2021 Model 3 and differences from 2020

[TheRFMan]

Don't listen to him. If you use the heater smart you can have almost summer consumption in near 0C.

It's not just the heater that decreases range. It's the increased rolling resistance of winter tires. And extra energy needed driving on snowy roads. And the battery using energy to heat itself up and remain warm. And you live in a pretty nice place if 0C is the dead of winter for you. Try -20C in jan/feb mornings with an average snowfall of 2.25m per year. You could leave the heater 100% off and still take a hit on range. Even ICE cars get worse mileage in that weather, and they get heat as a waste byproduct of the engine.

 

[nanobot]

Would it still be safe to charge the SR+ to 100% or was that only for the SR?

Try to keep it below 90% unless traveling.

 

[Kevy Baby]

Would it still be safe to charge the SR+ to 100% or was that only for the SR?

Charging to 100% isn't necessarily bad, just A) only do when going on long trips, right before you go, and B) don't leave it at that SOC for any longer than necessary.

Keep in mind that is isn't always beneficial, because you lose regenerative braking for a while. For example, if you have a lot of surface streets with lots of lights and/or a couple of local stops before hitting the highway you're not going to see much, if any, difference between charging to 95% (or even 90%) vs. 100%.

PS: typo in the spelling of Virginia in your Location in your profile.

 

[Protect1989]

Any estimation of when North America will start seeing the refreshed model 3 on the streets?

gotta imagine deliveries would be beginning soon.

 

[Zoomit]

To me it’s catching up. After 2-3 power increases they haven’t updated their site. Total marketing. The new car will not have the new cells. DU are the same. Only thing mechanically different is the heat pump which gives better range in cold climates only.

Everyone talks about the ”new cells”, which is presumably the 4680 size, like it’s the only battery change occurring at Tesla. The 2021 Model 3 now has the third version of the Panasonic 2170 cell in Model 3. This has increased energy density and contributes significantly to the increased range. The battery pack is slightly higher capacity than previously. The other major factor adding range is the heat pump which gives better range not only in cold climates but basically anywhere but Hawaii.

Is it known yet if the new design LR aero wheels have removable covers?

Yes, underlying wheels are the same. The new “Pinwheel Refresh” cap is a replacement for the original and will be retrofittable if desired.

Thread: New 18” Pinwheel Refresh Caps

 

[BHouse]

Any estimation of when North America will start seeing the refreshed model 3 on the streets?

gotta imagine deliveries would be beginning soon.

I talked to my delivery guy in Vancouver and he told me late Nov, early Dec. I ordered Sept 29.

 

[Kuroshio]

Refresh is all good. I still love my 2019 Model 3. Wheels, black trim and power tailgate can be done aftermarket. No issues with original 240 mile (385km) range and I personally like piano black trim. Even coming from an F10 M5, I enjoy the instant acceleration and one pedal driving. The car is still far ahead of anything I’ve owned before.

 

[ehacke]

I talked to my delivery guy in Vancouver and he told me late Nov, early Dec. I ordered Sept 29.

Yup. Looks like some people in Montreal have deliveries queued for Nov 18 - Nov 30.

So I'm hoping mine in Toronto is around the same.

 

[Fred42]

Is it known yet if the new design LR aero wheels have removable covers?

Plastic wheel covers

 

[Fred42]

So the consensus for a heated steering wheel is no (for now) ?
Getting close to pushing a buy button on SR+W/W

nix on heated steering wheel for now

 

[Sbax]

Out of all this the EMEA headlights look interesting. I wonder how much brighter the headlights are. I love the headlights now but if they’re even brighter it could warrant a swap from a wrecked 2021.

So is this saying that the North American market Model 3 is now getting the current EMEA headlights, or is this saying that EMEA cars are getting new headlights???
Because my understanding is that if the US cars are getting the EMEA headlights this would actually be a downgrade, because according to Bjørn Nyland the European headlights have less light output because European regulations state that unless you have headlight washers the total light output is limited.

 

[SageBrush]

Ok so about the heat pump and the range increase, I'm slightly confused. If the range increase is due to the heat pump, we would see a relatively higher increase in the SR+ than the LR because the energy lost to heating the cabin is constant; say it used to be 4kwh and now is 1kwh, this benetits the SR more (3 kwh is a 6% increase of the 50kwh pack, vs 3,5% on the LR 80kwh)

The range increase we're seeing matches more with a higher density battery, because a 5% improvement means 2,5kwh more on SR and 4kwh more on LR, which they can just multiply by m/kwh to get the numbers we're seeing.

Heat pump could still be in there, but the relation to the range increase seems unlikely?

Fair reasoning.
We cannot exclude the possibility of Tesla sandbagging certain model EPA results

 

[SageBrush]

This has increased energy density and contributes significantly to the increased range. The battery pack is slightly higher capacity than previously

I read these sentences as at odds with each other

 

[Zoomit]

I read these sentences as at odds with each other

The higher capacity cells are a major contributor of the range increase, but the pack capacity is only slightly higher relative to total pack size.

 

[hydro 481]

Since I don’t track it:

1) Which past model years were affected?

2) It sounds like you are saying it showed up as a range increase on the indicator in the car, for existing owners, right?

If they are doing this, they may be relaxing their obsession with making the rated miles match what the car has always had (in spite of underlying efficiency improvements). There’s no reason they have to keep doing it this way though. It’s just a constant adjustment (unless there is a capacity unlock - which they did for the 3LR RWD, without changing the constant).

Obviously it doesn’t matter what the miles in the car say as long as it is not a capacity unlock. It makes no difference to achievable range. But they may get fewer customer questions by just changing the display when they also update efficiency. I'll believe it when I see it though. It's quite rare, so far. In fact I don't know of a vehicle where the constant has changed, except briefly on 2020 Model 3 AWD models, right after release, it changed from 2019 constants to 2020 constants.

If you're talking about this: Tesla gives big range increase to Model S Performance - Electrek

That seems like a totally different thing than what I was talking about. This change would presumably apply to the 2021 Model S, not be retroactive to prior model years, and match the EPA rating (estimated at the moment).

I'm not sure to be honest. But according to this article the new Model 3s are equipped with an "efficiency package" that increases the range. That article you linked regarding the Model S Performance also mentions that it's being equipped with an efficiency package. My point is this efficiency package doesn't seem to be related to the heat pump since the Model S is getting it as well.

 

[MatildaModelY]

Strange, if you zoom in on the configurator for the new aero 18” wheels it sure looks like the tire size is 225/35zr19.

 

[RoBoRaT]

So is this saying that the North American market Model 3 is now getting the current EMEA headlights, or is this saying that EMEA cars are getting new headlights???
Because my understanding is that if the US cars are getting the EMEA headlights this would actually be a downgrade, because according to Bjørn Nyland the European headlights have less light output because European regulations state that unless you have headlight washers the total light output is limited.

New headlights are only for EMEA.

 

[Ben177]

Strange, if you zoom in on the configurator for the new aero 18” wheels it sure looks like the tire size is 225/35zr19.

View attachment 599994

The images are computer generated illustrations. I wouldn’t read much into it.

 

[AlanSubie4Life]

My point is this efficiency package doesn't seem to be related to the heat pump since the Model S is getting it as well.

I mean that might be the case that they can get this increase without a heat pump - look at the various improvements made on the Long Range Plus. A lot of those seem like they could be transferred to Performance. But I don’t track it closely.

And how do we know the new Model S will not have a heat pump?

But I don’t want to dig into the details of what is going on with Performance Model S: Going back to the original message you responded to, I was commenting that it is very rare for the constants to change on Tesla vehicles (after they have shipped), even if the efficiency is increased. So for an existing vehicle, your rated range usually stays exactly the same, but your range increases. That is the typical scenario.

This standard approach by Tesla could of course change at any time. That’s why I was asking for more info from you. Specifically, it *sounded* like you were saying that 2020 vehicles were getting a 40-rated-mile range increase as displayed. Probably not what you were saying though. But this is just a simple case of a 2021 vehicle having a lot higher range, for various reasons, which is not unusual. And it will have a different constant, of course. 2020 vehicles will just keep their same old rated range. But their range may increase (depends).

As usual, range is only loosely correlated with rated range displayed. While range is 100% correlated to efficiency.

 

[TimothyHW3]

It's not just the heater that decreases range. It's the increased rolling resistance of winter tires. And extra energy needed driving on snowy roads. And the battery using energy to heat itself up and remain warm. And you live in a pretty nice place if 0C is the dead of winter for you. Try -20C in jan/feb mornings with an average snowfall of 2.25m per year. You could leave the heater 100% off and still take a hit on range. Even ICE cars get worse mileage in that weather, and they get heat as a waste byproduct of the engine.

You can't just bring random things into the topic...
We were talking about the benefits of a heat pump and wether this is a deal breaker and I explained that it isn't - what does rolling resistance and air pressure have to do with that? Of course if you have 20cm of snow and -15C you will have higher consumption even with the heater off. But the thing is - a heat pump will have zero effect in that weather too.
The air heat pump operates effectively within 0 to 10C. Below -5C the coefficient drops below 2:1 and below -10C it is virtually 1:1 and then it is basically a PTC. So if your winter is anything like that, a heat pump will only bring you noise. PTC heater will be actually better.