KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 20 — If you’re among the first batch of owners who ordered the upgraded Tesla Model 3 ”Highland” since September, your brand new EV is already on its way to Malaysia. A vehicle carrier vessel with the latest fully electric sedan is currently on its way and it is expected to arrive on our shores this coming weekend.

Vehicle carrier vessel with Tesla Model 3 expected to arrive this weekend

According to China News, the Japanese registered vessel "Procyon Leader” left Shanghai’s Nangang Terminal on 19th November with 1,200 Model 3s along with other new energy vehicles from other brands including MG. Based on the tracker, the ship is expected to arrive at Port Klang Malaysia on 25th November 2023.

The upgraded Tesla Model 3 is set to be the first model to be delivered officially by Tesla Malaysia since the brand’s official debut in Malaysia back in July. The larger Tesla Model Y was open for booking in July but deliveries are only set to take place in early 2024. For those who wish to switch their orders, Tesla Malaysia has allowed customers to do so without losing their RM1,000 non-refundable booking fee.

Some potential owners have shared on social media that Tesla Malaysia has reached out to them on delivery arrangements. From the looks of it, there will be a group handover ceremony for the first batch of Tesla Model 3 owners.

Unlike your traditional car brand, Tesla typically delivers their vehicles to a designated location. This means users from other states will have to make their own arrangements at an added cost if they wish to have the EVs delivered directly to them.

Tesla Model 3 Malaysia Price and Key specs

To recap, the Tesla Model 3 is the brand’s all-electric sedan and Malaysia is among the first countries in the world to get it before the end of 2023. This is essentially a facelifted version but it comes with several upgrades and some controversial design changes.

The Model 3 is officially priced from RM189,000 in Malaysia for the standard range model that boasts up to 513km of WLTP-rated range. Equipped with a single rear motor, the standard range is rated to get from 0-100km/h in 6.1 seconds and it has a top speed of 201km/h.

If you want more range and performance, the Model 3 Long Range is currently the cheapest EV in Malaysia with over 600km of WLTP-rated range at RM218,000. The Long Range model with dual motors can do the century sprint in just 4.4 seconds up to a top speed of 201km/h.

Some of the new changes include an improved suspension that offers better comfort and double-glazed glass all round for better sound insulation. Despite having similar batteries as the pre-upgraded model, the Model 3 boasts greater efficiency due to its new redesign which lowers the drag coefficient to just 0.219cd.

On the inside, Tesla has also upgraded the seats with a perforated design and it also offers ventilated seats for front occupants. There’s also ambient lighting as well as blind spot monitor LEDs. The front 15″ infotainment display has been tweaked with thinner bezels and there’s also now a secondary display for rear occupants which is used to control the climate control and it can be used for video streaming.

However, the biggest controversial move is the removal of indicator and gear selector stalks. Users of the upgraded Model 3 will have to rely on steering-mounted buttons to indicate left and right, while gear selection is now handled via swiping gesture on the touch screen display. As a backup, Tesla has also added ceiling-mounted P-R-N-D buttons around the hazard light buttons. You can see the stalk-less Model 3 in action around roundabouts in our Model 3 test drive.

If you want the stalks on the upgraded Model 3, there are 3rd party accessory makers working on bringing them back as a separate add-on. — SoyaCincau