Tesla Model 3 2026 review: Rear-Wheel Drive | BYD Seal 6 rival tested

I don’t think I’ve ever been able to say this about a car before, but I can pretty much guarantee that at some point in the not-too-distant future, you will find yourself sitting in this new Tesla Model 3, whether you want to or not. Just not necessarily in the driver’s seat.

This is the Tesla Model 3 Rear-Wheel Drive, the brand’s newest model and one that arrived after the existing range was stamped with a new 'Premium' tag, opening the door for this entry-level model to sit below.

Tesla says this is what its version of affordability looks like, and that it expects this model to be a runaway hit with rideshare drivers – which is why you’ll definitely be sitting in one at some point – given it undercuts even its Chinese competition with a sharp $45,900 price tag, before on-road costs.

Add CarsGuide as a preferred source in Google Search

Add CarsGuide as a preferred source in Google Search

Explore the 2026 Tesla Model 3 Range

Tesla Model 3 2026 review: Rear-Wheel Drive | BYD Seal 6 rival tested Tesla Full Self Driving (Supervised) 2026 review Tesla Model 3 2024 review: Performance - EV test

For the record, the next cheapest model in the Tesla family is the Model 3 Premium, which starts $9.0K above this model, at $54,900. That is a sizeable saving. And it’s cheaper than the BYD Seal Dynamic ($49,888), Kia EV4 ($50,040) and Mazda 6e ($49,990).

What do you get, and what do you miss out on?

Before we get to all the driving stuff, let’s cover just how Tesla was able to shave the better part of 10 grand off its cheapest model, especially given — from the outside, at least — this still very much looks like a Model 3.

Step one is the tyres, with the Hankooks or Michelins usually preferred by Tesla swapped out for cheaper Giti rubber, which comes from China. The 18-inch wheels themselves now wear new black aero covers. But that’s the only sizeable change outside, with the Model 3 still sporting a glass roof and LED lighting.

Inside, though, the changes are more noticeable. The seats front and back are now mostly cloth (though they’re still heated up front), and the screen for rear-seat riders has been deleted. There are no floor mats included, and the door trims are a harder plastic. There’s also no cabin ambient interior lighting, with interior lights confined to the footwell, and there are now only seven speakers.

2026 Tesla Model 3 Rear-Wheel Drive (Image: Andrew Chesterton)

Perhaps the weirdest delete, though, is the electric seat controls, which are usually knobs attached to the lower left- or right-hand side of each front seat. The seats are still electric, only now they’re controlled through the central screen. Deleting the plastic knobs must have saved Tesla about 80 cents. But it all adds up, I guess.

Like other Teslas, there’s a five-year unlimited-kilometre warranty on the vehicle itself, while the battery is covered for eight years or 160,000km. And Tesla has joined the V2L (Vehicle-to-Load) party with what the brand calls Power Share, which means you can plug in to the vehicle’s battery to run or power up your devices. You will need an adaptor, though.

Finally, it also shares the rest of the range’s maximum five-star ANCAP rating.

Would you pay $9.0K for better seats, more speakers, more interior lighting and a rear screen for the kids? I know I wouldn’t.

2026 Tesla Model 3 Rear-Wheel Drive (Image: Andrew Chesterton)

What about its battery and driving range?

Tesla is annoyingly mysterious when it comes to the technical specification of its vehicles. I don’t know of any other brands that will take your money but won’t tell you what you’re actually buying. But there is some crucial stuff we do know.

This Model 3 will travel an impressive 572km between charges, and will reportedly clip 100km in 6.2 seconds on its way to a licence-shredding top speed of 201km/h. That’s more than 50km in extra range than you get in the more expensive Premium version, but down on the huge 750km range offered in the Model 3 Long Range.

Apart from that, we think it's single electric motor makes up to 208kW, and that the battery on board is a 63kWh Lithium-Ferro-Phosphate (LFP) unit. Charging is thought to be up to 130kW DC.

What’s it like to drive?

Like the new Model Y, Tesla has largely fixed the annoyances that plagued earlier versions of the Model 3, namely too-sharp steering and a too-harsh ride.

But before we get to that, there is something refreshingly seamless about the way this Model 3 operates. Not all of its tech is unique, but the way it operates without making you want to strangle whoever designed it increasingly is.

Lots of brands offer mobile-phone keys and get-in-and-go access, for example, but Tesla’s is seamless. The credit-card key access is clunky — often requiring several goes on the sensor before the door unlocks — but approach with your phone in your pocket and you’re in and moving without any delay.

I’m even getting used to the digital gear selector, which now lives on the 16-inch central screen. You swipe forwards for Drive, backwards for Reverse, and tap for Park, but the Model 3 can also predict the gear you need based on your steering inputs. So, if you’re reversing with the wheel locked left, for example, then turn the wheel to the right, it assumes you want to move forwards and will automatically select Drive for you.

I hated it at first, but now it’s weirdly intuitive. Less helpful is having to access the screen to activate everyday driving functions like with windscreen wipers. A minimalist interior is fine, but not if it makes the drive experience more annoying.

Steering is direct but not darty or overreactive

Elsewhere, though, the Model 3 is easy and familiar. The steering is direct but doesn’t feel darty or overreactive, and the ride on its 18-inch alloy wheels is pretty good on all but the dodgiest of Sydney road surfaces.

You never feel like you’re sitting on top of, rather than in, the Model 3, which is a good thing. Nor does the damping give you that kind of soft, bouncy and busy ride you can find in some newcomer EVs.

That is, of course, if you choose to drive it at all. This cheapest of Model 3s can be had with Tesla’s Full Self-Driving (Supervised) for an extra $149 per month. This is the new V14 version, too, which is the first that I’ve really liked. 

Whether this is the Model 3 for you or not all boils down to how much you enjoy the finer things in life. But buy it or not, you will be riding in one at some point. I can see Australia's ride-share fleet booming with these cut-price EVs in the very near future.