Looking at very low mileage 2019 Teslas for sale on Autotrader, in the $40-50K range is about right. The cheapest used 2019 model 3 in the whole US is more than $33K. And the only 2020 examples are much more expensive.

You can argue forever about technicalities, but $33K is not an apples-to-apples comparison. In fact, I would say if you are comparing brand new 2020 cars, $50K+ for the model 3 is more realistic, and you should take into account the discounts other cars have.

they have a 35k model available by special order. But you have to go out of your way to specifically ask for it. https://www.motortrend.com/news/the-35k-tesla-model-3-is-fin...

That shows that Nikkei did not do their research. $33k is Tesla's deceptive advertising of "Price after Est. Savings". The cheapest car actually costs $40,000 plus tax.

It's actually ~$36k (without savings), but it is "off menu": https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a28691921/tesla-model-3-st...

author forgot to click the "purchase price" slider and instead rounded down the "price after potential fuel savings"