Tesla Model 3 Highland spotted in Shanghai with Model 3+ badging, Tesla ships thousands outside China (videos)

A Tesla Model 3 Highland (2nd-gen) was spotted roaming the streets of Shanghai, China yesterday. This black Model 3 had no license plate and a short video was recorded by a Tesla enthusiast following the newest Tesla sensation.

The interesting part of this short video is the visible “Model 3+” badging on the rear. This additional badge is located on the left side of its tailgate just under the car’s name in Chinese language. In another video posted by the same Twitter (X) account from China of a white Tesla Model 3 Highland also has the “+ (plus)” sign added to the “Model 3” badge on the rear.

Tesla China seems to have named the new Tesla Model 3 Highland the Model 3+. However, the addition of the + sign to the Model 3 badging has not been officially confirmed yet. I tried to take a 2nd look at the Tesla China online car configurator but it does not show the badging at all.

Interestingly, the new Model 3 in China comes with the Solid Black color included (free of cost). While the same new Model 3 in Europe comes with the Pearl White Multi-Coat as the included color. Perhaps, Tesla made this change due to the popularity of the black color for cars in China (explore the global pricing of the new Tesla Model 3 Highland).

In the US and Canada, Midnight Silver Metallic (gray) color comes included on a Tesla Model 3. The Solid Black color in North America is a premium option and costs an extra $1,500.

Some more interesting tidbits are revealed in the above video, for example, the details of tail lights. The turn signals are now integrated across the entire L-shaped or we can say boomerang-shaped taillights of the new Model 3+ (Highland). This gives the rear lights a more diffused and unified look compared to the legacy Tesla Model 3.

This is probably the first footage of the new Tesla Model 3 Highland navigating on public roads. Previously, only prominent YouTubers and auto journalists were given the chance to test drive these cars for reviews.

Since the license plate on this Model 3+ is missing, the car most probably belongs to Tesla itself and is serving as a test drive car or heading to a delivery center.

Tesla revealed the new Tesla Model 3 codenamed Project Highland on September 1st. And just after two weeks, a large shipment of these cars was spotted getting loaded on a vehicle transport vessel at the Shanghai Port on Saturday (16th Sep).

Chinese Giga Shanghai local observer Wu Wa recorded the following drone footage of this shipment which is probably headed towards Europe where Tesla has put the new Model 3 Highland on sale. Sending large shipments of the new Tesla Model 3 to Europe and other regions shows that Tesla has hit the sweet spot once again and is getting substantial orders for the newly launched Model 3.

Early in the morning of September 16th, it was cloudy and rainy, foggy in Shanghai South Port, the drone flew to the pier through the fog, only to see a new Model 3 neatly lined up on the pier, the CRYSTAL RAY roll-on/roll-off ship docked at the pier and was loading the car, which is the first batch of new Model 3 produced by Tesla’s Shanghai factory to be shipped to Europe, and it is estimated to arrive at the middle of October and be delivered to the customers in Europe.

Wu Wa wrote in the drone video description.

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