Updated Tesla Model 3 due next year with refreshed interior – report

An upgraded Tesla Model 3 electric car – with a revamped interior and some exterior changes – may be in development for launch next year, according to a new report.

News agency Reuters reports a heavily-updated Model 3 – codenamed ‘Highland’ – is due in production at Tesla’s Chinese factory between July and September 2023, about six years after the car’s global launch.

Reuters claims the upgrades will “reduce the number of components and complexity in the interior”, and are said to be “focusing on features that Tesla buyers value, including the display”.

The report says the updated Model 3 “builds on” the overhauled interior introduced for the larger Model S and Model X last year, and references these cars’ controversial steering ‘yokes’ – however it does not explicitly state whether the Model 3 will also receive this steering control.

The interior of the current Model 3 is already one of the simplest of any modern car, with one large touchscreen in the centre of the dashboard, minimal steering-wheel controls, no instrument cluster ahead of the driver, and little to no additional switches.

The model update “could also include some changes to … exterior and powertrain performance,” according to Reuters – though it doesn’t go into detail about what these could be.

Reuters doesn’t say whether the updates would flow on to the Model 3’s SUV sibling, the Model Y, however the synergies between the two models – which share many parts, and are built in the same factories – suggests an updated Model Y would likely follow its sedan counterpart.

The upgrades are reportedly designed to reduce production costs, though by how much is unclear.

Tesla is already believed to make more profit on each vehicle it sells than other global car makers, with Reuters reporting Tesla earned an average of $US9500 ($AU14,100) each car it sold, compared to $US1300 ($AU1930) for auto giant Toyota.

Reuters notes Tesla has invested in large casting machines at some of its factories to reduce manufacturing costs, by producing fewer, but larger pieces of a vehicle to assemble – rather than more, but smaller parts.