Tesla Model 3 Named Most American Made Car
Lisa Steuer McArdle
· 3 min read
Just in time for the Fourth of July, the
Tesla
Model 3 has been ranked No. 1 on the Cars.com American-Made Index for 2021.The American-Made Index from Cars.com looks at a range of factors to determine how American a car or truck might be. On this year’s list, the Tesla Model 3 was followed by the Ford Mustang, which ranked second, and the Tesla Model Y, which ranked third. The top five rounds out with the Jeep Cherokee and Chevrolet Corvette.
How American is the 2021 Tesla Model 3?
This is the first time Tesla has ranked No. 1 in the list’s 16-year history. Last year marked the automaker’s first time on the index at all, when it had three vehicles in the top 10.
The Model 3 is Tesla’s compact
electric
sedan. In the electric car marketplace, it’s one of the more affordable options. According to Car and Driver
, the vehicle’s acceleration is quick, and the Performance model has a sportier suspension and a track driving mode. This model introduced new enhancements for 2021, including new wheel designs, a power-operated trunk lid and satin black trim. The car’s center console was also redesigned to accommodate two wireless smartphone changing pads.
The 2021 Tesla Model 3 also reportedly has an improved driving range of 263 miles per charge, an increase from 250. The long-range model has a 353-mile range, which is 31 miles more than the 2020 version delivered.
The Standard Range Plus model starts at just more than $41,000.
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More about the American-made cars list
The
Cars.com American-Made Index
ranks all qualifying vehicles made and bought in the U.S. The 2021 list ranked 90 vehicles.This is the second year in a row that the list ranked all qualifying vehicles built and bought in the U.S., and not just the top 10 or 15 models.
To create the list, Cars.com analyzes five main factors:
- Location of the final assembly: Probably the most important qualifier for the list. This factor looks at final assembly to be at one of 45 U.S plants that currently mass-produce light-duty passenger vehicles.
- The percentage of U.S. and Canadian parts: This component uses data from the American Automobile Label Act (AALA), which requires automakers to report the overall percentage of U.S. and Canadian content by value for the vast majority of cars they sell.
- Country of origin for available engines: This information is also mandated by the AALA.
- Country of origin for available transmissions: Another required disclosure for AALA purposes.
- U.S. manufacturing employees relative to the automaker’s footprint: For the list, each automaker’s direct U.S. workforce involved in the manufacture of light-duty vehicles and their parts is analyzed and factored against that automaker’s U.S. production footprint.
The cars on this year’s list are all ranked for the 2021 model year, with assembly locations current as of April 2021.
Tesla Model 3 and other electric cars
Currently, automakers sell about 80 substantially electrified models in the U.S. for the 2021 model year. Only 14 electric cars made this year’s American-Made Index, but that’s because most substantially electrified cars, like the Toyota Prius, are imported.
In fact, automakers build just 27 of those 80 substantially electrified models in the U.S.
