New 2025 Tesla Model 3 Long Range Rear-Wheel Drive smashes range barrier! Leaves Polestar 2 and BYD Seal behind
The best-selling all-electric sedan is now even more enticing following the launch of the new 2025 Tesla Model 3 Long Range Rear-Wheel Drive.
It is claimed to have an incredible driving range of 702km on the most stringent European WLTP test cycle.
But there’s a catch.
Available in markets like the UK from next month, the new Tesla Model 3 variant sets new highs for a segment that was led previously led by the Polestar 2. It could cover up to 654km on a single charge.
For now the ultra-long-range take on the Tesla Model 3 will only be sold in Europe as it’s solely made at the US car-maker’s Berlin-Brandenburg factory in Germany.
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But that could change if production of the rear-drive big battery Model 3 is greenlit at the Shanghai Gigafactory that supplies right-hand drive cars to Australia.
Created to slot into the Euro range above the Model 3 Rear-Wheel Drive and below the Long Range All-Wheel Drive, the new Model 3 Long Range Rear-Wheel Drive is the first time the biggest 75kWh battery has been combined with a single e-motor.
Full details will be released later but losing the front driven axle sees the small sedan average an impressive 12.5kWh/100km.
There’s no word on how powerful the single e-motor is in the new version, but it’s certainly not the standard 208kW unit that drives the entry Model 3.
The British Tesla retail site suggest the new variant is almost a second quicker from 0-60mph (0-97km/h) with a 4.9 second sprint.
Already heralded by the UK press as one of the best price-to-range electric cars you can buy, in the UK the Tesla Model 3 Long Range Rear-Wheel Drive costs a hefty £44,990 ($A87,500).
Currently, in Australia the Long Range AWD is priced at $64,900, which equates to just $70,318 drive-away (before subsidies), suggesting the new version will be priced much much lower for our market if green-lit for production.
