I was with you till this statement (the efficiency). Where's the proof of this?
If anything else the newer Model 3's are rated higher for whatever reason (EPA ratings)
I know this thread is huge. And it's hard to find stuff. And I said I would not respond anymore. Here are some posts in addition to the one
above from Knightshade.
Summary Tables Comparing 2018, 2019, 2020 Efficiencies
SR+ 2019->2020 Improvement (980 motor):
City: 148/140 => 5.7% Hwy: 132/124 => 6.5%
P3D Stealth 2018->2020 Improvement (980 motor):
City: 128/120 => 6.7% Hwy: 120/112 => 7.1%
AWD 2018->2020 Improvement (with swap to 990 motor):
City: 124/120 => 3.3% Hwy: 116/112 => 3.6%
So ALL vehicles improved in efficiency. But the AWD improved less...even though it is identical in every way to the Stealth 2020 as far as we know,
except for the rear motor.
So, it's conceivable that Tesla chose to save some money internal to the 990 motor to save cost, with a small impact on efficiency (which was tolerable because they were able to gain 6% efficiency elsewhere).
Also some internal flags...this is only circumstantial...not sure what it means...
green on Twitter
Only relevant to this discussion because it may be a reason the rear motor output on this AWD+ update did not change; it's already maxed out, maybe.
EDIT: If you hand calculate (triangulate based on weight & 0-60 times and known AWD/P3D numbers) the torque requirement & power requirements for the current SR+ 0-60, it looks like the SR+ torque is about 360Nm (which is a lot higher than the peak torque on the rear motor on the AWD), and the max power is 230kW (which is similar to what the rear motor on the AWD does).
So since the SR+ does NOT have the 990 motor, it's possible that Tesla is telling us that they would be unable to generate either the torque or have enough headroom for future HP increases on the SR+ if they were to use the 990 motor. So it
sort of suggests that the 990 is tapped out. To be clear, this is totally speculative & circumstantial.