Tesla stirs excitement among followers after unveiling official upgraded version of its iconic Model 3 — here’s what’s changed

As the electric vehicle market continues to grow and the race among manufacturers to lead it heats up, EV giant Tesla is constantly making moves to remain competitive. The most recent move is the release of its new, upgraded Model 3 in North America.

As reported by Electrek, after introducing a new version of the Model 3 — codenamed Highland last summer — but only for customers in Europe, Asia, and the Pacific, the company has officially launched the vehicle in North America.

At the time of the overseas release, Tesla did not give a date for the new model’s arrival stateside, where it continued to sell the older version.

As of this month, however, the company is taking orders for the EV — referred to simply as the “upgraded Model 3,” per Electrek — that will be delivered to buyers within a month.

The company announced the release with a video on their official account on X, formerly known as Twitter.

Aside from a new, sleeker exterior design, some of the updates include wrap-around acoustic glass, a new backseat screen, interior ambient light, and ventilated seats.

While these features will hopefully sway potential purchasers, battery performance will likely be the heavier lifter, as range anxiety — the fear of not reaching your destination or a charging station before running out of energy — is one of the main reasons potential buyers decide not to make the switch to an EV from traditional, highly polluting gas vehicles.

While not stated in the update given in the United States, based on the WLTP range calculation done on it in Europe, the new Model 3 is more efficient and gets a longer range than the older version.