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Tesla flips a switch to increase the range of some cars in Florida to help people evacuate
Posted on 9/9/17 at 11:27 pm
Posted on 9/9/17 at 11:27 pm
quote:
Tesla has pushed an over-the-air update to some of its vehicles in Florida that lets those cars go just a liiiittle bit further, thus helping their owners get that much further away from the devastation of Hurricane Irma.
Wondering how that's even possible?
Up until a few months ago, Tesla sold a 60kWh version of its Model S and Model X vehicles — but the battery in those cars was actually rated at 75kWh. The thinking: Tesla could offer a more affordable 60kWh version to those who didn't need the full range of the 75kWh battery — but to keep things simple, they'd just use the same 75kWh battery and lock it on the software side. If 60kWh buyers found they needed more range and wanted to upgrade later, they could... or if Tesla wanted to suddenly bestow owners with some extra range in case of an emergency, they could.
And that's what's happening here.
As first noticed by Tesla owners on Reddit, the company has pushed a "temporary update" to vehicles within the evacuation zones that bumps the 60kWh models up to 75kWh.
On the road, according to Elektrek, this battery bump works out to about 30 miles of additional range on a full charge. If that little bit of range helps even one person avoid injury or get their loved ones out safely, I'd say its worth whatever work this required.
Alas, the upgrade won't stick around forever — Tesla generally charges at least $5,000 for the permanent equivalent. Members on the Tesla Motors Club fan forum report that the temporary update will be reversed on September 16th.
(Meanwhile, in case any gas-powered vehicle owners in the path of the hurricane end up on this page: GasBuddy has rolled out a tool meant to help Floridians find gas stations near them that still have fuel. And if you can get out, please do.)
LINK
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Posted on 9/9/17 at 11:31 pm to Street Hawk
How us the 60kWh more affordable then if they use the same things in them? This sounds pretty shitty on Tesla's part. Glad they sent the update but frick them for limiting it in the first place (unless there's some good reason that I'm missing).
Posted on 9/9/17 at 11:33 pm to Street Hawk
Lol what a piece of shite, Muh battery car
Posted on 9/9/17 at 11:33 pm to Street Hawk
So telsa purposely restricts the range of their vehicles? That's kinda fricked up.
Posted on 9/9/17 at 11:34 pm to DavidTheGnome
Yeah, they have the same product on the market from a manufacturing standpoint, but charge less due to software. Interesting
Posted on 9/9/17 at 11:35 pm to DavidTheGnome
It's called marketing and sales....the backbone of our economy.
Posted on 9/9/17 at 11:35 pm to Street Hawk
That's nice of them, but
for
is absolutely absurd.
quote:
30 miles of additional range on a full charge
for
quote:
Tesla generally charges at least $5,000 for the permanent equivalent
is absolutely absurd.
Posted on 9/9/17 at 11:36 pm to DavidTheGnome
quote:
How us the 60kWh more affordable then if they use the same things in them? This sounds pretty shitty on Tesla's part. Glad they sent the update but frick them for limiting it in the first place (unless there's some good reason that I'm missing).
Had the same question myself.
Either the 60kWh clients or the 75kWh clients are getting screwed artificially.
Posted on 9/9/17 at 11:37 pm to DavidTheGnome
This would be like Ford selling the same size gas tank to everyone, but on some cars they throw bricks in the tank to restrict the amount of gas you can put in it.
Posted on 9/9/17 at 11:39 pm to DavidTheGnome
quote:
How us the 60kWh more affordable then if they use the same things in them?
Economies of scale, my boy.
It was apparently cheaper to streamline and use only the one battery type than it was to truely segment.
If it costs 15 k for x number of 65kw, and 17k for y number of 75kw, but 15.5k for a per unit exclusivity of 75kw, what are you going to pick?
If anyone has a right to be pissed, it's the higher model owners who subsidized this.
Posted on 9/9/17 at 11:39 pm to DavidTheGnome
quote:
How us the 60kWh more affordable then if they use the same things in them?
They make enough off the full-spec'd battery which is locked down already. Then they can allow it's full potential for an extra cost to the consumer- doesn't cost them any more other than the cost of the time to program the software control for the battery.
quote:
This sounds pretty shitty on Tesla's part. Glad they sent the update but frick them for limiting it in the first place (unless there's some good reason that I'm missing).
It's cheaper for them. They want your money. There isn't anything that's unethical about it. They could charge you more for all of them, but they decided the cheapest way to justify a "step down" model was to lock it down a little.
If I remember correctly, a fair amount of Intel processors do a very similar thing - they make one piece of hardware with a software tune (which is manufacturer locked) and sell it as multiple "tiers."
Posted on 9/9/17 at 11:40 pm to Langland
Don't get too mad. It's not like your tax dollars are subsidizing Tesla.
Posted on 9/9/17 at 11:44 pm to Hopeful Doc
You're right, nvidia cards do the same I believe. Still shitty imo
Posted on 9/9/17 at 11:45 pm to DavidTheGnome
quote:
How us the 60kWh more affordable then if they use the same things in them? This sounds pretty shitty on Tesla's part.
Intel does this with some of their chips. They'll sell an 8-core chip with 2 deactivated as a 6-core chip (and so on). They do this because the chips sold as the higher core chips have a much lower allowed failure rate; thusly, those that have two cores that are likely to not properly operate are sold with those cores deactivated rather than destroy the chip. As a consumer you can roll the dice and purchase the cheaper chip and "hack" it to activate those two extra cores, but now your chip is more likely to fail.
If that is what Tesla is doing in this case then I'll give them a pass ... but something tells me they are just screwing people over and forcing them to pay more to use all of the vehicle they paid for (and that the government heavily subsidized).
Posted on 9/9/17 at 11:52 pm to Street Hawk
quote:
If that little bit of range helps even one person avoid injury or get their loved ones out safely, I'd say its worth whatever work this required
What if someone dies because they get in an accident 10 miles after they would have had to stop? Did Tesla think this all the way through? They are playing God with people's lives. I've always been an Edison man.
Posted on 9/9/17 at 11:54 pm to DavidTheGnome
quote:
You're right, nvidia cards do the same I believe.
There were a few nVidia cards that you could purchase as consumer cards and install a small 30¢ bridge which would give them full enterprise capabilities. The difference in price was about $700 vs $3500; however, all of their enterprise grade cards use handpicked processors and memory that are significantly less likely to malfunction while under extended load. When you purchase enterprise you're not paying so much for extra features as you are extra quality and a host of certifications that aren't available with consumer level hardware.
Posted on 9/10/17 at 12:05 am to DavidTheGnome
quote:
You're right, nvidia cards do the same I believe. Still shitty imo
Not just Nvidia, but pretty much every chipmaker in the world.
Posted on 9/10/17 at 12:16 am to DavidTheGnome
quote:
Glad they sent the update but frick them for limiting it in the first place (unless there's some good reason that I'm missing).
IIRC, not charging Li-Ion batteries to 100% increases their overall life.
So some perceive to be charging their 60kWh cars to 100%, when in reality they are charging their car to 80% (60/75).
Now how this plays into their marketing and pricing, I'm not sure.
Posted on 9/10/17 at 12:23 am to C
This is normal in the tech industry.
IBM mainframes and a lot of storage arrays do this. You pay for the licensing. Your intel CPU is likely the same exact thing as other models that run at different speeds.
IBM mainframes and a lot of storage arrays do this. You pay for the licensing. Your intel CPU is likely the same exact thing as other models that run at different speeds.
Posted on 9/10/17 at 12:25 am to Street Hawk
Guns and gas! frick those Electric cars.
If I need more range I'll drop my truck nuts and add a 100 gallon tank in my bed.
If I need more range I'll drop my truck nuts and add a 100 gallon tank in my bed.
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