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Tesla raises midrange Model 3 price to $46,000

It's only been around for five days.

2018 Tesla Model 3 Performance
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2018 Tesla Model 3 Performance

The white interior will run you another $1,000 on top of the base price, but an all-black interior doesn't cost a dime extra.

Steven Ewing/Roadshow

The early bird gets the worm, and as it turns out, the early bird might have also avoided an abrupt price hike.

Tesla has raised the price of the midrange by $1,000 to $46,000, according to the automaker's online configurator. The midrange Model 3 was only announced five days ago, so while the price bump is small, it came out of left field.

Thankfully, there won't be any retroactive price bumps for people who already dived into the ordering process. "We made a slight adjustment to our pricing for Model 3 following the introduction of the midrange battery last week," a Tesla spokesperson said in an emailed statement. "We will honor the lower pricing for all in-progress orders."

For that $46,000, the midrange Model 3 offers a long-range battery case with fewer cells inside, dropping its range from 310 miles to 260, which is still super competitive with newer EVs. However, a bit of simultaneous lineup shuffling changed drivetrain options -- now, rear-wheel drive is only available with the midrange 3, while the long-range and Performance models are now only available with all-wheel drive.

Tesla has a big day coming up. Later on Wednesday, Tesla will release its third-quarter financials, the first quarter where CEO Elon Musk said it could pull a profit. We don't know the details yet, but we do know that Tesla built nearly 54,000 Model 3s in the third quarter, which is equal to the entire company's vehicle output in the second quarter.

Tesla's Model 3 Performance subtly adds the power

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Andrew Krok Reviews Editor / Cars
Cars are Andrew's jam, as is strawberry. After spending years as a regular ol' car fanatic, he started working his way through the echelons of the automotive industry, starting out as social-media director of a small European-focused garage outside of Chicago. From there, he moved to the editorial side, penning several written features in Total 911 Magazine before becoming a full-time auto writer, first for a local Chicago outlet and then for CNET Cars.
Andrew Krok
Cars are Andrew's jam, as is strawberry. After spending years as a regular ol' car fanatic, he started working his way through the echelons of the automotive industry, starting out as social-media director of a small European-focused garage outside of Chicago. From there, he moved to the editorial side, penning several written features in Total 911 Magazine before becoming a full-time auto writer, first for a local Chicago outlet and then for CNET Cars.

Article updated on October 24, 2018 at 7:21 AM PDT

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Andrew Krok Reviews Editor / Cars
Cars are Andrew's jam, as is strawberry. After spending years as a regular ol' car fanatic, he started working his way through the echelons of the automotive industry, starting out as social-media director of a small European-focused garage outside of Chicago. From there, he moved to the editorial side, penning several written features in Total 911 Magazine before becoming a full-time auto writer, first for a local Chicago outlet and then for CNET Cars.
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