Unveiled last year, the new restyled Tesla Model 3 has not yet finished surprising us. The electric car in fact unveils a new functionality previously kept silent, which improves the comfort of the driver and passengers.
After more than five years of career and months of rumors of all kinds, it was last September that Tesla lifted the veil on its restyled Model 3. A new version known as Project Highland, which we were then able to discover in real life at the Munich show a few days later.
Even more comfortable
And the least we can say is that the manufacturer has not done things by halves for this new version. In addition to its style, the latter has also offered numerous improvements, both in the cabin and in terms of driving. Among them, let us cite in particular the arrival of a new camera on the front bumper or evena new, more rigid chassis.
The latter goes hand in hand with new suspensions, designed to improve the handling as well as the comfort of the sedan, rival of the BYD Han, among others. The latter, provided by the specialist Koni, would even make it possible to gain a few additional kilometers of autonomy according to some customers. But that’s not all, because the manufacturer had also hidden a little something from us about this new reworked damping.
And these are the journalists from the American site Electrek who tell us a little more about this, relaying the words of Lars Moravy, vice president of automotive engineering at Tesla on X (formerly Twitter). The latter explains that the sedan is equipped “ a unique shock absorption technology called Frequency Selective Damping“. The latter is designed to improve driving comfortthanks to a very specific functionality.
In fact, she is able to‘isolate the shaking frequencies that the driver could feel, particularly in his stomach, and which are quite unpleasant. The latter oscillate between 4 and 6 Hz, and can fortunately be eliminated, thanks to special work carried out on damping. This is precisely what Koni offers on the restyled Model 3.
A smart system
According to Lars Moravy, this technology limits vibrations, caused in particular by small bumps in the road, without losing dynamism. And above all without the management necessarily becoming softer. But then, how is this possible? According to the Netherlands-based manufacturer, the operation of this device is actually quite simple. He explains that this acts by delaying the build-up of pressure in the shock absorber.
He is pointing out that this system is also very economical, because it does not require any additional cables, sensors or other electronic devices to operate it. It’s all mechanical and integrated into the hydraulic valve system inside the shock. A technology which therefore does not cost much, which allows the electric sedan to maintain a very low price. For the record, the latter starts from 42,990 euros.
A few months earlier, Tesla already made some improvements to its Model 3 before its restyling, as well as to its Model Y. Both offered softer suspensions, in order to improve their comfort and handling. From now on, fans of the brand are impatiently awaiting the arrival of a Performance version of the sedan, while only the standard and Long Autonomy variants are currently offered in the configurator.