The cheapest Tesla is no longer available in the US

02 October 2024

Tesla's cheapest car is no longer available in the US. We're talking about the Model 3 Standard Range. This used to start at $39,000, but now that it's gone the cheapest Tesla you can buy in the US is the $42,500 Model 3 Long Range RWD.

Considering the fact that Tesla has also seemingly given up on the Model 2, which was supposed to be even cheaper than the Model 3, in favor of the Robotaxi, the company simply appears to not want to compete at the lower end of the market.

The reason for the Model 3 Standard Range's discontinuation is most likely not something within Tesla's control, however. With the Biden administration's new tariffs on Chinese made stuff, which went into effect on September 27, that version's Chinese-made LFP battery cells got hit with a 25% tariff, up from the previous rate of 7.5%.

That would have impacted the Model 3 Standard Range's price, to a point where it probably would have become more expensive than the Long Range RWD version which has longer range as the name implies. So no one would have bought the Standard Range anymore anyway, hence there was no point in continuing to offer it.

Not to mention that its battery provenance would have made it more difficult, if not impossible, for it to be eligible for the $7,500 US federal tax credit for EVs. Still, what this means, indirectly, is that Tesla prices are creeping up, not down, the way we've been promised by countless politicians before they started doing all they can to ensure the exact opposite happens.