Current owners of 40 kWh configuration

[RodF]

I agree with RodF and markb1. That may have been a sold as a 40, but its now a 60. Its been upgraded for you. It was only a software switch that they flipped the released access to the rest of the battery.

And the badging was a separate thing. None of the regular (I don't remember about the Signature Series,) but none of the 40's 60's or 85's came with badging until about June of '13. As a matter of fact we didn't know our cars were suppose to have or going to have badging until they told us that we could come by the SC and they would install badging. My point is, for the first year, there was no badging - but it wasn't only 40's. So rdon't depend on that being an indicator for you.

We had several 40's in Hawaii. We kept and eye on them and watched when they were sold to new people and resold again, and then upgraded. It was like watching a niece or nephew growing up.

There were only about 400 40's produced. And they were only made for about three months in 2013. And by late 2016' about half had been traded back in to Tesla for newer cars with new tech or larger batteries. Tesla flipped the switch and sold them as CPO 60s. And there were a few that were upgraded for the $11,000 price to 60's. And pretty much the last of them were upgraded to 60's when Tesla reduced the 40-to-60 upgrade price from $11,000 to $2500 or $2000 whichever it was. There's almost most none left in existence.

@ABean85. Why do you think you want a 40? We watched the 40's being resold and traded in. A 40 today would cost you almost as much as a 60 whether it was an upgraded 40 or an factory sold 60.

Hi Akikiki - Long time no talk. Interesting point - I still have my 40 (upgraded to 60) and it looks great and is running fine!

 

[Akikiki]

@RodF, Aloha, yes, long time. That's great that you still have your 40. Did they ever put badging on yours so it shows 40? I remember when you took delivery of your S. It was out at the first Service Center in Waipahu. Remember those days? Tesla could not even perform the safety inspections. I still have the pictures that I took of your delivery. In those days, they didn't deliver even one car a week. It was a big deal for anyone to collect their car. We made a party of it, didn't we? Tesla provided champagne.

 

[RodF]

@RodF, Aloha, yes, long time. That's great that you still have your 40. Did they ever put badging on yours so it shows 40? I remember when you took delivery of your S. It was out at the first Service Center in Waipahu. Remember those days? Tesla could not even perform the safety inspections. I still have the pictures that I took of your delivery. In those days, they didn't deliver even one car a week. It was a big deal for anyone to collect their car. We made a party of it, didn't we? Tesla provided champagne.

Akikiki, I sure remember. You were so kind to come down and photograph that special day.. We were the pioneers. I never got the 40 badging, and I asked them not to put the 60 badge on when I upgraded.

 

[CBeckFJ]

Just stumbled upon this thread. My parents have owned their 2013 40Kwh MS since May of 2013, #10,241 IIRC. Still have it, currently at around 128-130 miles on a full charge! Hoping to have it passed down to me next year to continue on with the rarity of the 40Kwh.

 

[Akikiki]

There was only about 400 made in spring of 2013. And since they offered an upgrade path most where upgraded to 60's. We know a few of those remaining were traded in to Tesla for an newer. Tesla turned around the flipped the switch turning them into 60's and selling them as CPO's. Our best guess is there's less than 100 left as 40's.

Do your parents charge the battery to 100% when they charge it? If not, they could/should. After all, even at 100% is only getting 66% of the battery's true capacity.

 

[MP3Mike]

Do your parents charge the battery to 100% when they charge it? If not, they could/should. After all, even at 100% is only getting 66% of the battery's true capacity.

Unless they changed it they never mapped the SoC percentages on the 40s. They just locked the charge % slider to a maximum of ~66%. (I thought it was 69%, but I'm not 100% positive.)

 

[aaron0k]

2013... new Model S for $50k. I still can't quite understand the "lack of interest" at the time.

Then giving 40 buyers a locked 60 pack, increased 0-60 and then an OTA upgrade path was just thick layer of icing on an already great deal.

2021... I still glow over my 40, the mighty runt of the OG litter.

 

[Akikiki]

@aaron0k, Hi, nice to see a post from you. I remember some of the discussions back then. Those few of us that had already taken delivery trying to convince those 60 and 40 reservation holders to proceed with their order when they got their invite. From summer of '12 until mid winter of '12, lots of us put down our $5,000 deposit and frankly didn't know if we would ever see our cars. So, I think, as I recall, lots of 60 & 40 reservation holders were scared the car would not be built/delivered - not they were undecided on battery size. I know of at least 5 people here that ordered the 40 for. 40 was enough battery here. I also remember the shock in early April when Elon said, they were canceling the build of all 40 batteries. And then relieved their fears with, "we are going to give you a 60 battery with it locked to a 40".

 

[aaron0k]

Our best guess is there's less than 100 left as 40's.

'left as 40's', I think you are likely spot on.

However, the only difference between a 40 and a 60 (classic) is one byte in a text file (e.g. config=0|1)... w/some messing any 'upgraded' 40 can be reverted (and any 60 downgraded to a '40')

As for 'rarity', maybe it is the VIN that matters more than the 0|1?

 

[aaron0k]

Any 40 owners still out there?

While mine has had some bumps (e.g. 3 DU replacements, the last one costing $7k out of warranty)... it's still surprisingly performing like it did on day one... the best car I've ever owned.

Buying a "Model S" in 2013, for $56k (after credits) and getting 60 specs/battery made it a bargain++

Sadly, it is time for me to let go.

Do these rare "40's" have any value beyond miles/wear? e.g. CarMax estimated offer range $5,996 - $10,832 (123k miles).

 

[Lisa]

Have a 2013 40, upgraded to 60 and it is super reliable and low maintenance with 72k miles. Was offered $13k in Tesla trade-in on a 2023 S LR, but am keeping it - love it still!

 

[Akikiki]

Any 40 owners still out there?

While mine has had some bumps (e.g. 3 DU replacements, the last one costing $7k out of warranty)... it's still surprisingly performing like it did on day one... the best car I've ever owned.

Buying a "Model S" in 2013, for $56k (after credits) and getting 60 specs/battery made it a bargain++

Sadly, it is time for me to let go.

Do these rare "40's" have any value beyond miles/wear? e.g. CarMax estimated offer range $5,996 - $10,832 (123k miles).

Good for you. A few facts for you, just in case. Of the first 10,000 or S's that were built, about 4% (400) were 40's. They stopped taking orders around mid April '13 and answered everyone's question "what happens now", with "we are going to give you a software limited 60. And they did. Those are great cars. Over those years via TMC we heard of lots of folks that upgraded to 60's. And some traded in to Tesla. Tesla released the 20kw and turned them into 60's and sold them as Used 60.s AND what's important, a year+ after that, now about 5 years ago, Tesla upgraded your 40 to a 60 if you went to the SC and asked for it. Yes, they could have done it over the air without saying anything, and no one knows why they didn't do that. But for months and months all you had to do was ask for it and it was granted. You might try that now. The only draw back, I could imagine is, "there's an entirely new breed of SC advisors and techs and they know nothing about the free upgrade. But why not go ask.

What was aloways cool about those 40's was people could charge to 100% and not hurt the battery because 100% of a 40 was not 100% of the battery, so it was safe.

 

[Model S 4229]

I still have my 40. VIN 10281. Range is currently 128 miles. Upgraded to MCU-2. The heat not working is its only issue. Still get comments on how new it looks.

 

[Akikiki]

You might be able to get your 40 upgraded to a 60 - for free. I encourage you to drive to your SC and ask.
You have a rare one there. Do you charge to 100%? Its okay to do so, and does not harm the battery.

You might find it interesting. From early Jan '13 to April '13, there were about 400 orders for the 40. Mid April that year Tesla announced they would build no 40's. While the shock wore off, they said, we are going to build a 60 with the battery limited to 40. In the following years, people paid (about $10,000) to unlock the other 20 kw. Then many people traded their 40 in for newer Teslas. Tesla flipped the switch on most and converted them to 60's turned on Supercharging and sold them as used cars. And a few years after that, Tesla enabled the other 20 kw if you drove to the SC and asked. They could have simply done, it remotely, but didn't. During a moment of brutal honesty, a Tesla rep shared to our club there was less than 100 of the 400 left that were still 40's. That was 3+ years ago, so likely considerably less.

 

[MP3Mike]

You have a rare one there. Do you charge to 100%? Its okay to do so, and does not harm the battery.

They can't. The 40s were locked by limiting the maximum charge percentage to 69%. At least that is how I remember it worked.

 

[Model S 4229]

The charging slider is limited to 68%. The last time I had inquired about unlocking the battery was a few years ago and the price was $2500. Last year, I had it in for both tail light replacements, and no one mentioned anything about an upgrade. This car has served us well, even with the limited range. When placing the order I could afford either a 60 with a couple options or the 40 with all the options. I wanted the red color, but its development wasn't ready yet. Settled for the free black. No regrets. Now this car serves as evidence that I was an OG early adopter. My wife and I fought over who was getting to drive it, which resulted in my buying a P85 a year later, this time in red. I still have this car too. We don't live the current Tesla life, with the fancy parking sensors, autopilot and break neck acceleration, but when I see all the Teslas on the road today, I think "yeah, I did that."

 

[Model S 4229]

Surprise, surprise. My 40kw car now fully charges to the 60kw 100% level. Not sure whether its a glitch or Tesla just gave up but this is the first time in 10.5 years the battery has been fully charged. ID on the app still shows it as a Model S 40.

 

[Krash]

Surprise, surprise. My 40kw car now fully charges to the 60kw 100% level…

Did you get a firmware update recently on the car?

 

[Andy Black]

Surprise, surprise. My 40kw car now fully charges to the 60kw 100% level. Not sure whether its a glitch or Tesla just gave up but this is the first time in 10.5 years the battery has been fully charged. ID on the app still shows it as a Model S 40.

Cool. I have a 40 and paid for the battery unlock a while back when they dropped the price. Just curious, but is super charging enabled on yours? Mine has the hardware, just needs enabled but my local service center claims they can’t enable it…..

 

[Model S 4229]

Firmware updates seem to occur quite often. This is my wife's car so I have no idea when this change might have happened. I just slid the charge bar all the way to the right and it went to 100%.

No idea if supercharging works. I will guess no because this was an option in the early days and these cars did not have it. I would think the reasonable approach would be to enable it, then charge the account just like the newer cars. I supercharge my other MS probably 4 times a year. I have free charging at work and solar at home.