Tesla has spent more than a year teasing that “more affordable models” of its vehicles were on the way, and on Tuesday, the company finally revealed them. The company is now selling a more bare-bones version of the Model 3 sedan and the Model Y SUV, which start at $36,990 and $39,990, respectively.
The new versions, each dubbed “Standard,” get an estimated 321 miles of range on a full battery, and come with fewer features than the more premium rear-wheel or all-wheel drive variants. They don’t even have Autopilot, the company’s basic advanced driver assistance system. (The new models only come with traffic-aware cruise control; Autosteer, which completes the “Autopilot” feature-set, is missing.)
The release of the cheaper models is supposed to help push Tesla back into growth after it saw sales decline in 2024. But the pricing is not as low as some may have hoped, especially considering that CEO Elon Musk once teased the idea of a $25,000 Tesla — before he ultimately killed that project.
The new Model 3 does not even dip below the $35,000 price threshold that Tesla promoted in a run-up to the car’s launch in 2016. That sticker price, which helped put Tesla on the map, was never really offered save for a few months as an off-menu ordering option.
The new cars are more different on the inside than the outside. While Tesla’s cars are known for being minimalist, the Model 3 and Model Y Standard take the spartan approach to the limit. There’s no second-row touchscreen. The steering wheel and side mirrors are manually adjusted. There’s no FM/AM radio. Only the first row has heated seats.
On the outside, Tesla ditched the thing light bar that adorns the nose of the more expensive Model Y variants. The glass roof is also gone on the Standard cars.
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