Tesla China reportedly denied rumors that the EV maker will be starting production of the newly refreshed Tesla Model 3 “Project Highland” in Shanghai, China, on June 1. However, the details related to the news are slim.
According to Yicai Global, there have been rumors that Tesla may start producing the updated Model 3 in China soon, at least for trial production. However, some rumors suggest the company is already preparing to mass-produce the refreshed electric sedan.
Tesla has been working the on tweaked Model 3 for nearly a year now, and while the Project Highland Model 3 was first thought to be a rumor, it’s clearly underway. Not only have there been many sightings of updated Model 3 vehicles wearing camo, but various filings also point specifically to the project itself.
Tesla hasn’t officially confirmed a refresh, though it has said time and time again in the past that it doesn’t refresh its models, and that improvements and updates are ongoing. This was the same story before the most recent versions of the Model S and Model X arrived. Tesla has confirmed that it’s working on infotainment updates and features related to its self-driving plans. Per Teslarati, CEO Elon Musk noted that such updates would come later this year.
Despite Tesla’s unwillingness to provide concrete details, it appears the updated Model 3 will have a new front end, among other, less obvious design adjustments. Third parties have reportedly confirmed thanks to sources familiar with the matter that some of the alleged Project Highland Model 3 sedans seen in the wild were Alpha prototypes.
More recently, rumors began circulating that Tesla was gearing up to begin production of the revamped Model 3 at its Gigafactory in Shanghai. The rumors suggested Tesla aimed to begin with trial production in China this June ahead of moving the updated version into mass production.
While it’s uncommon for Tesla to confirm or deny such rumors in North America, the company is more engaged in China. In fact, the automaker even has a press team, it defends itself against false news and speaks out against naysayers.
Tesla has denied such rumors in the past, though they proved true later. Sometimes the company just changes the wording. For example, it may deny rumors of a refresh, and then a month later, an updated model is announced. It may also be denying rumors of mass production, but that’s not to say it couldn’t still be manufacturing some units as a preliminary trial run.
Sawyer Merritt provides more insight, along with a link to the original article containing the rumors Tesla has since denied.
Tesla has always been pretty tight-lipped when it comes to most of what’s happening at the company. It’s big on announcements and surprises, and will likely continue to deny reports that may appear to be rumors, or that don’t have official named sources.
Teslarati shares that CEO Elon Musk claimed “false” on a 2022 report from Reuters stating Tesla would export EVs from China to the US. Not long after, Tesla was shipping cars from China to the US.
As always, we’ll have to wait and see how this all pans out. In the meantime, leave us your thoughts in the comment section below.
