Yahoo Finance 'Highland' Tesla Model 3 Performance Is 8.7 Seconds Quicker to 150 MPH
The 2024 Tesla Model 3 Performance benefits from myriad updates, including making more power longer to help hit 100-plus mph much quicker.
Compared with its predecessor, the new M3P is 3.9 and 8.7 seconds quicker to 100 and 150 mph, respectively, in our testing.
Priced under $57K, the 510-hp Model 3 also has nearly identical test results to an all-wheel-drive BMW M3 Competition that now starts at around $86K.
Welcome to Car and Driver's Testing Hub, where we zoom in on the test numbers. We've been pushing vehicles to their limits since 1956 to provide objective data to bolster our subjective impressions (you can see how we test here).
Surprisingly, the revamped Tesla Model 3 Performance doesn't have a Ludicrous drive mode à la larger Tesla models because it's absurdly quick. The outgoing M3P was already one of the quickest EVs we've ever tested, hitting 60 mph in 3.1 seconds. However, the new "Highland" version features upgrades that help the electric sedan shave time off that mile-per-minute mark and accelerate to 100 mph and beyond in notably shorter intervals.
Tesla—and in particular its CEO, Elon Musk—is rarely known for subtlety. Still, the mightiest Model 3's Performance moniker sounds unusually understated for a car that blasted to 60 mph in 2.8 seconds at our test track. That's three-tenths quicker than a 2019 M3P we tested, but it's hardly the most impressive improvement. The 2024 Model 3 Performance is a lot quicker and faster at the drag strip too, completing the quarter-mile in 11.0 seconds at 125 mph. Its predecessor made the 1320-foot trip in 11.6 ticks at 115 mph. More surprising still, the gap between their acceleration times grew even wider on the way to speeds of 100-plus mph.
While an EV's instant torque plays a key role in its quickness, a lack of transmission ratios and limited continuous peak power mean acceleration usually wanes as speeds climb. With the Highland Model 3 Performance, Tesla says the latest version of the car's rear drive unit sees peak torque and horsepower output increase by 16 and 32 percent, respectively, compared with the outgoing M3P. Now with 510 horsepower and 554 pound-feet of torque, the new car has dual motors that make more power and for longer, as Tesla claims continuous power has increased by 22 percent. Add in a slightly lower coefficient of drag that makes the car slipperier as well as a diet that helped our newer 4046-pound test car lose 40 pounds, and the results speak for themselves.
The new all-wheel-drive Model 3 Performance raced to 100 mph in 6.8 seconds, which is 1.4 ticks sooner than its predecessor. Its lead only grew from there, hitting 130 mph 3.9 seconds quicker with a run of 12.3 seconds. Finally, the race to 150 mph took 18.3 ticks in the new M3P—an incredible 8.7 seconds sooner than its 2019 equivalent.
Of course, what's even more ludicrous about all of this is that the 2024 Tesla Model 3 Performance has a base price of $56,630, which excludes the $7500 federal tax credit it's eligible for. Meanwhile, its test numbers put it in the company of EVs that cost about twice as much, not to mention it's now just as quick as its gas-powered measuring stick, the BMW M3. In an M. Night Shyamalan-like twist, a 2023 M3 Competition xDrive and a '24 M3P posted the same 60- and 130-mph runs as well as identical quarter-mile times. Only the Bimmer has a gas tank and costs about $30K more than the Tesla.
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