Is Tesla getting ready to unveil the refreshed Model 3?
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Tesla CEO Elon Musk's recent visit to China, his first in three years, has set the stage for widespread conjecture around the unveiling of the revamped Tesla Model 3. Dubbed Project Highland, this model refresh has been a topic of discussion for some time. Industry insiders believe Musk's significant stop at the Shanghai Gigafactory might be strategically timed to coincide with a potential sneak peek of the new Model 3 design.
Musk's China visit is of strategic importance for Tesla. The Shanghai Gigafactory, a significant player in Tesla's global supply chain, has seen tremendous growth in recent years, a fact Musk highlighted during his visit. In addition, he praised the local team's quality and efficiency in overcoming numerous challenges, which might be a nod towards Tesla's rumored advancements with Project Highland.
Unraveling Project Highland: The Anticipated Tesla Model 3 Redesign
Tesla's Model 3 has seen minimal changes since its introduction in 2017. However, the buzz around 'Project Highland' suggests a significant design refresh is on the horizon. While the precise details remain partially under wraps, Tesla has hinted at numerous upgrades, including changes to the interior and exterior.
Over the past months, camouflaged vehicles have been spotted around California, with industry enthusiasts speculating over the hinted changes in Model 3's design. The sightings and drone footage from the Fremont factory indicate potential innovations, such as a stalkless steering wheel. Moreover, leaks suggest updates to the headlights and an overall sleeker design. It's clear that the anticipation around 'Project Highland' has been mounting.
Strategic Inventory Discounts: Preparing for the New Arrival?
Adding to the speculation around Project Highland, Tesla has recently made notable price adjustments to their existing inventory. The company has doubled discounts on some existing Model 3 electric cars and offered incentives on other models. This is an unusual move for the company and can be seen as a strategic measure to stir the market before introducing a significant model update.
In a competitive market, Tesla's discounts serve multiple purposes. First, they entice buyers amidst rising competition and potential economic uncertainty. They could also signal that Tesla is clearing inventory ahead of the launch of the new Model 3, hinting that the production versions of Project Highland are nearly ready.
While these are mostly speculations, the industry is eager for Tesla to make an official announcement. The reported discounts and the rumoured refresh have stirred considerable interest among electric vehicle enthusiasts and potential buyers.
Elon Musk's recent comments during his China visit, combined with Tesla's strategic pricing adjustments, suggest that something exciting is on the horizon for the Tesla Model 3. Whether these speculations will lead to unveiling of the new Model 3 under 'Project Highland' remains to be seen. As we await more official information, the anticipation continues to build around this significant refresh.
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The long long wait for FSD (Supervised) in Australia and New Zealand may be coming to an end. Thom Drew, Tesla’s Country Director for Australia & New Zealand, has confirmed on LinkedIn that Tesla has been working with local authorities in both countries and that there are no regulatory blockers for the release of FSD in the region.
The confirmation came in response to questions following Tesla’s FSD demo video in Sydney, Australia.
Hurdles Cleared
For many years, the main question surrounding the release of FSD in other Asia-Pacific countries, especially Australia, has been the status of regulatory approval. Drew’s statement provides the clearest answer yet regarding regulatory barriers, and it appears that the path is clear from a governmental standpoint.
“We have been working with local authorities across AU & NZ and there are no regulatory blockers for release. We are running through the final stages of validation prior to public release. Looking to start with HW4 on certain vehicles and then release in phases from there.”
Thom Drew, Tesla’s Country Director for Australia & New Zealand (LinkedIn)
With the regulatory question answered, the timeline for the release is now entirely in Tesla’s hands. According to his statement, Tesla is in the final phases before a public rollout, likely meaning Tesla is doing some final testing and veritifcation on local roads before flipping the switch.
— Tesla Australia & New Zealand (@TeslaAUNZ) July 17, 2025
The Rollout Plan: HW4 First
Drew also provided the first details on how Tesla plans to launch FSD in the two countries, and it seems to be a similar approach to the one Tesla took in China.
That means that the release will begin with AI4 (HW4) equipped vehicles first. Once those vehicles are up and running, they will slowly begin to phase in older AI3 (HW3) vehicles over the next few releases.
For owners of HW3 vehicles (everything we know about the HW3 upgrade), this phased release means that they’ll be waiting a little longer than other owners, but at least there’s progress and some clear next steps now. A little more waiting isn’t too bad, especially when you consider just how long many owners in Australia and New Zealand have been waiting for any semblance of FSD in their nations. Tesla initially outlined Q2 2025 as the target availability date for FSD in RHD markets, so this timing is roughly on track with what Tesla initially announced in September 2024.
Hopefully, Tesla also opens up the opportunity for FSD transfer for HW3 owners in both countries, as we’re sure many people would upgrade alongside the official release of FSD to the latest hardware.
And just in case you thought the first video wasn’t true because it wasn’t upside down - well, Tesla provided us the original too.
Another quarter has passed, and that means it’s time to submit questions and vote for Tesla’s Q2 2025 Earnings Call. While Q1 was a tough quarter for the company, Q2 saw some recovery in sales, although there’s still some work to be done.
However, there’s always a lot to be excited about during Tesla’s Q&A session, where we usually learn a lot about future software improvements and upcoming vehicles. We may hear more about FSD Unsupervised, Robotaxi, or the more affordable vehicle, or its upcoming larger 6-seater Model Y, the Model Y L. Tesla also mentioned a potential FSD price hike back in the Q1 2025 Earnings Call, so that could be something that is brought up as well.
Tesla’s Q2 So Far
Tesla has already released their Q2 2025 Production and Delivery numbers, which were up from Q1 of this year, but still down compared to Q2 last year.
Production
Deliveries
Model 3/Y
396,835
373,728
Model S, X, and Cybertruck
13,409
10,394
Total
410,244
384,122
How to Submit & Vote
Tesla lets shareholders submit a question that will be voted on and may be answered during the Q&A session. To submit your own question or vote on an already submitted question, you’ll need to be a verified shareholder. You can go to Say’s platform and link your brokerage accounts.
Once it is verified, you’ll be able to log in and vote your shares on your own question, or on someone else’s question.
Here’s the link to get started on Say’s Tesla Q&A. You must submit your questions and votes by July 23rd, 2025, at 4:00 PM EDT.
Top Questions So Far
Unsurprisingly, people have already been submitting questions, and here are the top ones so far.
Can you give us some insight how robotaxis have been performing so far and what rate you expect to expand in terms of vehicles, geofence, cities, and supervisors?
What are the key technical and regulatory hurdles still remaining for unsupervised FSD to be available for personal use? Timeline?
What specific factory tasks is Optimus currently performing, and what is the expected timeline for scaling production to enable external sales? How does Tesla envision Optimus contributing to revenue in the next 2–3 years?
Can you provide an update on the development and production timeline for Tesla’s more affordable models? How will these models balance cost reduction with profitability, and what impact do you expect on demand in the current economic climate?
Are there any news for HW3 users getting retrofits or upgrades? Will they get HW4 or some future version of HW5?
When do you anticipate customer vehicles to receive unsupervised FSD?
And here are some other ones we found interesting:
Have any meaningful Optimus milestones changed for this year or next and will thousands of Optimus be performing tasks in Tesla factories by year end?
Are front bumper cameras going to be necessary for unsupervised full self driving? If so, what is the companies plan to retrofit vehicles that do not have them?
Will there be a new AI day to explain the advancements the Autopilot, Optimus, and Dojo/chip teams have made over the past several years. We still do not know much about the HW4.
Earnings Call Details
Tesla will hold its earnings call on Wednesday, July 23rd, at 4:00 PM EDT. It's still early for an access link, but we’ll make sure we have a link up on the site before the earnings call that day.
If you do miss the earnings call, no worries. We will provide a full recap following the call, and we’ll also do some in-depth dives into what was said and what we know.
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