2025 Tesla Model 3 RWD updated! More range for the same price as EV icon aims to hold on to ‘best-seller’ title in Australia
The best-selling and most popular member of the 2025 Tesla Model 3 line-up can now travel further on a single charge for no extra cost.
That’s because the base Model 3 RWD has undergone a battery swap.
Replacing the previous car’s 60kWh power pack that saw the entry Model 3 drive up to 513km, the new larger 62.5kWh lithium iron phosphate (LFP) battery sees the total distance covered on a single charge bumped by 7km to 520km.
READ MORE: Tesla to take on Toyota: The bold push to rumble the RAV4 Hybrid with the new Model Y Juniper
READ MORE: The Tesla fightback begins! Model Y deliveries underway as EV leader faces fierce challenges from BYD, Kia
READ MORE:
April 2025 EV sales: Tesla sales tank in crazy month that saw hybrids drop, BYD boom
Now powered by the same CATL battery as the recently facelifted Tesla Model Y, the base Tesla Model 3 RWD still includes a single rear-mounted 194kW/340Nm e-motor that can launch the medium sedan from 0-100km/h in 6.1 seconds and top out at 201km/h.
Inside, no changes have been made to the base Model 3 or the rest of the small all-electric sedan line-up with Tesla carrying over the same standard level of equipment.
That explains why the Model 3 RWD costs the same $54,900 (plus on-road costs) price as before.
The Model 3 was Australia’s second favourite EV after the top-selling Tesla Model Y SUV, but 2025 has not been as kind to the US brand as previous years.
Recent sales figures show volumes in the first four months of 2025 dropped as much as 61.9 per cent.
It’s expected the debut of the facelifted ‘Juniper’ Model Y plus the brand’s continued use of aggressive pricing tactics could still turnaround its fortunes in the remaining half of this year.
Correction to informaiton:
Tesla’s official ADR registration for the RWD Model 3 allows them to use a motor of “up to” 208Kw in the RWD, but they have never used a 208Kw motor, the US made original Standard Range+ used the 3D1 motor (discontinued) with hairpin windings rated at 202Kw / 404Nm
The base model 3 RWD from the Shanghai plant has had the 3D7 motor since 2020, this is rated at 194Kw / 340Nm.
The base model Y (Juniper upgrade) and model 3 use different motors now – the base model Y uses a 220Kw / 410Nm motor designated as 4D3 by Tesla.
This is why the RWD Juniper model Y has a 5.9s 0-100 vs the 6.1s of the Model 3 RWD despite being 160kg heavier.
Good spot Thomas and thanks for pointing that out. The story has been corrected. FYI, we’ve asked Tesla about all this in the past and they say say it comes down to different reporting/testing requirements. But 194/340 is in the owners manual and that’s what we go with.