How long until true aftermarket tuners

[theboom1]

We have companies like tsportline for cosmetic upgrades and Saleen claimed to have tuned the model s but didn't touch the battery, motors, or control unit.

How long until we have third party companies that offer upgraded batteries and more powerful motors and all the other crap between the two that can be upgrade for better performance.

I don't know everything about the power trains and systems but it shouldn't interfere with the tesla os right? I mean electricity is electricity so it won't need to be a tesla battery or motors. The control systems should be able to recognize the aftermarket ones right? Like is the throttle a percentage thing so if you have more power it will work? Will regain braking still work as well as the option for it in the settings?

I also read somewhere that auto companies want to make it illegal to change the ecu in your car. As long as your changes don't affect any future safty systems like emergency braking or crash avoidance or other systems running in the background protecting you it should be fine. But what are your thoughts??

 

[Adrien]

The great part is that motors and inverters can provide infinite power, they are just limited to temps created in due, in part, to the amperage. I'm sure, like most cars, current Tesla's are de-tuned for longevity. I could, in the future, see people clicking a button that enable maybe 10% more power for a short period and, of course, completely voiding your warranty.

What Saleen did is a total embarrassment due to their lack of knowledge. They upgrade the cooling systems, but because it would cost a fortune in R&D with the software portion they couldn't do much more. This is because they have NO IDEA what they are doing in that realm of software or electricity in general for that matter. Just a sign of the times.

Back in the day I helped produce tuning software for the Honda/Acura lineup of ECU's. With that I had the highest horsepower Integra on a stock block in the United States for a time. Point is, the software portion is actually what got me interested. I would love to get my hands dirty (per se) on the Model S, but I probably have to wait until the Model 3 to take it apart and start hacking the powertrain systems. Unless someone feels like collaborating.....

We are going to have another issue with warranty because these cars are so new. A salvaged Model S will be the best way to start, but I agree that we need third party OEMs to start producing parts that are cheaper then what Tesla marks up.

Theoretically is could be as simple as adding some temps sensors and maybe changing out a few IGBTs or better cooling as a Stage 1 option. Stage 2 could replace the motors and/or inverters with high amperage units. The real problem will be the software and not the hardware.

I see it like jailbreaking the iphone (I was part of that hack too). Once you do it and you brick the phone you are SOL. You won't get updates either and Tesla will constantly be patching holes to stop further hacks. I don't think we mind when we mess with a $700 phone, but a $50,000 car is a different story.

 

[sickfox]

Only a matter of time and money.... How much money are they willing to invest in R&D. I think it's easier on cosmetic changes but for motors and inverters, companies would have to reverse engineer what Tesla has done so they can find out how can they produce better parts.

 

[kort677]

other than the technical hurdles involved in boosting the performanc of the cars. the economics don't work. there just aren't that many teslas out there and of the ones that are out there many their owners aren't interested in pimping their cars out or think that the factory performance is enough for them and are unwilling to spend thousands of dollars to increase performance. I mean you can get 0-60 in sub 3 seconds, how much faster can you get the car to go?

 

[Caligula]

other than the technical hurdles involved in boosting the performanc of the cars. the economics don't work. there just aren't that many teslas out there and of the ones that are out there many their owners aren't interested in pimping their cars out or think that the factory performance is enough for them and are unwilling to spend thousands of dollars to increase performance. I mean you can get 0-60 in sub 3 seconds, how much faster can you get the car to go?

Youre assuming the PXXD owners are the target audience.

 

[P85DEE]

Warranty issues, OTA updates, and Tesla's ability to monitor what is going on with the car, are going to be significant stumbling blocks to the aftermarket when it comes to modding these cars.

As someone above alluded, it probably won't necessarily be the PxxD owners who are the target audience.

But rather owners of less expensive versions of the car looking to get closer to the performance capabilities of the more costly versions, but for less money.

 

[doctorwho]

Yes, I only need to turn my plain old 85kWhr S into a P90DL for 2.8 seconds at a time every now and then