The Model S 70 (or 70D)’s 75kWh Range Upgrade Doesn’t Give You A New Battery, But Just Unlocks The Existing Pack’s True Potential.
Earlier this week the news came along that Tesla will be offering the option to Model S 70 (or 70D) buyers to gain a larger 75kWh battery upgrade (over the standard 70kWh) which raises the car’s range by some 20km.
This option would cost said buyer an extra $4,500 Australian and, as you would think, requires a different, higher capacity battery to be fitted – right?
Not quite. It turns out that, as first reported by The Verge, the fee you’d pay Tesla has actually nothing to do with hardware and everything to do with software. Since the Model S’ 2016 visual and feature update (pre-facelift Model S’ do not apply), all their base Model S 70 (or 70D) batteries are technically already capable of storing 75kWh, it’s just told not to by the car.
A spokesperson from Tesla confirmed that, following the Model S facelift, the 70kWh battery indeed been discontinued but despite the inclusion of higher capacity 75kWh batteries as standard, the Model S 70 trim and corresponding capacity has been retained.
Would you like to have a battery in your new Model S 70 (or 70D) that can be charged to its full potential, therefore taking you as far as possible before needing to be plugged back in?
Then Pay Tesla who, effectively, is holding this capability for ransom.
But. Before this riles you up too much, consider that we have seen this practice before in the car industry, only concerning other metrics and features. For example, your car may be capable of travelling at much higher speeds than the electronically limited 250km/h, but should you want to access it you’d have to pay to have the limiter removed. Pay being operative word.
Another being certain variants within a model range using the exact engine, but their output levels deliberately tiered in the name of price separation.
One more, perhaps clumsier, example of this would be the navigation capabilities in certain variants of car. The lower tier of which comes with the same infotainment hardware as the range topper, but the navigation function strangely missing until it is enabled or a $3 SD card is inserted at the dealer or manufacturer level. Another kind of paywall.
Thinking about this from Tesla’s point of view, it makes complete sense for them to offer the Model S in two battery capacity levels without having to physically deal with two separate manufacturing lines and inventories.
All things considered, 75kWh over 70kWh probably isn’t going to be much of a leap in terms of electric range, and certainly won’t take you far enough to escape range anxiety if you (in your 75kWh Model S) and your friend (in the 70kWh Model S) are teetering near the end of your charge levels during a long road trip.
Still, more is usually always better. In this case, it’s range.
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