Battery alone worth more than BMW on a 10 year old Tesla

[David99]

But I always wondered whether Tesla would have the ability to replace the battery pack with a new one, and keep running my now vintage 2015, if they do not change the basic architecture of the Model S?

Absolutely. They have no changed the main battery design at all since day one. It is totally possible to put the latest battery (currently the 100) and put it in an old car. Tesla just doesn't want to do it as they want to sell new cars instead of just a new battery. So they charge a ridiculous amount of money for a battery upgrade to discourage people. To be fair, the different batteries have different weights. The new 100 battery is 15% heavier than the old 85 battery so the suspension would have to be adjusted as well.

I'll keep my old 85 and hope some day Tesla will offer a reasonable upgrade. I really love my car and the large frunk. I just want more range

 

[whitex]

I'm surprised nobody here talked about the health of a 15 year old battery. Li batteries are typically rated for a certain number of charge/discharge cycles. They also age, both the cells and the electronics in the battery. A 15 year old Model S battery may not even be functional, or it may hold only 20% of it's original charge, or some cells or modules may be dead completely, it could even be dangerous if the circuitry responsible for charge management is malfunctioning (yes, batteries can catch on fire if overcharges or overdischarged). Only time will tell what state a 15 year old battery will be.

 

[Phillip L]

I'm surprised nobody here talked about the health of a 15 year old battery. Li batteries are typically rated for a certain number of charge/discharge cycles. They also age, both the cells and the electronics in the battery. A 15 year old Model S battery may not even be functional, or it may hold only 20% of it's original charge, or some cells or modules may be dead completely, it could even be dangerous if the circuitry responsible for charge management is malfunctioning (yes, batteries can catch on fire if overcharges or overdischarged). Only time will tell what state a 15 year old battery will be.

Provided it is safe to drive, even if the range dropped to 20%, ie about 88 km, I would probably still use it as our local driving around car. That is basically what we use our second car, the Chevy Volt for, it has about an 88 km battery range. And with all the options on it, which in ten years will probably be standard on most cars, the Model S would still be a good driving vehicle. I would hope that the hardware such as cameras and sensors should have long lifespans since they do not have mechanical moving parts.

 

[Viking1]

Heck I'd love to see a software update allow my Tesla to act as a power wall ;-) ..

I was thinking the same thing. Although I don't know if it is as simple as a software update. The hardware in the car and the charger would need to support that. I could save a few bucks by filling the car at night then using the charge during the day on a Time Of Use plan. But, given the hardware and software were available I'm not sure what this would do to the battery. Of course I would need to go back on the grid when the car is not home.