- Tesla brings back the turn signal stalk for the Model 3 in Europe.
- All Model 3 variants receive upgraded battery cells, increasing the WLTP range by up to 30 miles.
- Tesla has also added a new front-facing camera, but hasn’t changed the pricing structure for the Model 3.
When I drove the refreshed Tesla Model 3 Highland here in Europe, I liked it a lot, but there was one thing that never stopped being infuriating: the turn signal wasn’t a dedicated stalk, and this made everyday operation more tedious than it needed to be. But Tesla has given the Model 3 its turn signal stalk back in Europe, along with a series of other upgrades.
I have already tried the new stalk on the Model Y Juniper, and even though it’s much better than having buttons on the steering wheel, it still isn’t perfect. It only handles turn signals and has no other function—you can’t pull or push on it, so it literally has just one job, like you used to see on cars in the 1970s.
Photo by: Tesla
Tesla could have given it additional functionality, but chose the simplest route possible. It’s better than not having a stalk, but it’s also not as good as it could have been with additional functionality that could have been relocated from the steering wheel onto the new stick.
The Model 3 for Europe also gains a new front-facing camera, which finally eliminates the blind spot right in front of the car. The new camera comes with its own built-in washer nozzle, which is great news considering it will get dirty very quickly, so you won’t have to keep wiping it down like you do with other cameras around the car.
All Model 3 variants get upgraded cells in their battery packs, which bring a range boost. The WLTP range for the base Model 3 Rear-Wheel Drive, which has an LFP battery with a capacity exceeding 60 kWh, goes up from 319 miles (513 km) to 344 miles (554 km) with the base 18-inch wheels. If you get the larger 19-inch wheels, the range drops to 323 miles (520 km).
The Long-Range RWD model, which has a larger NMC battery with around 75 kWh capacity, gets a similar range gain, up from 436 miles (702 km) to 466 miles (750 km). The dual-motor, all-wheel drive model with the same battery gets a boost from 421 miles (678 km) to 445 (716 km), while the Performance sees an increase from 328 miles (528 km) to 354 miles (571 km).
The new higher-density cells also benefit the Model Y, whose range in dual-motor long-range guise goes up from 364 miles (586 km) to 390 miles (629 km). Tesla doesn’t say what the actual gains are with the new batteries, but with more power density in the same volume, they must have more kilowatt-hours of capacity, which is where the range increase comes from.
All of these changes were announced in China in September and since all Europe-bound Model 3s are built in China, it makes sense that they would arrive here too. And even though it gets new stuff and more range, Tesla hasn’t made any changes to the model’s pricing structure, so it still starts at €39,990 ($46,900) and goes up to €57,490 ($67,480) for the Performance.
