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If there was a 100 mile range upgrade what would you be willing to pay?

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I have a RWD LR Model 3 and I often make trips that are more than 300 miles. Traveling at 80 to 85 mph (Texas roads with 75 mph speed limits) and with the AC on means that of course I must stop at a SC. Stopping to charge isn't a big deal because I would stop to rest anyway but it made me think about things. Our Prius can make the same trips without any stops to refuel and I can rest anywhere along the route I want and for a shorter duration than it takes to recharge. Wouldn't it be nice then if my Tesla didn't require refueling in a 300 mile trip just like my Prius? Yes I could slow down or hyper-mile but that's not the point.

Anyway this made me wonder how much it would it be worth to me to get some sort of range upgrade? What would I be willing to pay if in the future there was some sort of battery swap upgrade or whatever (not that I believe such an upgrade will ever be available)? Would a 100 mile range increase be worth $2K, $5K, $7K (about the same price of FSD), or even $10K?

I think if that upgrade was available to me today I'd be willing to pay up to $7K, how about you?
 
I'd be willing to pay $0.00

If a trip is 400 miles I'm only gonna need to stop at an SC long enough to use the bathroom and/or get a drink, which I'd do anyway on a trip that long, so no benefit to paying for more range.

If a trip is 500 miles I'm gonna need to stop at an SC long enough to eat one real meal- which I'd do anyway on a trip that long, so no benefit to paying for more range.

if a trip is much more than 500 miles I'm gonna fly so more range on the car I'm leaving home won't help me.


Plus, for the 99% of the time I was NOT taking roadtrips I'd be hauling around useless extra battery weight (assuming the new pack is heavier).


Now if there was some performance BENEFIT (quicker speeds due to batteries able to discharge higher/faster, lighter battery pack, etc) I might be willing to pay something for THAT depending on the improvement offered.
 
I'd be willing to pay $0.00

If a trip is 400 miles I'm only gonna need to stop at an SC long enough to use the bathroom and/or get a drink, which I'd do anyway on a trip that long, so no benefit to paying for more range.

If a trip is 500 miles I'm gonna need to stop at an SC long enough to eat one real meal- which I'd do anyway on a trip that long, so no benefit to paying for more range.

if a trip is much more than 500 miles I'm gonna fly so more range on the car I'm leaving home won't help me.


Plus, for the 99% of the time I was NOT taking roadtrips I'd be hauling around useless extra battery weight (assuming the new pack is heavier).


Now if there was some performance BENEFIT (quicker speeds due to batteries able to discharge higher/faster, lighter battery pack, etc) I might be willing to pay something for THAT depending on the improvement offered.
Yeah I hear you but I'd still like my car to have more range because with a 400 mile battery maybe I could actually travel 300 miles on a charge at 80 mph.
 
I have a RWD LR Model 3 and I often make trips that are more than 300 miles. Traveling at 80 to 85 mph (Texas roads with 75 mph speed limits) and with the AC on means that of course I must stop at a SC. Stopping to charge isn't a big deal because I would stop to rest anyway but it made me think about things. Our Prius can make the same trips without any stops to refuel and I can rest anywhere along the route I want and for a shorter duration than it takes to recharge. Wouldn't it be nice then if my Tesla didn't require refueling in a 300 mile trip just like my Prius? Yes I could slow down or hyper-mile but that's not the point.

Anyway this made me wonder how much it would it be worth to me to get some sort of range upgrade? What would I be willing to pay if in the future there was some sort of battery swap upgrade or whatever (not that I believe such an upgrade will ever be available)? Would a 100 mile range increase be worth $2K, $5K, $7K (about the same price of FSD), or even $10K?

I think if that upgrade was available to me today I'd be willing to pay up to $7K, how about you?
Variable not mentioned; If it required the nearly extra 300lb for the SR to LR difference, no I wouldn't purchase it at any price they could feasibly offer it at. But then it probably wouldn't because there isn't physical room in the frame for current batteries to bump it up that much.

So maybe this is about a distant future with different battery tech?
 
I’d pay at least $5k to upgrade my AWD non-P to a 400 mile range. Might pay more, but if such an upgrade were offered right now at $5k I’d jump all over it. Similarly, if by the time I replace my current car with another Tesla (probably Model Y next) and they offer a longer range of 400 miles for $5k more, again I’d jump on it.

As several people have pointed out this is highly use case dependent. Pre-Covid I was driving over 50k miles per year and expect I’ll return to that level of driving soon, so that extra range is very meaningful to me.
 
I would pay for more power and speed, don't really care about extending the range honestly.
It would almost certainly allow the battery to make a huge power bump available, past the Performance. Theoretically to around maybe 2.3s 0-60 (after accounting for the extra mass). You'd likely need replacement DU for that, though. So price would be a lot higher. It would also likely struggle to get all that power to the ground with stock fitment, until you got up to highway speeds.
 
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Nothing, because for a 300mile trip, I always stop at least a couple times for coffee and pitstops. My usual stops are 120 to 180 miles apart, ie 2 to 3 hrs between stops, so the Tesla's need for a short fill, 10 to 15mins is pretty much ideal for me. Taking a hybrid, would still mean the same stop pattern, and the opportunity to add a little energy would be wasted while I went to get my coffee and pitstop.
 
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I think $2k seems reasonable
Not if you look at the price differences between the SR+, MR, and LR. $100/mile of range is very typical BEV pricing. Within, and even higher at times outside Tesla.

I imagine would have to weigh the cost benefit (would heavier battery packs affect acceleration?).
That depends on whether or not you configure the system to tap into the undoubtably higher current maximum that will be available. That's why every battery size up in the same Tesla frame has always been quicker. The max power available is very near linear with pack size, where as because the pack is still only about 25% of the vehicle the power per total mass still rises as the pack capacity increases (assuming the same battery tech is used).

Since we are playing what if, what if they could increase your range via software upgrade only?
This does have a limited, and somewhat infamous, history in Tesla vehicles. Although limited dataset, it does underscore how your assessment of "reasonable" isn't really in line with pricing.

But it also always needs actual physical battery behind it, so yeah this is sort of a highly hypothetical question.
 
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Ditto.

My commute is <10 miles round trip. I bought a Performance for the speed, not range. If there was a lighter weight option with less range and better performance, I would have gone that route.
This would take a fair amount of engineering work. The easiest would be redesign the battery pack to be be 800V, but switchable banking to reconfigure to 400V for when charging. Then replace all the high power wiring harness and redesign the drive units to work on 800V. That'll require a large alteration, and recertification, of a lot of the BMS and motor control software.

You'd end up with a sprinting rocket with likely sub-200 mile range. Intriguing idea. I do wonder how much market there would be for that, how much you could price it at, to justify the extra engineering costs. They ended up scrubbing the idea of an AWD SR, after all.

EDIT: This is roughly what Porsche did for the Taycan. Although obviously a bigger vehicle package than the Model 3. They also likely put a lower cap on the drivetrain's ability vs what the hardware is capable of at high SOC, so there is a lot less difference between high SOC and low SOC.
 
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I don't mind paying even more then anyone considering in here. It's not about the commute or bathroom break. I have a few occasions going week long trip in some remote area. You charge it to 100% at the nearest supercharger, drive up the mountain, pretty long drive no less, and stay there for a week. You have to have enough charge to cover the round trip and the massive power drain during winter time.
 
Nothing, because for a 300mile trip, I always stop at least a couple times for coffee and pitstops. My usual stops are 120 to 180 miles apart, ie 2 to 3 hrs between stops, so the Tesla's need for a short fill, 10 to 15mins is pretty much ideal for me. Taking a hybrid, would still mean the same stop pattern, and the opportunity to add a little energy would be wasted while I went to get my coffee and pitstop.
I don't mind paying even more then anyone considering in here. It's not about the commute or bathroom break. I have a few occasions going week long trip in some remote area. You charge it to 100% at the nearest supercharger, drive up the mountain, pretty long drive no less, and stay there for a week. You have to have enough charge to cover the round trip and the massive power drain during winter time.
My feelings exactly and certainly more power, better acceleration would come with that much additional range.
 
This would take a fair amount of engineering work. The easiest would be redesign the battery pack to be be 800V, but switchable banking to reconfigure to 400V for when charging. Then replace all the high power wiring harness and redesign the drive units to work on 800V. That'll require a large alteration, and recertification, of a lot of the BMS and motor control software.

You'd end up with a sprinting rocket with likely sub-200 mile range. Intriguing idea. I do wonder how much market there would be for that, how much you could price it at, to justify the extra engineering costs. They ended up scrubbing the idea of an AWD SR, after all.

EDIT: This is roughly what Porsche did for the Taycan. Although obviously a bigger vehicle package than the Model 3. They also likely put a lower cap on the drivetrain's ability vs what the hardware is capable of at high SOC, so there is a lot less difference between high SOC and low SOC.

A sprinting rocket with sub-200 mile range...pretty close to what I would want. Maybe not significantly sub 200, but ~200 would be good.

The engineering wouldn’t be that difficult. To (purposely) over simplify it, there just needs to be fewer cells in parallel. Of course other factors would need to be considered, like weight distribution of the remaining cells. Dropping 25-33% of the cells would remove ~200-250lbs off the car. While they’re at it, lose a couple doors, make it sportier looking 2+2, and drop more weight. Now we’re talking about a car that would be in the very low 11’s/high 10’s in the 1/4 mile. Ah, but we digress. :D

Now, I do agree with your market demand comment; there wouldn’t be much of one. It would basically be an EV equivalent of a Mustang or Camaro; a market that just isn’t that big these days.
 
I always pull up for pit stops regardless (ICE or no), so range has never been an issue due to super chargers. That said, more range is always welcome in case of increment weather and I need that extra peace of mind.

I'd be willing to pay $3k - $4k. Anything beyond $4k is a deal breaker.