Welcome to Tesla Motors Club
Discuss Tesla's Model S, Model 3, Model X, Model Y, Cybertruck, Roadster and More.
Register

Tesla will not upgrade the 40 or 60kWh Model S to 85/90kWh (confirmed)

This site may earn commission on affiliate links.
To unlock the "40"kWh pack to 60 plus Supercharging seems to be about the same as just upgrading to a 90kWh battery, now.

Those unicorns running around are looking better and better as a used car, now ;)

That's a 125% increase in battery capacity! Double the car for a fraction of the price!

EDIT with title change:

Yes, Tesla did allow an owner to upgrade his S60 to a P85 in the past. However, they want you to upgrade the whole car, now. The trade-in value for a 60 (or "40") is too low to make any sense. Factor in the requirements of Supercharging and you really might as well just switch cars.

That being said, for existing owners with 85 or 90kWh batteries, it will make sense when 100+ comes out. Swapping from 85-90 doesn't make a ton of sense, but it is possible.

Additionally, the upgrade from an existing P85D to P85DL includes new fuses, contactors, and labor to handle the new 1500A level.
 
Last edited:
To unlock the "40"kWh pack to 60 plus Supercharging seems to be about the same as just upgrading to a 90kWh battery, now.

Those unicorns running around are looking better and better as a used car, now ;)

That's a 125% increase in battery capacity! Double the car for a fraction of the price!

I'm not sure how you can say that, since nobody knows what it's going to cost to upgrade to a 90 kWh battery. The $3,000 figure is for new builds only, when configuring via the web site. The $5,000 figure for P85D owners is only for the performance update (fuse plus contactors) which DOES NOT include an upgrade to the 90 kWh battery. No 90 kWh upgrade prices have been announced for the existing fleet, but you can expect it to be in the $10,000-$12,000 range for those with an 85 kWh pack. given the $600/kWh upgrade cost for new. In fact, as far as we know, only the 85 kWh cars are eligible to upgrade to the 90 kWh pack. Nothing has been said by Tesla with regard to 40 and 60 eligibility.

I suspect that if the 40 were eligible, Tesla would charge you the upgrade cost to the 60, and then add on top of that an additional charge for the new battery minus a credit for your used battery, depending on degradation level. If 40s are allowed to upgrade, which is a big IF, the cost would likely be north of $20,000. However, that may still be a good deal for many 40 owners.
 
I thought the 40 could be upgraded to 60 via software.
I am positive the 60 cannot be updated to 85 or more. I have a 60 and spoke with Tesla, again, yesterday and they will not update a 60, since not just a battery swap. Now, I do have 2013 MS60...so uncertain in the actual 70 can be updated to a 90
 
To unlock the "40"kWh pack to 60 plus Supercharging seems to be about the same as just upgrading to a 90kWh battery, now.

Those unicorns running around are looking better and better as a used car, now ;)

That's a 125% increase in battery capacity! Double the car for a fraction of the price!

Did you get this confirmed from Tesla? I was under the impression Tesla won't be doing this.
 
Why would upgrading to a 90 be limited to existing 85 owners? And why in the world would Tesla require S40 owners to pay for a 60kWh battery first before being allowed to swap it with a 90? If they never once use the 60kWh capacity of the battery, why should they pay for it? They got what they paid for, nothing more, nothing less. Tesla admitted that the S40 was a flawed selling strategy which is why they dropped it. The cost of going from a 40/60/85 to a 90 should be the same. If Supercharging is not enabled on the car (like 40s and some 60s) that could also be a required purchase to activate.

I think for the several handfuls of S40s driving around, Tesla wouldn't care. They would take these amazingly well kept 60kWh Model S batteries and re-purpose them, just like they would if a native S60 swapped their battery for a 90.

Model S 40
90kWh battery = $XX,XXX
+ Supercharging = $2,500
---------------------------------------------------------------
Awesome deal!
 
I thought the 40 could be upgraded to 60 via software.
I am positive the 60 cannot be updated to 85 or more. I have a 60 and spoke with Tesla, again, yesterday and they will not update a 60, since not just a battery swap. Now, I do have 2013 MS60...so uncertain in the actual 70 can be updated to a 90
It is just a battery swap, and new firmware, nothing more. Tesla only does it in special circumstances though....
 
It'll be very interesting once used 85 packs get cheap enough, to swap out a 60 to see what happens.

Nobody at Tesla has ever said that this is impossible - just expensive (they assume you would purchase a new 85 pack from them)

The VIN would be a problem, as it indicates the pack size (always thought this was a bit daft) - but once the car either recognizes the new capacity, or you get the Service Centre to make the change to the software flags, the display would show the proper size.
 
I have guessed that the topic title is speculation or wishful thinking :) but am I the only one wondering if tesla ever enables upgrades aiming for the s60 as just enabled for the s85? Eg upgrade from 60 - 70. It is seen proven that the s60 do include more than 60 kWh hence unactivated kWh in the pack. Something to do with the charging speed an number of cells. Seen it somewhere.

Have I understood the upgrade for existing models S from 85-90 right, tesla merely updates the software right? If not how do the intend to refurbish potentially ~90.000 battery packs? Of cause the refurbish price remains still unknown and may turn out to be a bummer. If it is a replacement of cells in the pack then why can't s60 or 70 for that matter upgrade? They (we) need it more or equally as 85 owners.
 
It is my understand (and I could be wrong) that the 60s have the Supercharging hardware installed, but needed a software update to enable it. The 40s did not come with Supercharging hardware. Now, they did have actual 60 batteries limited to 40 kWh, but the Supercharging hardware would still have to be added on. At that point, it likely is more cost effective to trade up to a CPO 85.

- - - Updated - - -

Are there any 40 owners? I thought the model only existed hypothetically, and that it was dropped before the first one was actually sold?

Yes. Some 40 owners have posted on here and one saw his traded in 40 come up on the CPO site as a 60. Basically, Tesla bought it from him as a 40, installed SpC capability, and remove the software restriction so the full 60 battery could be used. Another poster on here bought it.