Maximum Range Possible For Future Versions of Model S?

[Archduke]

Yesterday, I took delivery of my Model S P100D. While I was at Tesla, I asked about the curb weight of the car. I was told it weighs SIX THOUSAND POUNDS!!! Obviously, the bigger the battery, the more range (and power!). But the bigger the battery, the heavier the car...and the weight of a car seems to pose its own set of problems.

And that got me wondering what the maximum possible range might be for future versions of the Model S. I don't see how Tesla can just keep making batteries that are bigger and bigger and bigger in order to increase range because at some point, the size of the battery would not only make the cabin cramped, it will also necessarily make the car so heavy the weight would create problems not only for the car's suspension but also for our roads since heavier cars surely cause worse potholes than smaller, lighter cars.

Does anyone have any thoughts on this?

 

[Hrhkee]

When you feel too concerned about those things, do some quick math regarding range, decide if you have enough juice, look around for cops, check waze, then mash the pedal as quickly as you can and all those concerns will go away.

You know I'm making a joke right? Stay safe while you enjoy the world's most awesome EV.

 

[James Anders]

Who told you 6,000 pounds?

 

[Archduke]

Who told you 6,000 pounds?

The manager of the Tesla Store. He said he looked at the VIN Plate on the interior of the door. I haven't bothered to look myself because he was so certain.

 

[Archduke]

When you feel too concerned about those things, do some quick math regarding range, decide if you have enough juice, look around for cops, check waze, then mash the pedal as quickly as you can and all those concerns will go away.

You know I'm making a joke right? Stay safe while you enjoy the world's most awesome EV.

Ha!Ha! Well....I sure did enjoy pressing the accelerator a couple of times today!

Part of my question is that I leased the car because I was concerned that within 3-5 years Tesla (or another manufacturer) would have a car capable of 400-500 miles on a charge which would mean my P100D would go *just* 300 which would make it unattractive for resale. But then when I heard the weight of the car and started thinking about it, I wondered if Tesla is reaching the maximum that they can squeeze out of the battery without some revolution in battery manufacturing. Maybe we are going to be stuck at 300-350 miles per charge for awhile now? Only time will tell.

The other concern is that I live in the Hollywood Hills. The house is a hillside house, so the construction of my home means that the garage and living areas are upstairs while the bedrooms are downstairs. My master bathroom is directly beneath the garage. Not a concern when I had a 'normal' weight car. But a 6000 pound behemoth above me makes me think luxuriating in the bath might be a bad idea.

 

[FlatSix911]

The manager of the Tesla Store.
He said he looked at the VIN Plate on the interior of the door. I haven't bothered to look myself because he was so certain.

Tesla really needs to educate their staff ...
Gross weight is listed on the door jamb ... Curb weight is 4,300 - 5,000lbs for the Model S based on battery size.

 

[Archduke]

Tesla really needs to educate their staff ...
Gross weight is listed on the door jamb ... Curb weight is 4,300 - 5,000lbs for the Model S based on battery size.

View attachment 206534

You are exactly right. Thank you very much for pointing that out!

I just looked at my car's door jamb and the GVWR is 5996 pounds. But, of course, that is not the same as the curb weight. I'm guessing we can take at least...500 pounds off of that; maybe 750 pounds?

Thanks again. I'll sleep a little better tonight!

 

[bob_p]

This has been covered in other threads.

There are trade-offs with battery capacity, range, weight, performance, size, charging time and cost.

While it may be technically possible to produce increasingly larger batteries, at least with the current technologies, Musk could be right that the 100 battery packs may be the largest they produce.

The supercharger network is designed to work well with 85 battery packs (and will work better for 60/75 models in 2017 when more superchargers are added).

Since most daily driving can be done without using a supercharger, the extra battery capacity is needed by most owners only occasionally for long road trips - which makes it harder to justify the increased cost, weight, charging times.

Rather than continuing to produce larger, heavier and more expensive battery packs, it seems more likely Tesla will focus on building out the charging network to match the battery pack size (60-100) and drive the costs for the battery packs down, so they can compete more effectively with the relatively lower priced ICEs and the EVs likely to come soon from the other manufacturers.

If a 100D can get 330-340 miles of range, with Tesla's plans for the 2017 SC network and the expanding destination chargers, that may be enough range for the vast majority of Tesla's customers.

Plus, if they can get the battery pack weight down, along with improvements in the drive train, they may even be able to provide some increase in range for the 100 battery packs in future hardware iterations.

 

[Archduke]

This has been covered in other threads.

There are trade-offs with battery capacity, range, weight, performance, size, charging time and cost.

While it may be technically possible to produce increasingly larger batteries, at least with the current technologies, Musk could be right that the 100 battery packs may be the largest they produce.

The supercharger network is designed to work well with 85 battery packs (and will work better for 60/75 models in 2017 when more superchargers are added).

Since most daily driving can be done without using a supercharger, the extra battery capacity is needed by most owners only occasionally for long road trips - which makes it harder to justify the increased cost, weight, charging times.

Rather than continuing to produce larger, heavier and more expensive battery packs, it seems more likely Tesla will focus on building out the charging network to match the battery pack size (60-100) and drive the costs for the battery packs down, so they can compete more effectively with the relatively lower priced ICEs and the EVs likely to come soon from the other manufacturers.

If a 100D can get 330-340 miles of range, with Tesla's plans for the 2017 SC network and the expanding destination chargers, that may be enough range for the vast majority of Tesla's customers.

Plus, if they can get the battery pack weight down, along with improvements in the drive train, they may even be able to provide some increase in range for the 100 battery packs in future hardware iterations.

Thanks for the well written (do you write professionally?) reply. I had not seen another thread for this topic though I did search before I posted.

I didn't know Elon had stated the 100 battery pack would likely be the largest Tesla ever produces. It does make sense that, instead of just building bigger and bigger and bigger batteries, they would focus on building out the Supercharger network instead.