Tesla has begun selling what it terms as “demo vehicles” in the United States, according to Inside EVs, and these vehicles are new Model 3 units which have been installed with older battery packs, the EV maker said. These battery packs could date back as far as 2017, and Tesla says these could see a reduced range of around 12% compared to the vehicle’s original EPA estimate.

For the Model 3 Long Range AWD variant’s claimed EPA range of 353 miles (565 km), a 12% drop would come to a residual range of around 497 km. The current-year cars with older batteries were discovered by Seth Horwitz who posted the information on Twitter, who found that these vehicles were listed alongside other Tesla demo units which were not labelled with the old battery disclaimer.

Inside EVs notes that a 2021 Model 3 demo unit with 654 miles (1,046 km) on its odometer has been listed at US$64,260 (RM270,759) without the old battery disclaimer, though another unit of a similar mileage with the old battery disclaimer has been listed at just under US$61,000 (RM257,023). This yields a price difference of roughly US$3,260 (RM13,736).

Curiously, this also represents a considerable mark-up by Tesla over a brand new Model 3, which starts from US$50,990 (RM214,846) for a Long Range AWD. The publication suggests that the demo units’ premium or roughly US$11,000 (RM46,348) is due to their immediate availability, as opposed to having to wait nearly a year for taking delivery of a brand new car.

According to Horwitz who discovered the nearly-new vehicles listed with the old battery disclaimer, he has found listings for vehicles fitting the description across several states in the US, including in Hawaii, and they all had a similarly low mileage of less than 1,000 km.

As for Tesla’s presence in Malaysia, the Malay Vehicle Importers and Traders Association of Malaysia (PEKEMA) announced earlier this month that it is taking orders for the American electric vehicle on a broader basis, compared to limited units imported by Vision Motorsports last year.

Through PEKEMA, anticipated pricing for the Model 3 starts from RM288,888 with the EV tax exemptions in place. The importers association has also listed pricing for the entire Tesla range, with the Model S priced from RM712,656 for a Basic, to RM878,256 for an S Plaid.

The Model X has been priced from RM817,128 (Basic) to RM950,328 (Plaid), while the Model Y has been priced by PEKEMA from RM417,528 (Long Range) to RM489,528 (Performance).

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