Tesla increases price of its new cheapest Model 3 just days after launch, reduces price of dual motor

Just days after launching its new cheaper Model 3 with a ‘Mid Range’ battery pack, Tesla has increased the price of the new version of the electric vehicle by $1,000.

The automaker also made other price changes in its online design studio.

Last week, Tesla surprised many by launching a new battery pack for Model 3.

It wasn’t the long-awaited standard battery pack starting at $35,000, but it was a new and previously unannounced Mid Range battery pack that reduced the base price of the Model 3 to $45,000.

The price reduction is attributed to having fewer cells in the new pack’s modules, which is resulting in a range of 260 miles, according to Tesla.

Now the company updated the Model 3 online design studio last night and increased the price of the Model 3 with Mid Range battery pack to $46,000:

We asked Tesla to comment on the $1,000 price increase just days after launching the new version of the Model 3, but representatives weren’t immediately available to comment. We will update if we get an answer.

Update: A Tesla representative sent us the following statement without explaining the reason behind the adjustment:

“We made a slight adjustment to our pricing for Model 3 following the introduction of the Mid Range Battery last week. We will honor the lower pricing for all in-progress orders.”

Interestingly, the automaker also appear to have reduced the price of the Model 3 with Long Range battery pack and Dual Motor all-wheel-drive powertrain by $1,000.

The starting price is now $53,000 instead of $54,000 on the online design studio:

Now that the Dual Motor all-wheel-drive powertrain is only available with the Long Range battery pack option, it’s unclear what is seeing a price reduction here.

The Model 3 Performance didn’t get a price change, which could indicate that it is linked to the dual motor powertrain.

Tesla is still advertising a delivery in 6 to 10 weeks for the Model 3 with the new Mid Range battery pack.

Electrek’s Take

It’s hard to justify a price change like that just days after launching the new configuration.

I assume that Tesla is seeing higher demand than expected for the new version and it is adjusting the price in response.

The good news is that the Long Range with Dual Motor is now at its best price again.

At a starting price of $53,000, it’s back to the days where Tesla was only selling the all-wheel-drive upgrade for $4,000.

If you have been following closely, we reported that Tesla changed the price of the dual motor option on the Model 3 on 4 occasions. It looks like this would be the fifth.

Those price changes are starting to get annoying. A big part of Tesla’s whole idea of bypassing the franchise dealership model was that you didn’t need to worry about negotiating prices and having different prices at different dealerships.

At Tesla, everyone gets the same price, but it apparently depends on the week you order for some reason.

How do you feel about the latest price change? Let us know in the comment section below.