Welcome to Tesla Motors Club
Discuss Tesla's Model S, Model 3, Model X, Model Y, Cybertruck, Roadster and More.
Register

LFP SR+ over old LR?

This site may earn commission on affiliate links.
Hi I am looking to replace my i3 especially I will be traveling about 120 per day with my new role (we have charging at work but the price starting to get too high)
Always fancy a Model 3 and looking at used Model 3
I am looking at both 21 plate LFP SR+ and 19 plate LR
I wonder do I lose much if I pick the LFP SR over the LR, I think the LFP is slightly more robust battery? it will be a facelift and I will still have heated steering and rear heated seats if I find a 71 or later reg?
19 plate LR would have higher mileage on it, US rather MIC, but I gain more range and slightly better performance, nicer interior, front fog light and better sound system?
 
I would ignore the 'interior' being called premium, in practice it doesn't mean anything other than heated rear seats. The LR gives you more range, 4 wheel drive and more acceleration. Both are good cars with more performance than an i3.

I don't think in practice the battery chemistry of LFP really makes any difference when you own it, and it's really not proven what the degradation difference will be, we know the LR batteries don't degrade much after they first couple of years.

I had a 2019 car, now have a 2022, the 'facelift' doesn't really do anything that the old doesn't, it's fine, but so was the original.

It's largely going to come down to taking a test drive and seeing how well the cars have been looked after by previous owners.
 
Upvote 0
There is no right answer its down to personal preference. Depends on your priorities The Mic cars definitely have better paint and panel fit, and feel better screwed together. LR is faster with a bit better range.
I know this is not much help but you really need to check out at least one of each and decide for yourself.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Kurokawa
Upvote 0
The later cars also come with some quality of life improvements such as heated steering wheel, no ghastly gloss black plastic on the centre console (why do they all do this!!), wireless chargers, heat pump and the not to be underestimated power lift trunk. They also have some gimmicks like the external speaker.

If you can get a late 71 plate car it will have a 60kwh battery and not be that far behind a 2019 LR in terms of range, obviously much slower though.
 
Upvote 0
I think the range question is an interesting one to be fair.

A new RWD M3 quotes a WLTP range of 305 miles and can I believe be routinely charged to 100%. Assuming you don't go below 20% that would give a 'daily' usable range of around 244 m. If you look at a 2021 LR (like mine) the quoted range is 335 at 100% but for daily use you wouldn't want to charge to 100%, so if you take 90% as the daily limit you get 234 as a daily range, again assuming 20% is the lower limit. Only by charging to 100% does the LR have a better usable range.
 
Upvote 0
The newer cars are generally better, not so much the build quality improvements that came with the shift to China as you can get great US built cars and poor China built ones, its the number of developments to the design.

As Henry says, there's a lot to be said for the LFP battery. and 100% charging, although if you rapid charge a lot (ie travel and need to supercharge away from home), the ability to charge to 100% is negated by how long it takes to charge to that level.

It is complicated, and one of my go to resources even talks about your conundrum in this video. There are a few other tips in there to be mindful of. Its incredibly easy to get confused or make assumptions. Even trusted dealers like Richard Symonds did a whole video comparing two cars which he thought had different batteries, except the cars had the exact same battery (in fairness, he concluded they were very similar, which was just as well!)


You can talk yourself up all the time on price... a little bit more to get this... but heat pump is great for winter, the range holds up really well, so thats a car with the black trim from 2021 onwards. If you can get a 2022 RWD car, the battery is a fair bit slightly bigger, and while the car is much slower than a LR, its a great workhorse.

If you want fun, AWD, the option to buy Acceleration boost in the future, and less worried about a heated steering wheel then the LR makes a good car. Just make sure it's a good one.
 
Upvote 0
i did a lot a research between a 22 SR+ and 22 LR.

Range
In terms of everyday range, there really isn't much between the two models. why? With the LFP battery you charge to 100% regularly. so you get the full range 60KW/305miles WLTP. With the LR you charge to 80% - so in practice there is only 20-30miles different. Granted with the LR you can charge to 100% for long trips BUT 1) how often do you do that and most importantly 2) do you really drive c. 250+ miles (3hrs) without a stop?
The reality is that even for long trips, @ 70mph we will stop every few hours for a toilet/coffee break. Believe me, your car will be charged by the time you buy your coffee and walk back to the car.
Just have a look at a long trip in ABRP - London to Lakes - probably 10mins difference. In real world you will be getting a notification from Tesla saying your car is charged before you have finished your Starbucks sandwich.
IMHO - real life no difference.

Front Fog Lights
I've had premium german cars for decades which all had front fog lamps. I can't remember a time I used them.

AWD vs RWD
better efficiency in SR+.
Even in Canada Snow SR+ Computer traction is amazing

Performance
I was leaning to buying the performance. My other half Veto'd - it is SO quick you feel the blood rushing to the back of your head.
LR vs SR+ 50-70mph - not much in it. goto 6:40 =>

Sound System
SR+ has a great soundbar + Speakers - very good.
LR sound is simply amazing - no contest.

So my decision?
Range = real world, very little difference
Front Fogs = no big loss
AWD/RWD = real world, little difference
Performance = accelerating onto motorway / overtaking - not much between the two, we are talking a car length. If you want a drag race, get the performance.
Sound System - LR wins hands down.

So after a lot of consideration I couldn't justify thousand of pounds going from a Great sound to an amazing sound.

If I was you, and you are going 2nd hand. Get the SR+ 60KW LFP. Upgraded interior is much much better, heated rear seats, heated steering wheel.
 
Upvote 0
i did a lot a research between a 22 SR+ and 22 LR.

Range
In terms of everyday range, there really isn't much between the two models. why? With the LFP battery you charge to 100% regularly. so you get the full range 60KW/305miles WLTP. With the LR you charge to 80% - so in practice there is only 20-30miles different. Granted with the LR you can charge to 100% for long trips BUT 1) how often do you do that and most importantly 2) do you really drive c. 250+ miles (3hrs) without a stop?
The reality is that even for long trips, @ 70mph we will stop every few hours for a toilet/coffee break. Believe me, your car will be charged by the time you buy your coffee and walk back to the car.
Just have a look at a long trip in ABRP - London to Lakes - probably 10mins difference. In real world you will be getting a notification from Tesla saying your car is charged before you have finished your Starbucks sandwich.
IMHO - real life no difference.

Front Fog Lights
I've had premium german cars for decades which all had front fog lamps. I can't remember a time I used them.

AWD vs RWD
better efficiency in SR+.
Even in Canada Snow SR+ Computer traction is amazing

Performance
I was leaning to buying the performance. My other half Veto'd - it is SO quick you feel the blood rushing to the back of your head.
LR vs SR+ 50-70mph - not much in it. goto 6:40 =>

Sound System
SR+ has a great soundbar + Speakers - very good.
LR sound is simply amazing - no contest.

So my decision?
Range = real world, very little difference
Front Fogs = no big loss
AWD/RWD = real world, little difference
Performance = accelerating onto motorway / overtaking - not much between the two, we are talking a car length. If you want a drag race, get the performance.
Sound System - LR wins hands down.

So after a lot of consideration I couldn't justify thousand of pounds going from a Great sound to an amazing sound.

If I was you, and you are going 2nd hand. Get the SR+ 60KW LFP. Upgraded interior is much much better, heated rear seats, heated steering wheel.
A good answer to most of your questions. A newer SR+ would be my choice over a pre facelift LR for all the above, plus you’ll have heated wheel/rear seats and the heat pump (which had a significant effect on cold weather range). MIC cars are much better built too.

No brainier in my opinion. Buy the newer car.
 
Upvote 0
i did a lot a research between a 22 SR+ and 22 LR.

Range
In terms of everyday range, there really isn't much between the two models. why? With the LFP battery you charge to 100% regularly. so you get the full range 60KW/305miles WLTP. With the LR you charge to 80% - so in practice there is only 20-30miles different. Granted with the LR you can charge to 100% for long trips BUT 1) how often do you do that and most importantly 2) do you really drive c. 250+ miles (3hrs) without a stop?
The reality is that even for long trips, @ 70mph we will stop every few hours for a toilet/coffee break. Believe me, your car will be charged by the time you buy your coffee and walk back to the car.
Just have a look at a long trip in ABRP - London to Lakes - probably 10mins difference. In real world you will be getting a notification from Tesla saying your car is charged before you have finished your Starbucks sandwich.
IMHO - real life no difference.

Front Fog Lights
I've had premium german cars for decades which all had front fog lamps. I can't remember a time I used them.

AWD vs RWD
better efficiency in SR+.
Even in Canada Snow SR+ Computer traction is amazing

Performance
I was leaning to buying the performance. My other half Veto'd - it is SO quick you feel the blood rushing to the back of your head.
LR vs SR+ 50-70mph - not much in it. goto 6:40 =>

Sound System
SR+ has a great soundbar + Speakers - very good.
LR sound is simply amazing - no contest.

So my decision?
Range = real world, very little difference
Front Fogs = no big loss
AWD/RWD = real world, little difference
Performance = accelerating onto motorway / overtaking - not much between the two, we are talking a car length. If you want a drag race, get the performance.
Sound System - LR wins hands down.

So after a lot of consideration I couldn't justify thousand of pounds going from a Great sound to an amazing sound.

If I was you, and you are going 2nd hand. Get the SR+ 60KW LFP. Upgraded interior is much much better, heated rear seats, heated steering wheel.
I agree with a lot the sentiment here, but with one caveat - and it's in the video I posted earlier. Take the SR+/RWD - there have been 3 different battery sizes in the Uk on that model alone, 2 of them the LFP battery. A 2021 car has 5kwh less than a 2022 SR+/RWD, and a 2020 has 5kwh less again - thats 10 kwh over 2 years and about 40 miles of range. When looking at cars you need to be really careful with the year and that they can differ very quickly (and I appreciate the poster was explicit with the year here). Sadly the youtube world often aren't as careful
 
Upvote 0
I did a trial drive in an LR which I had for 3 hours. It was ridiculously fast. I decided to get a RWD because the range difference on normal charging to 90% on LR and 100% on RWD is not much different. I hadn’t driven a RWD till mine arrived yesterday. Today I went for a spin and floored it to see what I thought of the difference. Oh, I thought, that did seem unexciting. Then I remembered I was in Comfort mode and switched to normal. Jeepers, thats pretty quick now! Don’t think that will be normal for me, and put it straight back in comfort.

30 years ago I probably would have desperately wanted the LR with its nearly ludicrous acceleration. Now, to be honest the RWD is more than quick enough.

I imagine this would be the deciding split for many.
 
Upvote 0
Then I remembered I was in Comfort mode and switched to normal. Jeepers, thats pretty quick now! Don’t think that will be normal for me, and put it straight back in comfort.

The problem with leaving it in Chill (it's not called "Comfort" mode) mode is that if you really need that extra push ... even if infrequently ... you will be stuck. In standard mode the car (especially a RWD or SR+) can be driven very very smoothly with normal control of the accelerator. When overtaking is required it's nice to be able to spend as little time as possible on the wrong side of the road ... and you can do this without the noise and drama of an ICE that needs to drop a couple of gears and rev frantically.
 
  • Like
Reactions: pow216 and Astrape
Upvote 0
The problem with leaving it in Chill (it's not called "Comfort" mode) mode is that if you really need that extra push ... even if infrequently ... you will be stuck. In standard mode the car (especially a RWD or SR+) can be driven very very smoothly with normal control of the accelerator. When overtaking is required it's nice to be able to spend as little time as possible on the wrong side of the road ... and you can do this without the noise and drama of an ICE that needs to drop a couple of gears and rev frantically.
Fair point, with more miles I may find that works for me too. And I would definitely be in normal mode if I was in a hurry on single lane roads. I’m coming from a CVE hybrid so rev frantically is not a thing for me. I did try the BMW 530e and thats exactly how I felt about it. It could get going, but there was delay, and a whole lot going on before it got its act together. Whereas test driving the Tesla was an exercise in peace and control.
 
Upvote 0
I did a trial drive in an LR which I had for 3 hours. It was ridiculously fast. I decided to get a RWD because the range difference on normal charging to 90% on LR and 100% on RWD is not much different. I hadn’t driven a RWD till mine arrived yesterday. Today I went for a spin and floored it to see what I thought of the difference. Oh, I thought, that did seem unexciting. Then I remembered I was in Comfort mode and switched to normal. Jeepers, thats pretty quick now! Don’t think that will be normal for me, and put it straight back in comfort.

30 years ago I probably would have desperately wanted the LR with its nearly ludicrous acceleration. Now, to be honest the RWD is more than quick enough.

I imagine this would be the deciding split for many.
At the time of the test drive, I should have opted for performance instead of the long range. Still for my day to day driving chill mode is fine.
 
Upvote 0