Tesla freshens Model 3 with premium touches, cuts Model S, X prices

For the Model 3, the freshen was expected and gives the entry model a more elegant look and premium features typical of rivals in the compact luxury sedan segment.

Some upgrades mirror the automaker’s flagship Model S sedan, including a new steering wheel with no stalks. The turn-signal indicators have been moved to the left side of the wheel as buttons.

“Settle into an all-new interior, featuring a wraparound styling that cocoons you inside,” Tesla said on its Australian website. “Customize ambient lighting to make it your own.”

On the outside, Tesla has fitted the compact sedan with new front and rear fascias with fresh headlamps and tail-lamps, according to images on the global websites. Tesla said there were new colors — “Stealth Gray and Ultra Red” — and new tires and wheels that generate less cabin noise.

U.K. website Carwow, an online marketplace that offers vehicle reviews, said in a YouTube video that Tesla presented the car as being 8 percent more efficient from aerodynamic gains, but that the Model 3’s motors and battery options had not changed.

Carwow — citing Tesla data — said the freshened Model 3 had a 30 percent improvement in wind noise, an improved suspension for greater road isolation and an optional stereo with 17 speakers instead of 14.

In China, the starting price for the base model of the freshened Model 3 was 12 percent higher, with deliveries expected in the fourth quarter, Reuters reported. The car’s range increased about 9 percent to 377 miles. China uses its own testing standard to determine range. U.S. range numbers are generally lower in the U.S. than in China.

Bloomberg said that analysts were looking for a lower price tag in China that could help the company defend its leading EV position, under growing threat from domestic rivals such as BYD Co. — which aims to sell 3 million vehicles this year — and Nio Inc. and Xpeng Inc.

Tesla is also expected to launch its highly anticipated and long-delayed Cybertruck pickup in the U.S. in coming weeks. The automaker has not announced an official date for first deliveries of the pickup, but it has teased invitations for an event in Austin, Texas, with the timing to be determined.