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…
Remember the $30,000 Tesla Model 3? The much-ballyhooed mega-affordable Model 3 that ended up existing for about as long as the average chunk of antimatter in the Large Hadron Collider? Well, the 2026 Tesla Model 3 Standard isn't that, but it is a new base model that shaves thousands of dollars off the electric sedan's bottom line. Granted, you'll have to make do with a little less, but we think the penny-pinching proves worth it.
The Model 3 Standard treads most of the same water as the new Model Y Standard, both of which made their debut this week, though it doesn't get as many aesthetic workarounds. Since there were no wide light bars on the 3 to begin with, the Standard's exterior isn't that much different from the next-higher model, which is now called Premium. Well, actually, there's one thing—the front-facing bumper camera is slightly different—but that revised piece will eventually make its way to other Model 3 variants.
Standard exterior fare includes 18-inch wheels, with the option to upgrade to 19s. Gray paint is the only no-cost choice; white or black paint will set you back an extra thousand bucks or so. While Tesla saw fit to seal occupants off from the glass roof in the Model Y Standard, the panoramic ceiling is still on display in the 3 Standard.
Inside the Model 3 Standard is where you'll find the lion's share of omissions that bring the price down. The seats lose half their vegan leather and replace it with cloth. The ambient lighting disappears from the dashboard, but not the footwells or door pockets. The front seats lose ventilation and some adjustments, the rears lose heating, and the 8.0-inch rear touchscreen is ditched in favor of manual vent control. The steering wheel gains manual adjustment, but more importantly, it has a real-deal turn-signal stalk again. The center console has uncovered cupholders rather than covered ones. Finally, the rear windows and the roof glass lose acoustic lamination.
The Standard's single rear-mounted electric motor is said to make 286 horsepower. Despite being a claimed 132 pounds lighter than the Premium model (according to its maker), the estimated zero-to-60 time of the Standard slows from 4.9 seconds to 5.8 seconds. However, that leaves us a little confused, as Tesla previously said the Premium RWD (back when it was called the Long Range RWD) also made 286 horsepower. The math doesn't exactly jell there; if two cars make the same power, but one is heavier, the heavier one should not be 0.9 second quicker to 60. But anyway…
No matter what numbers are right, that's not a huge hit in the vim department, and in daily-driving scenarios, the Standard is still mighty zippy. Throttle tip-in doesn't feel as aggressive as in more expensive variants, but it doesn't need as much time to build up steam as the heavier Model Y Standard does.
The steering is mighty quick off-center, and given the sedan's low center of gravity, we find it no less fun to throw into a corner than any other non-Performance Model 3. The suspension loses its frequency-dependent damping, but when combined with smaller-diameter wheels and beefier tire sidewalls, the ride ends up being quite pleasant. It's great at being chill, and it isn't some wallowy mess when curves show up.
You may have to spend a little more time charging, though. A reduction in parallel-linked cells in the Standard's pack means usable battery capacity drops to 69.5 kWh, which is roughly 10 kWh or 13 percent less than that of the Premium variants. Range is down too: You'll get an estimated 321 miles of range with the 18-inch wheels and 303 miles with the 19s. That's a bit lower than the Model 3 Premium RWD, which claims 363 miles with its 18-inch wheels and 343 miles with the 19-inchers, but it still clears the all-important 300-mile bar. The supercharging max rate is down, too, from 250 to 225 kilowatts.
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The rest of the Model 3 Standard experience is pretty much exactly what you get with other Model 3s. Road noise is low, visibility is good, and regenerative braking will likely make up the majority of your deceleration. The tech stack is impressive on the standard 15.4-inch touchscreen. While not everybody loves having vital information that far from the driver's line of sight, the operating system responds quickly, the navigation is pretty good at routing around bad traffic, and Spotify integration is so clean you might not miss Apple CarPlay all that much.
The Model 3 Standard's price is aggressive. As of this writing (because Tesla's pricing is, shall we say, dynamic), the Standard will set you back $38,630, which is $5500 below the Model 3 Premium RWD's cost of entry. The 3 Standard is already live on Tesla's configurator, so you can figure out which of the three available paint shades looks best—before they swap it out with a whole new palette in the dark of night. But no matter which one you land on, we're confident that you'll find the Standard's shave and a haircut to be worth the two bits.
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