While everyone’s waiting for the Model X, Tesla is offering new tech upgrades for its Model S.
While the world waits for electric car maker Tesla to
deliver its next car, the Model X, CEO Elon Musk on Friday announced
three new options for the company’s Model S electric car.
They include a longer battery range, a lower priced car, and “Ludicrous mode” for faster acceleration.
Drivers will be able to upgrade their Model S from a 85 kilowatt-hour
battery pack to a 90 kilowatt-hour battery. The new extended range will
increase the pack energy by 5%, and add about 15 miles of range.
The battery upgrade, which will cost $3,000
, will be available on new
cars and as an upgrade for existing owners. Musk said on the call that
he doesn’t recommend that customers who already own a Model S buy the
upgrade.
Musk told reporters that the increased battery is from improved
battery chemistry, and not from a bigger battery. Tesla’s tweaks include
more silicon in the anode part of the battery, said Musk. A battery is
made up of two electrodes—a cathode (positive) and an anode
(negative)—and a medium, called the electrolyte, through which the
electric charge flows.
Tesla will also sell a lower priced, $70,000 Model S, with a 70
kilowatt-hour battery and a single motor. Musk wrote in a release that
the price is about “$50,000 after incentives & gas savings.”
This option is Tesla’s lowest-priced car to date. In a couple of
years, Tesla plans to launch the Model 3, which is supposed to cost
around $35,000.
Finally, Tesla is offering a performance upgrade on the Model S to
what it calls “Ludicrous mode,” which lets drivers accelerate from 0 to
60 miles per hour in 2.8 seconds. That added juice, which costs $10,000
extra, is a 10% improvement in acceleration over the standard, which is 0
to 60 miles per hour in 3.1 seconds.
Tesla says the tech behind the faster acceleration speed is a new and
better battery fuse, which has a smarter way to protect against
excessive current. Tesla says its new fuse has its own electronics and a
tiny lithium-ion battery, and the system constantly monitors the
current and can cut the power with precision.
In a blog post Musk joked: “There is of course one speed faster than
ludicrous, but that is reserved for the next generation Roadster in 4
years: maximum plaid.” I’m pretty sure that reference is to the comedy
movie Spaceballs.
Tesla is looking to deliver 55,000 cars this year, two-thirds more
than it did in 2014. As of the beginning of July, Tesla had moved 21,537
of its Model S cars, less than half of its annual goal.
Despite these new features for the Model S, all eyes are on whether
or not Tesla can deliver its Model X, a crossover SUV, on time in the
next couple of months. Tesla
TSLA
2.77%
needs to launch the Model X before the end of the year in order to meet that goal of delivering 55,000 cars this year.
Source : fortune.com
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