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60 vs 85... the same now?

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There is more to it than that. Firmware needs to be updated to reflect the different battery. It's far more than three minutes to update the firmware. I don't know if there is anything else that needs to be changed (such as different cable size from the battery to the inverter).
 
That's an interesting point, but I haven't heard any comments on their willingness to swap a 60 with an 85. That would be great if they would.

I wonder if there is ever a case where a 85 would decide they wanted a 60 temporarily. Weight savings for an afternoon of autocross? :)
 
I really think they should make the swapping upward compatible. Being able to sell the Model 3 with a 40kwh battery and owners being able to swap to an 85 for a road trip makes the 3 much more price competitive without losing any long range functionality. It also means less need for swapping stations, which can't be cheap.

If you were going from a 60 to an 85, could software just limit the peak power output of the 85 to mimic a 60 so you would not have any concerns about the car's ability to handle the extra peak power/watts?
 
There is more to it than that. Firmware needs to be updated to reflect the different battery. It's far more than three minutes to update the firmware. I don't know if there is anything else that needs to be changed (such as different cable size from the battery to the inverter).
I doubt that the firmware is different... Or that there are any other hardware differences. Does anyone know of any?

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I don't think Tesla has indicated they'd be willing to swap a 60 kWh battery with an 85 kWh battery.
Why not?
Makes sense to get a bigger battery for a long trip.
 
I doubt that the firmware is different....

In the one case where Tesla did an upgrade from 60 to 85 (posted somewhere on TMC), the Service Centre had to change the firmware (or at least the settings) to account for the battery difference. It wasn't stated whether any parts were required.
 
I don't think Tesla has indicated they'd be willing to swap a 60 kWh battery with an 85 kWh battery.
Way back when the Model S was press release vaporware, there was talk of "renting" a larger battery for road trips:

The Tesla Model S Sedan will supposedly have a 300 mile range from its floor pan-located, easily removable battery pack which Tesla claims will have a quick-charged capability allowing it to partially charge in just 45 minutes. The company is considering renting customers a long range battery pack for long trips.
Tesla Model S Sedan Concept: $49,900 Seven-Seater Electric To Hit Streets In 2011

Yeah, I know, consider the source. But Jalopnik was only echoing what Tesla was saying at the time.
 
Now that we have a 3 minute battery swap, a model 60 can be a model 85 (or the reverse).
Does it make sense to have two different model designations when they can be changed so easily?

Newsflash... there is no 3 minute battery swap. Tesla is beta testing one tiny swap station at Harris Ranch. I think you are reading far too much into a beta test that excludes 99% of Model S owners. And if swap ever becomes a real product for the rest of us, you will always have to retrieve your original battery. Not everyone needs to swap, and most won't want to swap because it's inconvenient and costs money. Buy the battery capacity you need, you'll be glad that you did.
 
Now that we have a 3 minute battery swap, a model 60 can be a model 85 (or the reverse).

As AmpedRealtor said, at this point all Tesla has announced is one BETA swap station to be run as a test case to gauge demand. You are getting way ahead of reality.

Also, Tesla has never said that 60 owners will be able to swap an 85 battery into their car. For reason stated by others in this thread it is unlikely, and we also know that more than one 60 owner has said Tesla declined to "upgrade" their car with an 85 battery after sale and delivery to the owner.
 
I doubt that the firmware is different... Or that there are any other hardware differences. Does anyone know of any?

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Why not?
Makes sense to get a bigger battery for a long trip.

Firmware (or at least the way it interacts with the battery pack hardware) is most definitely different. As delivered, my original firmware displayed the same center instrument panel as seen on cars with 85KWh pack (i.e. the highest battery drain number was 320 KW). After one of the firmware updates the scale for 60KWh models was reduced to 240 KW.
 
I would expect that the 60 versus 80 kWh pack is a setting within the same firmware, much like Supercharging. If it isn't, it probably could be depending on just how busy Tesla's software elves are these days.
 
Firmware (or at least the way it interacts with the battery pack hardware) is most definitely different. As delivered, my original firmware displayed the same center instrument panel as seen on cars with 85KWh pack (i.e. the highest battery drain number was 320 KW). After one of the firmware updates the scale for 60KWh models was reduced to 240 KW.


To me this sounds like the firmware is in-fact the same, but at some point it got smarter to be able to adjust the displays to allow for differences of batteries - but is probably the same core firmware with some variables.