After a five-year hiatus, Tesla has brought back the long range rear-driven Model 3 electric car, and with the appropriate tax incentives, it’s actually less expensive than the standard Model 3 RWD. Tesla’s nominally least expensive car, the standard rear-wheel drive Model 3, does not qualify for any U.S. federal tax incentives because of the ineligible material construction of its battery pack. In a race for less-expensive EV buyers and an attempt to pump dwindling sales, Tesla has re-introduced the long range Model 3, which has an IRS-approved tax-reduced battery pack.
Despite the long range model’s $42,490 price tag being $3,500 more expensive than the standard range model, that $7,500 federal incentive makes it the least expensive Tesla to buy.
For 2024 the federal tax incentive structure was revamped to disqualify any vehicles not built in North America, and any battery with “critical minerals” (including lithium, cobalt, magnanese, and nickel) extracted or processed in a country not currently under a free trade agreement with the United States. No components within an eligible battery can be sourced from China, Russia, Iran, or North Korea. The standard Model 3 fails both requirements, but the new long range model passes the test and gets the full $7,500 credit.
Tesla says the new Long Range Model 3 Rear-Wheel Drive can go around 363 miles without a charge. That seems like the sweet spot for an electric car, honestly. The average American drives 42 miles per day, which would mean you would only need to charge up every eighth day. If you care about performance in your daily appliance electric car, this one will run 0-60 in 4.9 seconds, and keep on to a 125 mile per hour top speed. Not only is this the least expensive Tesla, it’s the second-longest range car in the Tesla lineup after the $72,990 Model S All-Wheel Drive, which allegedly achieves 402 miles on a charge.
If you’re the kind of person who would buy a Tesla and hasn’t yet been turned off by the company’s erratic and choleric CEO, this is probably the one to buy.