Less than two years after it was controversially removed, an indicator stalk has returned to the Tesla Model 3 in China, alongside a new variant offering a longer driving range.
An indicator stalk has returned to the Tesla Model 3, two years after it was controversially removed when a facelifted version of the world's best-selling electric sedan launched.
Now available in China, the latest Model 3 includes a dedicated indicator stalk on the steering wheel column, mirroring the newest Model Y SUV, rather than buttons on its steering wheel.
Tesla has not confirmed if the indicator stalk will become available to Model 3 sedans sold outside of China, but Australian versions are sourced from the same Shanghai factory as Chinese examples.
A retrofit option will become available in China from mid-September for 2499 yuan ($AU540), for Chinese-market Model 3s built from February 7, 2025.
Orderable via the Tesla app, the original steering wheel and column will be replaced, with the removed parts to be recycled to "offset the relevant costs of the newly installed steering wheel", the brand said.
Vehicles manufactured between September 2023 and February 6, 2025 "will have this service available later", Tesla said.
Other items, such as the wiper and headlight controls, and the gear selector, will remain accessible through the Model 3's central touchscreen rather than dedicated stalks.
The current Tesla Model 3, on sale in China, Europe and Australia from September 2023, replaced its conventional indicator stalk with left and right buttons on its steering wheel, following the Model S sedan and Model X SUV, along with some Lamborghini and Ferrari supercars.
While the facelifted Model Y revealed in January 2025 inherited many of the changes applied to the related Model 3, it retained its indicator stalk, although with a new design.
In February, Tesla's senior vice president of engineering Lars Moravy told Jay Leno, "maybe we deleted too much" during a first drive of the new Model Y on Jay Leno's Garage.
"We always say at Tesla, if you aren’t deleting so much that you have to put something back, you haven’t deleted enough. Well, maybe we deleted too much," Moravy said.
Tesla has also upgraded the Model 3 with a longer driving range in China, enabling an 830-kilometre lab-tested rating for the Long-Range Rear-Wheel Drive with 18-inch wheels according to Chinese CLTC standards, which are less stringent than the WLTP test common in Australia.
The Long-Range Rear-Wheel Drive with 19-inch wheels has a claimed 800km range, while the Long-Range All-Wheel Drive delivers between 738 and 753 kilometres.
Car News China reports the updated long-range variants feature a 78.4kWh lithium nickel-maganese-cobalt (NMC) battery sourced from LG.
A new, circa-225kW rear electric motor is fitted to the Model 3 Long-Range Rear-Wheel Drive, compared to the circa-194kW motor fitted to the standard-range Rear-Wheel Drive, for a claimed 0-100km/h acceleration time of 5.2 seconds compared to 6.1 seconds.
In China, the Model 3 Performance's CLTC-rated driving range has increased from 623km to 647km.
Current Australian versions of the Tesla Model 3 are rated at 520km for the Rear-Wheel Drive, 629km for the Long Range All-Wheel Drive and 528km for the Performance All-Wheel Drive on the European WLTP lab-test cycle.
A six-seat, long-wheelbase Tesla Model Y L also officially launched in China this week ahead of first deliveries in September, but it is unclear if it will be offered in Australia.
"Model Y L is a China-specific product for now, we will continue to assess new products for our market as they become available," a Tesla Australia representative told Drive.
Jordan is a motoring journalist based in Melbourne with a lifelong passion for cars. He has been surrounded by classic Fords and Holdens, brand-new cars, and everything in between from birth, with his parents’ owning an automotive workshop in regional Victoria. Jordan started writing about cars in 2021, and joined the Drive team in 2024.
