EPA docs appear to reveal Tesla Model 3 battery info, but Musk says not so fast

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In a move that still appears bizarre, with the Model 3 launch, Tesla decided that talking about an electric car's battery pack in terms of kWh was passi(C). Until now, the brand has used kWh to badge its various models, so we know that a Model S 60 has 60kWh-worth of cells and a Model X P100D packs 100kWh between its wheels. The new order does away with that, much like when BMW ditched decades of badging logic. Instead, there's just a regular and long-range model, with EPA estimated ranges of 220 and 310 miles. But with barely a handful of Model 3s on the road-and a long wait in store of most of the preorder queue-the Internet is hungry for more details. After all, how else to bench race it?

On Monday, Autoblog appeared to have solved the mystery, at least in part. Tucked away in an EPA document (PDF) were the magic numbers for the long-range model: 80.5kWh, based on the fact that it's rated at 350V and 230Ah. The report also detailed the rear-wheel drive motor-generator unit, which is a 192kW (258hp) AC three-phase permanent magnet configuration.

But then, according to Electrek, Tesla corrected the record during a conference call with new investors: the standard Model 3 will have "just over 50kWh," and the long-range version will have 75kWh.

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