Posted on 09/10/2017 10:42:47 AM PDT by TigerClaws
Tesla has pushed an over-the-air update to some of its vehicles in Florida that lets those cars go just a liiiittle bit farther, thus helping their owners get that much farther 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.) View Reactions (563) Stephen Todd Hoover
You have experience? You’ve driven one?
You’re usually paying FOR something — V-6 is cheaper than the V-8.
This is Tesla purposefully limiting the battery efficiency of a car consumers paid $100k+ to buy. Nothing is different other than the purposeful actions by Tesla to limit the battery range for its own customers.
Seems like a screw job to me...
“It was a money-making scheme by Tesla.
Not quite the Volvo-level fraud, but a ripoff nonetheless.”
Well not only were the purchasers defrauded, so were taxpayers, given the subsidies involved - where are those class-action lawyers when we really need them?
This is what that Nazi (seriously, look it up) company IBM used to do. Sell an upgrade and flip a switch.
Welcome to the world of software driven cars. You’re still paying for something, but that something now is a certain arrangement of 1s and 0s. You’ve been living in this world for 30 years without even knowing it, it’s just finally spread to cars.
This has been happening on PC processor speeds for decades.
Why? Well know by Tesla owners.
No.
It’s what most software companies STILL do. You really don’t expect them to build test and ship completely different versions of binaries that will do 99% of the same stuff do you?
You don’t understand.
Really, really NICE cars!
I understand perfectly well. You just can’t be bothered to actually read, or actually write, or actually not be a troll.
No fraud. You were promised a performance level at a price and that is what you got.
This is actually commonly done. For example, in the printer industry, they might have a product line that ranges from 45ppm to 65ppm. But actually, the parts inside are all the same. All the equipment has a max speed of 65ppm. It is only firmware that limits some some of the models to lower speeds.
I just knew you would ignore any technical facts I would post to you!
You don’t post technical facts. You’ve never posted technical facts on anything. All you do is insult people.
Lots of things like that. A 1 Tara-byte hard drive is in many cases a 2 Tara-byte drive that could not pass the 2T final inspection and was downgraded.
You remember those “10 transistor radios” from the early 60’s? Well the manufacturing yield on transistors was pretty low in the early days. So they had lots of scrap transistors. That 10 transistor radio was really a 6 transistor radio with 4 dead transistors soldered onto the board that were not hooked to anything. Begs the question, is it a 10 transistor radio or not?
I’ve bought many Teslas, at gunpoint, through taxes. I also pay for a (still) lying EPA that tells me Teslas get over 100 mpg “equivalent”. That is a lie. They are about 1/2 the stated numbers. Finally a few years ago my 13 passenger van parking area was removed so they could give the spaces to one person electric cars. But which is better for the environment? No contest at all.
Bingo. If they can be hacked to increase power, they can be hacked to decrease or not run at all. Hastings anyone?
How fast does that extra juice last when waiting in barely moving evacuation traffic?
Why didn't they give Harvey evacuees the same option? This has law suit all over it.
Its not a screw job. Its brilliant actually. In a conventional car, you pay for a V-6 or a V-8, and the company has to produce 2 separate engines (costly), and then put the appropriate one in the car.
In the Tesla model (and what the IT world has been doing for 30 plus years), you produce ONE car, and control performance via software. You want better performance? You pay for it, and the software is adjusted accordingly.
Why is this a screw job? You get what you pay for.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.