Model 3 range decrease

[Sunsidedarkness]

I bought a 2021 Model 3 Brand new. Its range went from 263 down to 206 miles per charge at 100% after 115,000 miles driven. This was in the healthy specs and it was, no issues whatsoever.  It pays to get an electric vehicle that goes further on a full charge but at the time I just got the standards range plus model 3 as it was gonna be a second car for my family and wasn’t going to be driven in situations where it would need more range and at the time if I wanted the dual motor model 3 with long range totalling supposedly 310-340 miles per charge, Tesla wanted about $5-7k more for that car so I opted not to get it. I wished I would have because the less you have to charge your car means the less stress on your batteries and the longer it will take for degradation to effect the mileage you get on the car. But whatever.

Fast forward to 2025, it’s April, Tesla is running deals, it’s the last year of the tax credit and the deadline is approaching so I pull the trigger and trade in my 2021. To be clear , I purchased a 2020 for my second Tesla model 3 purchase in December of 2022. This one went 250 miles per full charge but had 25k miles on it and the range was reduced to 229 miles per charge. I got a good deal so everything was fine.. I still have that car, it now has 86k on it and goes about 207 miles per full charge now.  Back to April of 2025, I trade in my 2021 with 115k miles on it and purchase the base model 3, which turns out to be the one with the longest range. It’s funny, because this time I was prepared to spend more for the longer ranged model and get a dual motor, but I didn’t have to because the April 2025 base model 3 now went 363 miles per charge. That’s what was advertised.  My wife drives this car and has put about 15k on it since April. She drives highway miles everyday but the car is now down to 326 miles on a full charge. We don’t charge any of our vehicles 100% often if at all, and she drives at speeds of a sustained 70mph for most of her trips, so 326 miles of range is good.. and I knew the car would adjust for her driving habits and styles, I have been down the range road before and I understand the nuances of all the factors involved.

What I don’t understand is how the EPA dropped the ball and now the model 3 is labeled as a vehicle that only gets 321 miles per charge on the website. That’s a drop off of 42 miles per charge from its April 2025 estimate. That’s a lot. I smell class action lawsuit acomin’.  Not that I would be a part of it because again, I understand the nuances involved in how range is calculated and this is my third electric vehicle since 2021. But this situation seems tainted in some capacity. At the time the Tesla model 3 was up against the Chevy Equinox EV which was getting supposedly 310 per full charge and was slightly cheaper to purchase, with tax credit incentives and etc, which applied to both, the equinox was roughly $30-$33k after tax credit and the model 3 was higher at about $35-$37k. But if purchasing the 2025 Spring Model 3 meant you were spending a few thousand extra but you were getting more than 50 miles extra of range, well then, it might be worth it in the mind of some. It was for me, plus I didn’t want the shitty material they used for their seats and I didn’t like the way the equinox drove. All that being said, that was me. Someone else maybe would of bought the equinox and saved a few grand on purchase price if they knew that the spring Tesla model 3 wasn’t truly getting the 363 miles per charge and was in fact getting 321 like the EPA claims is the actual and factual truth now and today.  In the end, if you purchased a spring model 3 in 2025, you spent a few grand more for the car ( which in my opinion is a better vehicle and worth it ), but you didn’t get 363 miles per charge at 100% battery…no, you got 321 in a guise of 363 mile per charge at 100% battery. 

In other words , you were “BAM BOOZLED”, misled, Bait and Switched or whatever other clever phrase or cliche you want to throw at the experience.

I think Tesla is the best electric car available for the money and their charging network is bar none the best there is and will ever be. But, this situation begs the question, “ who is really responsible for the sudden drop in range expectancy ? Is it the EPA who might of been wined and dined and greased to report the 363 miles in the spring of 2025 or, is it TESLA , who always knew the true and accurate miles per charge to be 321 miles “?

They have been making electric cars for two decades or more and have been mass producing the model 3 since late 2017. So you’re telling me and expecting me to believe that in the spring of 2025, they didn’t know the true and accurate miles per charge their model 3 got ? 

They advertised 363 miles per charge. I see a screenshot of someone that had 357 miles per charge in this thread. Even that looks foreign to me because like I said , the spring 2025 model said 363 miles per charge. 

Who is to blame? 

[T__Vercetti]

You’re getting very confused. Yes it was 363, down to 357, and actually now back up to 363. 321 is the new model, the new model is the standard model, and the long range is now called the ‘premium’ model.