Ludicrous, Insane mode ...

[pchan]

Hopefully I am not asking a stupid question ... So, what is Ludicrous or insane mode? I know they are faster, but since Tesla doesn't have gears, it is not like an ICE car in 'Sport mode' that would hold on to lower gear to keep up the RPM for torque, what exactly is insane or ludicrous mode? Does it waste more energy compare to 'Econo mode'/regular mode if it is left on all the time? Or, does it work the other way that the non-Insane mode actually slowering down the car to keep the acceleration smoother and 'less nauseated'?

 

[loganintx]

It allows the motors to pull more amperage. This gives more power to the motors allowing them to apply more torque and power to the wheels resulting in faster acceleration.

 

[Halcyon]

I was told that it only improves speed from 0-30 and after that there is little to no difference. Is that true?

 

[loganintx]

I was told that it only improves speed from 0-30 and after that there is little to no difference. Is that true?

Speed is a constant equated to Velocity. Acceleration is the change in speed over time. Ludicrous will pull more amps from the batteries and therefore deliver more power to the wheels.
If there is a point in time where Car A with Ludicrous and Car B without Ludicrous are travelling at the same speed and also have the same acceleration, I would think this is possible but I've never seen anyone mention it.

 

[bhzmark]

I was told that it only improves speed from 0-30 and after that there is little to no difference. Is that true?

No the insane mode for p models makes the car accelerate faster including at speeds > 30. Ludicrous mode however makes car accelerate faster than insane only at speeds >~30 mph.

I won't play the semantic game re "speed" accelerate and velocity etc words and just assumed that you were using words in the typical common imprecise nonscientific way.

 

[MikeL]

Ps come with insane which is nice. Ludicrous adds higher capacity battery contactors, and a higher capacity inverter that can dump insane, oh, sorry, ludicrous amounts of AC into the motor.

 

[loganintx]

Ps come with insane which is nice. Ludicrous adds higher capacity battery contactors, and a higher capacity inverter that can dump insane, oh, sorry, ludicrous amounts of AC into the motor.

I believe all the hardware components are the same in the Ps whether or not you get Ludicrous since you can add it later via a software update and $10k

 

[bikeandsail]

Ludicrous requires a hardware, contactor, update. I saw a battery out of an S at the service center and asked what was going on, the contactors were being changed for a ludicrous upgrade.

 

[pchan]

So, does keeping the car in Insane mode uses more energy? What's the point for the 'regular' mode?

 

[Saghost]

Ludicrous requires a hardware, contactor, update. I saw a battery out of an S at the service center and asked what was going on, the contactors were being changed for a ludicrous upgrade.

Yeah, but I bet that was a P85D being retrofitted. All the available information suggests that the P90D packs have the improved contactors in them already (which didn't exist when the P85Ds were being built.)

 

[lolachampcar]

For the sake of history, L was intended to be a free over the air upgrade to original P85D buyers indicating it was never intended to be a (high priced) option. During the validation process, engineering discovered that the main traction battery contactor was failing. Specifically, the steel coil spring was loosing it's muchness with the added heat of moving from roughly 1350 amps to 1500 amps continuous current draw. The solution was to change to an Inconel spring with better properties at higher temperatures. In addition, they likely had one or more main pack fuse failures which necessitated the move from a traditional hunk of metal fuse that melts at a certain current for a defined period of time over to a "pyro" fuse which is an active device that uses a small explosive charge to sever the current path when the set current is exceeded (for a determined period of time). The need to change these components is why P85Ds must have their batteries opened up to add the upgrade and why there is an upcharge for the upgrade.

If L can be added OTA in current P90Ds, it would indicate that all current production P models are being built with the new fuse and contactor. The only difference between I and L is the ability to pull 150 more amps from the battery on a continuous basis. The battery broadcasts its current capability over the CAN bus so both the car's (to give you the L option) software and the battery's (to broadcast the extra available current) software are updated in the I to L upgrade.

The I to L upgrade does allow you to pull more power from the battery but otherwise does not affect range. As always, your right foot is in charge of range. A similarly driven I or L (or either in normal mode) will have the exact same efficiency if they are driven entirely out of the extended performance modes by simply not accessing those modes with your right foot.

 

[systemcrashed]

Ludicrous is a software update, no parts are added or exchanged besides the badge. This is confirmed on Model X P90D.

 

[proven]

So, does keeping the car in Insane mode uses more energy? What's the point for the 'regular' mode?

How much energy the car uses can be the same with both Sport mode (normal) or Insane/Ludicrous mode, depending on your foot. If you accelerate at the same rate, you'll use the same energy. That being said, it is easier to use less energy in Sport mode simply because it takes a little bit more pressure on the accelerator to match the insane/ludicrous mode for normal (non flooring it) acceleration.