be possible, but who knows.
Anything is possible.

 

[TT97]

I think this is further proof Ps are simply software unlocked. I hope that means we can uncork our AWD down the road for some $$, it would be nice to have the option and could be a nice money maker for Tesla.

If they start doing that, is there any reason they couldn't do it for the RWD as well? The first P cars were RWD.

 

[Daniel in SD]

If they start doing that, is there any reason they couldn't do it for the RWD as well? The first P cars were RWD.

The first P cars had almost the same peak horsepower but a better inverter for more torque. I'm pretty sure they weren't just a software difference.
The RWD already has the same rear motor power as the P. There's no evidence of or reason for the rear motor being more powerful in the P.

 

[Canikony]

This either means there are some AWD models that have "binned" motors or the performance models are just a software unlock on AWD models.

I'm guessing the latter.

 

[YusufT]

If they start doing that, is there any reason they couldn't do it for the RWD as well? The first P cars were RWD.

As much as I’d love that, I doubt Tesla wants it to be too fast. Remember people they need to sell some Model S’s too. Can’t get into that territory.

 

[TT97]

As much as I’d love that, I doubt Tesla wants it to be too fast. Remember people they need to sell some Model S’s too. Can’t get into that territory.

I don't think they will do it either (but I don't think they will do it for the AWD as well). Although if they are close in December to making a profit for Q4, I can see Tesla going for the easy cash grab to get over the hump.

As far as S territory, the D is already almost as fast and the P is faster. I don't think people are buying an S for 0.3 seconds faster 0-60.

My guess is that any software unlock would still put the RWD in the low 4s.

 

[YusufT]

I don't think they will do it either (but I don't think they will do it for the AWD as well). Although if they are close in December to making a profit for Q4, I can see Tesla going for the easy cash grab to get over the hump.

As far as S territory, the D is already almost as fast and the P is faster. I don't think people are buying an S for 0.3 seconds faster 0-60.

My guess is that any software unlock would still put the RWD in the low 4s.

Yeah but they have to sell the AWD as well. There needs to be a big enough difference between RWD AWD and P for people to justify the price difference. I’d love to pay extra for a actual hardware upgrade as well. Instead of losing a bunch on a trade in to let’s say the P, I’d love to upgrade my RWD. Probably in that small minority for it so it won’t happen.

 

[Trevor B]

Sorry .. dumb question

What does the "-" denote in P3D-

 

[YusufT]

Sorry .. dumb question

What does the "-" denote in P3D-

I think it’s people with the Performance Model 3 without the Performance Upgrade Package.

 

[yul sam]

What does your window sticker say? I'd try and get it sorted out.

I just sold my minivan. I had problems getting quotes from dealers without showing the window sticker. I had the highest trim level, but apparently, my VIN just shows what options I can have, not what I actually do have. The 2nd highest level and my highest level are kind of lumped in together. They even called the dealer where I bought my car, but the stupid dealer said their sales records showed it was the 2nd highest level trim. They called another local dealer asking for tell tale signs, but they still got it wrong. Luckily, they did their own research and took my word for it. I later found the window sticker which made the sales guy really happy.

My local Tesla store doesn't have the most knowledgeable of staff. They're supremely polite and nice, but not the most knowledgeable. I can see you running into the same problem, and having Tesla staff not confirm it's actually a Performance model unless you got written proof somewhere. And have it show up as Performance in your account, etc.

That reminds me. I need to get my Model 3's window sticker. They gave me the wrong one when I picked up my car.

@gambit48
There was no window sticker, it is not compulsory in Canada!!

 

[Zoomit]

Doesn’t the 3P have a different chassis code on the door frame?

 

[stayfocus18]

Hope it is just a software lock....

 

[Crispix]

Doesn’t the 3P have a different chassis code on the door frame?

I think just the P3D+ (with performance package) has a different chassis code. Probably because the suspension is a tad lower. For the most part, it sure does seem like the significant difference between AWD and P3D (with or without the +) is software. That's ok.