2021 Model 3 and differences from 2020

[AlanSubie4Life]

At the moment it looks like in Germany the Long Range and Performance cars are being shipped with three different battery sizes.
-77 KWh (SMT Full Pack When New = 74.5 KWh)
-79 KWh (probably the old 77.8 KWh pack)
-82 KWh (SMT read-out not performed yet)

People have been very busy plotting VIN numbers and production dates to understand the system as to which battery goes when into which model.

Übersicht 2021 LR / P Batteriekapazität Fahrzeugschein
Übersicht 2021 LR / P Batteriekapazität Fahrzeugschein

Did I miss something here or why isnt this discussed in the states as well? People are surely puzzled why some are getting a smaller battery pack in the refreshed model, which is advertised with a higher range.

Interesting. Not sure what to make of the 74.5kWh capture or how SMT makes the claim that that is where the car started...

The 77/82 in the second spreadsheet (with occasional 79) - where is that info coming from? Registration data?

To me 77 seems like the old battery (but it should be ~77kWh in SMT). While 82 is the battery with the new cells. But I realize that there are a few ways in which this is inconsistent/does not make sense. 79 would make sense as a half-and-half battery or something. Or more likely just the old battery labeling, if this info is just from a label...

Still, doesn’t make sense to me that there would be any batteries with less capacity than in the past (SMT used to start at 77-78kWh).

So the biggest mystery here is the “new is 74.5kWh” claim from SMT. How do they determine this?

 

[solar3]

Sorry wife, gotta maintenance my car today by going to the track and braking hard. I'll be back for dinner.

I actually have done that a few times but on the highway in the middle of the night, slamming on the brakes going around 85, to give the brakes a workout and scrape the rotors clean. I did lube my calipers and pads at around 30k miles earlier this year. Nothing was fused together from rust. Having driven hybrids for years, I'm well aware of rusted brake parts due to "regen braking". One of them had the rear calipers completely seized, and I had to use an impact driver to drive the sliding pins off lol. Definitely a good idea to lube your brakes if you drive in a snowy region.

 

[TimothyHW3]

I guess you don't have much practice then

As a norwegian I wouldn't brag too much about driving skills

 

[Npap]

New headlights difference between the 2021 and 2020 models.
Tested on a UK car:

 

[AlanSubie4Life]

At the moment it looks like in Germany the Long Range and Performance cars are being shipped with three different battery sizes.
-77 KWh (SMT Full Pack When New = 74.5 KWh)
-79 KWh (probably the old 77.8 KWh pack)
-82 KWh (SMT read-out not performed yet)

People have been very busy plotting VIN numbers and production dates to understand the system as to which battery goes when into which model.

Übersicht 2021 LR / P Batteriekapazität Fahrzeugschein
Übersicht 2021 LR / P Batteriekapazität Fahrzeugschein

Did I miss something here or why isnt this discussed in the states as well? People are surely puzzled why some are getting a smaller battery pack in the refreshed model, which is advertised with a higher range.

Also, can you ask r3dbull in that German thread what is his rated range indicated at 100%, with his 73.4kWh battery (allegedly 74.5kWh when new)? And report back here? It's not unheard of for vehicles to show reduction of rated ranged when brand new (though not that common). I'm just curious what sort of condition this vehicle is in, relative to a vehicle which has the full rated range (whatever that is supposed to be in Europe for the new models...I think it should be 580km @ 100%). And again, I have no idea how SMT is arriving at the determination of what is the battery capacity when new. Do you know?

According to the FAQ, it sounds like it's not definitively correct, and it may vary from vehicle to vehicle! So it's not correct to use that as the max pack capacity, necessarily: "Scan My Tesla uses a newly discovered signal called 'Full pack when new' (only available in Model 3+Y) and compares that to your current 'Nominal full pack'. This is of course open for interpretation and discussion, but I have data from 2 LR Model 3's that I owned personally, that showed 77.4 and 77.3 when they were new, so I don't think 77.8 is a completely unrealistic number. Some people argue that number is just a hard-coded default value before the BMS gets to know the individual battery. That may be true. But which number should we use then?"

scan my tesla - FAQ

He also claims the buffer "can't be used" which isn't strictly speaking true as we know from multiple videos of people using the buffer, a lot, so there are definitely some unknowns with the interpretation of these numbers - it's not a definitive source.

 

[skysailorx]

just went to a dealer shop earlier, the new middle console looks smaller but quite stylish in my opinion. and weird thing is the sales said although model y and 3 are basically same car, model Y will have the old model 3 middle console for a while.

 

[Frankeuf]

The new battery cells and the heat pump are two major changes....

 

[Frankeuf]

just went to a dealer shop earlier, the new middle console looks smaller but quite stylish in my opinion. and weird thing is the sales said although model y and 3 are basically same car, model Y will have the old model 3 middle console for a while.

My dealer told me that the middle console of model Y will not be changed, just weird

 

[To3OrNotTo3]

My dealer told me that the middle console of model Y will not be changed, just weird

Yea it's very hard to trust anything sales people say. They usually don't have any authoritative knowledge, despite at times speaking confidently. My experience is that if you take the time to search for news, including on these forums, you are already more informed than your average Tesla salesperson unless they're also real enthusiasts themselves (1-2 out of the 6 I've worked with).

I say come equipped with a few questions you have high confidence in being true and not commonplace knowledge. You can use those types of questions to benchmark how much you trust your sales advisor.

 

[eivissa]

The 77/82 in the second spreadsheet (with occasional 79) - where is that info coming from? Registration data?

The battery size of the car gets printed on the registration papers in Germany. This is how the whole curiosity came up. The 2019/2020 LR+P models had "Battery Capacity 79 KWH" printed in the papers which ended up being 77.8KWH "when new" according to SMT.

Now since people have registered their refresh models we see 77, 79 and 82 in the papers on Long Range and Performance models alike. There seems to be no obvious system to it, as there are quite a few performance models with the "small" 77KWH battery and lots of Long Range models with the 82KWH and some occasional 79KWH models with the "old" 2019/2020 battery pack.

So the biggest mystery here is the “new is 74.5kWh” claim from SMT. How do they determine this?

How SMT gets these values is unknown to me, but the numbers 77,79 and 82 in our papers come from a database of the German NHTSA, which is linked to the registration offices around the country. The datapoint (like battery size) in this database are fed with numbers provided by Tesla. Actually they are fed with the european type certificates of all cars that can be officially registered in Europe. Teslas Type Certificate for Model 3 in Europe is done in the Netherlands.

Also, can you ask r3dbull in that German thread what is his rated range indicated at 100%, with his 73.4kWh battery (allegedly 74.5kWh when new)?

All refresh Long Range models (first refresh performance will be delivered tomorrow) have shown 530km when charged to 100% as far as I know. The 2019/2020 models were showing 500km when charged to 100%. So pre-refresh and refresh both were showing less than the advertised WLTP 560km/580km when new and charged to 100%.

 

[eivissa]

Also...using the voice comand (in German) "heater warmer" / "increase heating" in a refresh model 3 drops the error message "activation of heated steering wheel has failed"!!

This is worth a try in English

Model 3 Refresh aus Oktober 2020

 

[Frankeuf]

Yea it's very hard to trust anything sales people say. They usually don't have any authoritative knowledge, despite at times speaking confidently. My experience is that if you take the time to search for news, including on these forums, you are already more informed than your average Tesla salesperson unless they're also real enthusiasts themselves (1-2 out of the 6 I've worked with).

I say come equipped with a few questions you have high confidence in being true and not commonplace knowledge. You can use those types of questions to benchmark how much you trust your sales advisor.

Sounds reasonable

 

[teasla]

Apologize I lost patience reading through 64 pages, but do we know if heated steering wheel is there in the 2021 models?
If yes, is it there in the standard range plus model too?

 

[Sads]

Apologize I lost patience reading through 64 pages, but do we know if heated steering wheel is there in the 2021 models?
If yes, is it there in the standard range plus model too?

There is full details about the status of the heated steering wheel in the other thread. If you can't find the other thread, start a new one

 

[Mr X]

Do the new Model 3's brake lights light up like the new Y's?

 

[TimothyHW3]

have shown 530km when charged to 100% as far as I know

There is one with 535km/332 miles, but there is also one with the bigger battery showing 545-550km extrapolated to 100%

increase heating" in a refresh model 3 drops the error message

This is the same in all Model 3s, even the early 2019 ones. Most likely because of S and X having heated steering wheels.

 

[Marius A]

As a norwegian I wouldn't brag too much about driving skills

What's with the systemic discrimination against Norwegians? You need to chill, dude.

 

[solar3]

There is one with 535km/332 miles, but there is also one with the bigger battery showing 545-550km extrapolated to 100%

I suspect much whining will ensue when the USA folks start getting their 2021 LR cars and not seeing 353 miles. Seriously though, how can Tesla advertise 353 miles with the battery lottery that's supposedly going on, and especially when some might actually see 353 miles and some seeing 332.

First noise test between a 2020 and 2021 I've seen. As I suspected, the double pane glass makes no difference, at least at the speeds tested. It might make some difference to reduce wind noise at higher speeds, but I think much of the loudness from the Model 3 comes from road noise.

 

[Marius A]

First noise test between a 2020 and 2021 I've seen. As I suspected, the double pane glass makes no difference, at least at the speeds tested. It might make some difference to reduce wind noise at higher speeds, but I think much of the loudness from the Model 3 comes from road noise.

An app without a spectrum analyzer, running on a random phone placed on top of a vibrating surface.
The result is: Yes! Both cars make noise.

 

[solar3]

An app without a spectrum analyzer, running on a random phone placed on top of a vibrating surface.
The result is: Yes! Both cars make noise.

Nowhere was it stated that it was a complete scientific test, and I assumed whoever watched the video recognize that it's completely non-scientific. Maybe it is true that nothing is too obviously nowadays.

It at least shows that there was no noticeable difference in those, hmm, driving conditions. I'll await your full scientific test results.