Tesla's pursuit of innovation continues with the anticipated upgrade of its Model 3 Performance, a topic that has been buzzing since the announcement of the Model 3 Highland last year. The refreshed Model 3 Performance is expected to surpass its predecessor in performance, although not to the extent of adopting a tri-motor Plaid variant, as some speculated. The idea of a Plaid badging, suggesting a tri-motor configuration, has been a hot topic, but documents in Europe reveal that the vehicle will keep its dual-motor setup with a potentially new Ludicrous badge.
An exciting update is the introduction of new Sport seats with enhanced side bolstering. Thanks to X user, Fidel Grandez, we now have the first glimpse of these seats on the vehicle. The shots were snapped when the vehicle was spotted in a parking garage. These seats reportedly feature a Plaid logo, adding to the speculation of a performance-focused redesign, with one Tesla engineer previously saying that the new Model 3 Performance will be "pretty special."
We previously reported on the new Sport seats, but due to the Plaid logo, it was speculated that they would end up in the Model S Plaid. The new seats spotted in the new Model 3 Performance appear to match these previously leaked photos.
Tesla has been testing the Model 3 Performance prototypes on US roads, and reports suggest that initial production has already begun in North America.
With the release of the new Model 3 in North America and other regions, Tesla has temporarily dropped the Performance trim from their product line. The RWD Model 3 and Long Range variant also don't currently qualify for the $7,500 government incentive, which now comes off at the time of purchase.
However, the Model 3 Performance could qualify for the EV rebate if it meets the stricter government requirements for 2024 and sells for less than $55,000 in the U.S. For comparison, the RWD new Model 3 currently costs $38,990 and the Long Range version is $45,990.
