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whip bull report, october 3, according to foreign reports, tesla will no longer sell the rear-wheel drive standard range model 3, which has been in the company’s product line since 2023 and costs less than $40,000. the most affordable model now is the model 3 rwd long-range version starting at $42,490.

this change was first noted by electrek, with tesla announcing a year-on-year increase in vehicle deliveries in the third quarter of 2024.

tesla has cut and raised prices multiple times over the past few years in an effort to maintain its market leadership. but more and more customers are switching to other car brands, causing elon musk's company to face declining sales year by year.

tesla also occasionally discontinues certain models, often without advance notice or fanfare. earlier this year, the company stopped offering the $60,990 rwd cybertruck, the cheapest version of its angular ev truck.

the model 3's standard range is claimed to be 272 miles on a full charge, using cheaper lithium iron phosphate (lfp) batteries produced in china. import costs for these batteries are likely to be higher due to the biden administration's decision to increase tariffs on chinese batteries, semiconductors and critical minerals. before subsidies, it was the only car that came close to the short-lived and long-promised $35,000 model 3.

the tesla rwd long-range version is $3,500 more expensive than the discontinued standard-range version. considering that the long range version has a range of about 363 miles on a full charge, the price difference isn't huge, although tesla has been accused of inflating range estimates.

although the model 3 standard version is no longer available for order, tesla is still working on a cheaper, yet-to-be-released model that is expected to be launched in the second half of 2025. it may be a new car or a version of the model 3. simplified version.

it's unclear how tesla can further simplify the vehicle to make it more affordable, since newer models already lack drive and turn signal stalks, especially as mexico's stripped-down model 3 is proving to be more expensive than its u.s.-spec counterpart.