Tesla has given the Model 3 its most substantial equipment change since the Highland refresh, and it has done it at Giga Shanghai. Cars built there for the 2027 model year get a 16-inch centre screen, a new interior colour, a black headliner — and the ability to run household appliances off the battery.
Four markets are confirmed so far: China, Australia, New Zealand and South Korea. Europe is not on that list, which is the interesting part, because Europe's Model 3 comes off the same line.
What the 2027 Model 3 gains
| Change | Detail |
|---|---|
| Centre display | 15.4 inches to 16 inches, with higher resolution and a higher refresh rate |
| Vehicle-to-Load | Up to 2.2 kW of AC power export |
| Interior | Light grey premium interior replaces white |
| Headliner | Black fabric in place of the light headliner |
The interior colour will be familiar: it is the shade that arrived on the Model Y in Europe in August. What is new is the Model 3 getting it, alongside the black headliner owners have asked for since 2023. Tesla told South Korean customers the specification changes from the fourth quarter of 2026 — the clearest date anyone has in writing.
V2L is hardware, not a software switch
This is the detail that decides whether your car is included, and it is unforgiving: V2L requires 2027 model year hardware. Drive Tesla reports that older cars cannot be given the feature by software update or retrofit. An existing Model 3 will not receive this in a release note.
Power export also needs Tesla's official Outlet Adapter, sold separately. The 2.2 kW is enough for power tools, a kettle, camping gear or a fridge during an outage, and well short of running a house. That is a different proposition from the bidirectional work in Europe around Germany's V2G rulebook and Audi's V2G tariff with Octopus, which push energy to the grid rather than to a socket in the boot.
The Model Y gets the wider change
Alongside the Model 3 launch, Tesla opened V2L to all Model Y trims. It had been limited to the Model Y Performance and the Model Y L. Tesla has not said which markets that expansion covers.
What this means for Europe
Tesla has announced nothing for Europe. But the supply chain argues the changes are coming: European Model 3s are built in Shanghai, and the updated cars are already in production there.
The constraint is shipping. A vessel from Shanghai to Europe takes over a month, so the earliest European deliveries showing this specification would be late October — an inference from the shipping timeline, not a Tesla statement. Treat any date as an estimate until Tesla updates its European configurator.
One caution for anyone ordering now: because V2L is tied to 2027 model year hardware rather than to software, a car built before the changeover will not gain it later. If power export matters to you, the build date is the thing to ask about.
The United States is the one left out
American buyers get none of it. The US Model 3 keeps its 15.4-inch screen and has no V2L at all. Tesla launched power export in the US in August, but limited it to the Model Y Premium, Model Y Performance and Cybertruck, at 2.4 kW through an adapter Electrek prices at $80.
For once, the market waiting on Shanghai is ahead of the one waiting on Fremont.
Update: 2026-10-02
On 1 October 2026 US time, hours after this article was published, Tesla extended part of the 2027 model year change to the United States — which supersedes the closing section above. Every US Model 3 trim now ships with the 16-inch centre screen, and the change covers Puerto Rico and Mexico as well. The Model 3 Performance gains the black headliner, 528 hp in place of 510, and an EPA range of 316 miles against 309; the Premium AWD now claims 0 to 60 mph in 3.8 seconds rather than 4.2, with 346 miles. Prices are unchanged, from $36,990 for the RWD. The statement above that American buyers get none of it no longer holds — but vehicle-to-load is still absent in the US, so the one change that needs 2027 model year hardware is also the one the US has not received. Canada is not included. Source: Tesla Model 3 gets range and performance boost, plus a new 16-inch screen in US