Model S battery pack upgrade *will* happen, per Elon Tweet

I think Elon is merely stating the obvious. Certainly good news, but not surprising.

NOTE: there are different ways to interpret the word "upgrade".

It could mean that in the future the S and X will be produced with higher capacity battery packs, so the new cars will be an "upgrade" over earlier versions of those models.

Or it could mean that in the future existing cars could be "upgraded" with higher capacity replacement batteries (though currently Tesla has made clear that S60 owners cannot purchase an S85 battery from Tesla and install it in their 60).

Or it could be both.

I think we didn't see new threads proliferating about this tweet because most people took it as already said, 'stating the obvious' & at some undefined point in the future.

My interpretation? This: "As battery technology evolves over time, you will see that new tech show up in new, swappable battery packs. It could be faster charging, increased range, lighter battery or a combination. We don't know at the moment because it's not seriously on the table yet."

ecarfan said:

NOTE: there are different ways to interpret the word "upgrade".

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It's amazing to see how we're all adapting to read this stuff from multiple angles. I thought the same thing(s) when I read it.

I just hope Musk doesn't put too many things on tesla's plate

yobigd20 said:

yea, I've always said that too. A bit silly to build hot swappable packs without the option of easily upgrading. lets just hope they don't repeat the recent P85D/autopilot enhancements where things were upgraded under our noses and those built before 'X' date get screwed with old hardware.

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Screwed??? You have to see it from TM point of view, if they gone out saying "in three month we will be putting new hardware in the car" it would be the same as saying "please don't buy a car now wait three month" and at some point we all have to accept that you never going to have the lastest version of the car for more than a couple of weeks.

"...not coming soon..."

At he is setting expectations appropriately, this time.

I've said it elsewhere, but I personally would not expect a Model S battery with more than 85kWh to exist until well into Model 3 production... at a minimum of 1 to 2 years after production Model 3's are delivered.

To be able to retrofit, it would have to have roughly the same weight and shape as the Model S battery does currently, but have a higher energy density. There really is no additional space available where the battery mounts to the car currently. And changing the weight much could have safety implications.

Edit: Personally, I would give up some cargo space for more batteries if it were possible. The frunk on the P85D is pretty pointless now anyway, but I bet I could physically fit a couple of the battery modules (~5.3kWh each) in there (in a non-functional fashion of course).

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This gets me wondering if some kind of range extender could be made for the Model S that utilized additional batteries in a similar way to how they extend the EV range of the Prius with batteries and DC-DC converters.

Add batteries, hook up a DC-DC converter between/in parallel with the secondary/new batteries and the HV output of the main battery pack. When the main battery is put under load, just pump out some amount of power at the appropriate voltage out of the secondary battery pack to lessen the load on the main battery. Do this wisely and I'd wonder if the car electronics would ever even notice... it would possibly just think that less power was being used and throw off the in-dash numbers...

= We'll do the same kind of thing for the Model S because we'll (obviously) have the same legacy tech issue in the future.

Excessively optimistic reading: he didn't mention the X, so this must mean that the X will have an upgraded pack.

ItsNotAboutTheMoney said:

= We'll do the same kind of thing for the Model S because we'll (obviously) have the same legacy tech issue in the future.

Excessively optimistic reading: he didn't mention the X, so this must mean that the X will have an upgraded pack.

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It's not excessively optimistic. I've come to learn that to understand Tesla you must read between the lines. Not very long before the "D unveiling" they explicitly said there would be no AWD Model S before the Model X. However, a few months prior to the unveiling they stopped saying this and just avoided the questions more or less. So I think you're right to read it like this, that's what I'm doing. And I think as they unveil the X with a bigger pack they will know a lot of S owners will want to upgrade so they will at first say "No, there will be no upgrade "in the near future" and then just a few months later it will be available to S owners, but only after X's have started rolling off the line.

Johan said:

It's not excessively optimistic. I've come to learn that to understand Tesla you must read between the lines. Not very long before the "D unveiling" they explicitly said there would be no AWD Model S before the Model X. However, a few months prior to the unveiling they stopped saying this and just avoided the questions more or less. So I think you're right to read it like this, that's what I'm doing. And I think as they unveil the X with a bigger pack they will know a lot of S owners will want to upgrade so they will at first say "No, there will be no upgrade "in the near future" and then just a few months later it will be available to S owners, but only after X's have started rolling off the line.

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Actually, I would guess if they increase the pack size on the model S, it will not be retro-fittable. Because not allowing a retrofit allows them to sell all the believers their 3rd model S (the original, the D model and then the D110 model) instead of just a larger battery.

And isn't it safe to think/say that a larger battery pack will cost significantly more at this point? So an S110D will be maybe $10,000 more than an S85D? I would love to have the range, but I believe I will be pretty satisfied with the range for the 85, particularly when the SupCs are in (or most of them) by the end of this year acrossed the US (where I drive).

If they offer a battery upgrade now for Ss, they won't be that much better than what we already have. Maybe the 110 like folks have suggested. However, in 5 years, 7.5 years from the initial release of the S, the battery tech may be lots better. Maybe 150kWh or more? That's what I want! A 500+ rated mile battery upgrade.

A lot also depends on what the Gigafactory brings to the table. An efficient pack/battery recycling operation coupled with improvements in battery packaging and technology could enable some economically attractive options for existing cars...

Oh yea, and I'd like to use the old battery for energy storage for my home. I would sooooooo like to become impervious of PG&E outages!

Just wishful thinking...

MSEV said:

And isn't it safe to think/say that a larger battery pack will cost significantly more at this point? So an S110D will be maybe $10,000 more than an S85D? I would love to have the range, but I believe I will be pretty satisfied with the range for the 85, particularly when the SupCs are in (or most of them) by the end of this year acrossed the US (where I drive).

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Even with superchargers, the game is to get there faster. Whenever I can, I skip a supercharger, even if it means going slower, because it takes less time. Driving off the main highway, finding the mall parking lot, or Cari's Jr., plugging in (for *only* 30 minutes - or an hour - or whatever), then back to the main highway takes a fair amount of time. Sometimes the charger is actually out of your way so you drive an extra 30 or 40 miles to charge. Driving slowly to skip a charger makes a lot more sense.

In another instance, Tesla has lots of Black Holes where they don't think a charger is necessary, for example, across southern Oregon to Boise. iF you charge in Bend (only 80 amp charging is available), it's 280 miles with just an RV park in the middle, and lots of elevation change. An 85 kW pack probably will not make it, even at 60 mph.

If we had a bigger battery, there are LOTS of us who would opt to buy that item while we wait, and wait, and wait, for Tesla to decide on putting in another Supercharger where we need it.