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Trunk is now 5 inches longer than at the initial reveal.

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hmm I don't know... I could be off a little on my alignment and scale, but I can't be this far off...(assuming Model 3 in white is original scale)

View attachment 227499

This GIF looks more accurate to the changes I've been thinking I've been seeing in the RC's. Slightly taller and more vertical back end with minimal or no increased overhang. This also results in slightly less downward angle of the rear glass. This would definitely increase interior trunk height.
 
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I'm working on a post-refresh Model S photoshop doing the same kind of overlay to illustrate show how futile these efforts are going to be and where the length distortion happens (hint: it's in the front and rear of the car if you line up the wheelbase). Will show when I get back home and finish it.

This does not necessarily mean there are no changes, but it also means the apparent length changes from the photos may simply be from the same perspective issues.

What's worse about the body-in white is that the nose is missing, so you can't really tell as easily.
 
Hi there... It's the guy who did the comparison. I'm certainly not saying it's exactly. I was mostly trying to highlight a few chnges that I'm fairly certain have been made in the design (e.g. the back of the trunk appears to be angled a little differently in the RC's vs. the alpha and there is a noticeable overhang from the trunk's horizontal trim line and the license plate. I was very surprised to see the possible difference in length. So here are some comments, and a different comparison, just for fun...

1) I'm pretty confident that both of those are 3d renders, not actual photographs. That means that unless someone has intentionally added distortion for some reason--which is doubtful--there shouldn't be any issues with barrel distortion. The optics of a camera lens's design introduces distortion. A computer program doing orthographic projections does not.
2) If these are renders, there are possibly other aspects that aren't fully accurate. Can't really know that without knowing the purpose of the render and what level of detail they were going for. Or if any design changes have happened since the renders.
3) There is a chance the renders are not both completely square on from the center of the car. If that's the case, yes, there could be issues with things lining up and/or measuring differently. That said, the fact that the wheel wells, doors, and front end line up as well as they do has me reasonably confident that this isn't an issue here.
4) My overlay could very well be off a little even if these two images are perfectly good images and that could make a big difference in the lengths of things and their alignment.

So... here's the other fun comparison. I don't treat it as any sort of gospel, so don't criticize it as if I am. I do think it highlights some minor design changes. I will note that the windshield, roof, and bumper panels are missing, so there will be some differences there that might not actually be changed from the alpha. But, again, I do think there is some evidence that the rear windshield/roof has been flattened out a little and is a little longer, resulting in a slightly bigger trunk deck and a slightly longer rear overhang. I think that is consistent with Elon Musk's comment that the public's concerns about the size of the trunk opening had been addressed. For full context, the silver car is the alpha that Motor Trend photographed shortly after the launch/reveal. The purple is the BIW render.
sxbvt8k10jyy.jpg
 
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The most interesting thing about that comparison chart is that the Model 3 has the longest wheelbase and is the widest of any of those cars except for the Model S (which doesn't really belong in that chart, it's a completely different class of car).

I expect the Model 3 to have more interior seating room for 5 adults than any vehicle in its class. It won't have the most cargo space (with the rear seat up) because it's not a hatchback with a squared off rear end.
 
The most interesting thing about that comparison chart is that the Model 3 has the longest wheelbase and is the widest of any of those cars except for the Model S
The width of the car is the most worrisome to me since it will have to sit next to my wife's minivan in the garage. Not sure I'll be able to summon it into the garage since my driveway slopes up. I have some leeway with the length, so if it ends up a tad longer than Motor Trend's estimate of the alpha, it won't be an issue.
 
Here's an idea - quit trying to second guess and speculate on everything Tesla is doing, and just wait until Model 3's are available for test drives. Then bribe the Tesla person with $50 to drive to your house to test fit it in the garage. Or take your other car and a tape measure to the Tesla Store. Tesla can't say much now about the 3, to keep the Model S/X sales going.
 
Here's an idea - quit trying to second guess and speculate on everything Tesla is doing, and just wait until Model 3's are available for test drives. Then bribe the Tesla person with $50 to drive to your house to test fit it in the garage. Or take your other car and a tape measure to the Tesla Store. Tesla can't say much now about the 3, to keep the Model S/X sales going.
Well said
 
No need to wait for a demo car and all that rigmarole. Official dimensions will be published by the time the first cars roll off the line. However, in the meantime, it doesn't hurt to plan ahead and start moving stuff around in the garage to accommodate the vehicle using the currently available information, which are estimates (not speculation) from Motor Trend when they had exclusive and extended access to the Model 3 at last year's photoshoot.
 
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Hi there... It's the guy who did the comparison. I'm certainly not saying it's exactly. I was mostly trying to highlight a few chnges that I'm fairly certain have been made in the design (e.g. the back of the trunk appears to be angled a little differently in the RC's vs. the alpha and there is a noticeable overhang from the trunk's horizontal trim line and the license plate. I was very surprised to see the possible difference in length. So here are some comments, and a different comparison, just for fun...

1) I'm pretty confident that both of those are 3d renders, not actual photographs. That means that unless someone has intentionally added distortion for some reason--which is doubtful--there shouldn't be any issues with barrel distortion. The optics of a camera lens's design introduces distortion. A computer program doing orthographic projections does not.
How do we know it is a orthographic projection rather than a perspective projection? In fact, for promotional photo (rather than one used for measurements) it makes more sense to use perspective. In a perspective projection, the issue is not lens distortion (barrel or otherwise), but rather parallax errors from different parts of the car being at different depths relative to the camera. In a perspective projection, farther objects look smaller. This distorts the object for measurement purposes when it is not flat.

2) If these are renders, there are possibly other aspects that aren't fully accurate. Can't really know that without knowing the purpose of the render and what level of detail they were going for. Or if any design changes have happened since the renders.
3) There is a chance the renders are not both completely square on from the center of the car. If that's the case, yes, there could be issues with things lining up and/or measuring differently. That said, the fact that the wheel wells, doors, and front end line up as well as they do has me reasonably confident that this isn't an issue here.
4) My overlay could very well be off a little even if these two images are perfectly good images and that could make a big difference in the lengths of things and their alignment.

So... here's the other fun comparison. I don't treat it as any sort of gospel, so don't criticize it as if I am. I do think it highlights some minor design changes. I will note that the windshield, roof, and bumper panels are missing, so there will be some differences there that might not actually be changed from the alpha. But, again, I do think there is some evidence that the rear windshield/roof has been flattened out a little and is a little longer, resulting in a slightly bigger trunk deck and a slightly longer rear overhang. I think that is consistent with Elon Musk's comment that the public's concerns about the size of the trunk opening had been addressed. For full context, the silver car is the alpha that Motor Trend photographed shortly after the launch/reveal. The purple is the BIW render.
View attachment 227720
Your front door and the side marker obviously doesn't line up properly. That is an immediate sign that something is off in your overlay.

I'll post my Model S photo shortly to show the kind of factors I'm talking about. If I have time, I'll work on a overlay of the blue Model 3 render and the Motor Trend photo.
 
Here is the photo for the Model S to illustrate my points.
The base photo is the side view render from the design studio. The options I picked is P100D, multicoat red (for better contrast), and 21" silver turbine wheels (to match Motor Trend).
Order a Tesla Model S | Tesla
Overlay is from the Motor Trend photoshoot of the refresh P90D, from the exact same angle that the Model 3 alpha was photographed from.
2016 Tesla Model S P90D Quick Drive Review - Motor Trend

The images were lined up and scaled using the wheelbase. Then I shifted the photo vertically to match the body lines (the wheels don't match vertically because the suspension settings are likely different).

The black lines front and back represent how long the car would be in an orthographic projection (196") using 116.5" as the wheelbase.
Model S Specifications

The MotorTrend image is ~3 inches shorter in front, and ~3 inches shorter in back than what would be expected. The rendering is a further ~3.5 inches shorter front and ~3.5 inches shorter back vs the MotorTrend image. I think this shows clearly how the length of the front and back gets distorted based on perspective.
p90d_p100d_measurements.jpg


Now you may ask, why is only the front and back distorted, while the parts between the wheelbase seem to match exactly?
A look from the top will answer that question:
pic-8.jpg

Look at the sides of the car. While there is some change in depth (by depth I mean when looking from the side view as in the first photo), the changes are still relatively small. But look at the front and rear edges of the car (the bumpers). The ends are much deeper in depth. This is what results in the length changing relative to the wheelbase.
 
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This is a key point regarding lens distortion ("perspective distortion" in this case) ... the front AND back would be different instead of just a single side (assuming the car was centered).
Right, which is why I pointed out in this comment that the body-in-white missing the front bumper makes things harder to judge.
Trunk is now 5 inches longer than at the initial reveal.

But looking a bit closely, it seems the beams in the front reach to the edge of the bumper cover of the MotorTrend photo. This suggests that with the bumper cover on, it'll also be longer in the front too.

And yes, being centered is critical too (we don't know if the body-in-white is centered). I suspect it is not, because in both your render and @Autolycus's the side marker and front door line does not match up. In my Model S overlay, they match up exactly. Now this may be because they changed the design, but I find the door line unlikely (the side marker maybe).
 
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Very fair comments about judging length from these. As I said, I wasn't really trying to get an exact measurement off of it. 5" would be a much bigger change than I would expect. I might expect an inch or two at most. Of course we don't actually know how long the alpha was, aside from Motor Trend's estimates, so that wouldn't really tell us a whole lot anyway.

I do think the shape of the rear end has changed a little. As has the front. But it's tough to get a good sense of that from the release candidate photos that have mostly be taken with cell phones.