Tesla raised the base price of the Model 3 and Model Y by $500 last night, according to Electrek, the latest in a series of price modulations that Tesla has done this past year or so.
The rise means Tesla Model 3 Standard Range Plus now starts at $39,990, and the Model 3 Long Range AWD now starts at $48,990, while the Model Y Long Range AWD starts at $51,990, all up $500 from where they started yesterday. This doesn’t really mean much on the surface, as it is unlikely $500 will sway someone’s decision to buy a Tesla or not.
But every time Tesla does this it is an interesting look at where they are at, as sometimes the price goes up, and sometimes the price goes down and, because Tesla has no public relations department, we never learn why. Does Tesla slash prices to induce demand? Does Tesla raise prices because it has more than enough demand? Is Tesla raising prices because it thinks it might eventually get the federal tax credit back? Is Tesla raising prices because it is hurting from supply chain issues, like almost every other automaker?
All or none of those things could be true, depending on what corner of the Tesla internet you are reading. I prefer to think, in situations like this, that the real answer is more pedestrian, in that maybe there is a person at Tesla headquarters who periodically changes the price of its cars almost entirely to mess with people’s heads.
There is also the possibility that Tesla price changes are completely meaningless and/or accidental, though the one Tesla price theory I actually do believe in is that, long-term, Tesla does want to bring up the floor on how much it charges for its cars. The $35,000 Model 3 was bullshit from the start.
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