Any rumors on adding to or upgrading the battery on a Model 3?

[jjrandorin]

I wouldn't put it past Tesla to make something like this available. Since they've already made features available for equipment we already had and didn't know it. I.e. the heated seats for 300 bucks. What I would like to see is some love given to the 3 like they have done with the x and s where they got more range with improved software.

They did that last year to some variants of the model 3.

 

[Msjulie]

If they ever offered an upgrade (big If likely) I would potentially prefer that to a new car - with caveats.

First I've made mods to my car, and yeah I could move them/do it to a new one but also due to the year of my car, it has things the new ones don't have so there's that; $ value != psychological value very likely but it doesn't matter.

If my car was in good repair it's possible that this hypothetical battery upgrade would be cheaper than a new car, all a big If but they did it with Roadster owners so even if unlikely never say never.

 

[Rottenapplr]

Not from Tesla, but there are third-party shops that will do battery upgrades for Model s. In a few years when there are lots of post warranty model 3 out there, I suspect those same third-party shops will offer model 3 upgrades.

I agree. They’re selling tons of model 3 and there’s going to be even more model y on the toad. Like the Prius there’s going to be 3rd party shops specializing in this.

 

[GigaGrunt]

No.

 

[camalaio]

Yeah... Tesla really locked down their hardware with the Model 3. The drive unit(s) will only work with its paired battery unless you flash a compatible firmware (which only Tesla can do). I was super impressed when I heard this since it means the car actually does authentication between components. That's actually rare in the auto world believe it or not.

Wait, what? Of course it's rare in the auto world, it shouldn't exist. Is this real? This isn't impressive, this is anti-consumer and anti-right-to-repair. That's downright shameful and I'm beyond disappointed if true.

Why is it a shame? It isn't like your SR+ would go into a landfill. Someone else that maybe couldn't afford a new SR+ would buy it which would likely displace another ICE car and they could continue to drive it for a long time.

This is a surprisingly common thought on these forums -- people who ditch the cars (usually via trade-in) think they're trashing the car. It's popped up in numerous threads. It's also reinforced by the thought that the cars have inherent value in the batteries, but that doesn't mean after 3 years they're useless as a vehicle.