Press Conference—July 17

[mibaro2]

I CERTAINLY would not pay $3K to add 5kWh.

Depends how old the 85 pack is. Is it an A pack (we are now using D packs) like the Sigs had. If you could upgrade a sig to a 90 pack for $3K , it is well worth it IMO. Whether there are conditions and different costs for the older packs remains to be seen.

 

[hobbes]

I think a lot of people missed the fact that the current 85 KwH pack is limited not by the cells but by a fuse. A fuse which Tesla is charging for, for the existing owner base w 85kwh. This does 2 things -- helps to decrease range anxiety ever so slightly, makes the CPO cars THAT much more attractive, and shows that with tiny little innovation the cars can "stay fresh"

From what I understood the fuse is for higher acceleration (AKA ludicrous) but the range increase comes from improved battery chemistry (silicon anode).

 

[TSLA Pilot]

I CERTAINLY would not pay $3K to add 5kWh.

Ah, why not?

People are paying $10k to go from the 70 to the 85 kWh battery. That's $10k for an extra 15 kWh.

At $3k for the 5 kWh upgrade, it's a 10% savings than the step up from the 70 to 85. (i.e., at this "step rate" it's only $9k for the equivalent 15 kWh upgrade, so it's actually cheaper per kWh).

Thus, I'd posit that this is a polite way of making the 85 kWh battery obsolete over the next few weeks and months, without making those that just dropped six-figures on a P85D feel bad.

Your comment doesn't make sense to me, or am I missing your angle or perspective?

 

[SteveG3]

So they keep selling the 85 models and introduce the 90? That does not make sense at all. I expect the 85 will be cancelled within a few months due to very low demand.

I'm hoping this is a brief transitional lineup on the way to 70, 90, ~105 very near term.

 

[mrdoubleb]

I CERTAINLY would not pay $3K to add 5kWh.

Because 10k to shave off 0.3-0.4 seconds from an already insane acceleration makes more sense? I don't know, Tesla already has really steep prices for their extras, I wouldn't get hung up on 3k for more range. Let me put it this way: if they replaced the 85 series with a 90 and increased pricing by 3k would demand decrease? I don't think so. But introducing a 3rd pack size that you need to "manage" from a logistics point of view when it's so close tho another product (85) sounds illogical.

 

[mrdoubleb]

Well, they are charging a big premium for them... $600/kWh. I suspect the factory output of the new silicon anode cells is still limited, so the early adopters will be pay to be first as always. Over time, the new chemistry will likely take over. I suspect the 70's still stay on the old chemistry for a while in order to keep costs down.

That is a logical explanation.

 

[pGo]

Too many configurations.. I think Tesla will yank the plug out of 85 completely and stick to 70 and 90. Tesla in Q3/Q4 call last year noticed too much configuration and noticed that affected productivity. Things may be different now, but I would say 85 to 90 is not a huge difference.

70 with supercharger and 230 miles range will certainly increase market.

 

[aznt1217]

Because 10k to shave off 0.3-0.4 seconds from an already insane acceleration makes more sense? I don't know, Tesla already has really steep prices for their extras, I wouldn't get hung up on 3k for more range. Let me put it this way: if they replaced the 85 series with a 90 and increased pricing by 3k would demand decrease? I don't think so. But introducing a 3rd pack size that you need to "manage" from a logistics point of view when it's so close tho another product (85) sounds illogical.

For that kind of performance you need to pay for a Mclaren or a beefed up Porsche. a 140k asking price is fine. A panamera turbo still runs to like $200k

 

[dalalsid]

Because 10k to shave off 0.3-0.4 seconds from an already insane acceleration makes more sense? I don't know, Tesla already has really steep prices for their extras, I wouldn't get hung up on 3k for more range. Let me put it this way: if they replaced the 85 series with a 90 and increased pricing by 3k would demand decrease? I don't think so. But introducing a 3rd pack size that you need to "manage" from a logistics point of view when it's so close tho another product (85) sounds illogical.

Unless the 85s days are numbered until they run out of old cells.

 

[ev-enthusiast]

This was not a bad call at all.

This all is very sad news for the german auto industry.

This is putting real preassure on shorts.

And this makes me as happy as CALGARYARSENAL supporting this company with my real money

 

[Citizen-T]

I bet that the new chemistry is in limited production and needs time to ramp. We are seeing another soft launch of a Model X feature. They will let the really high end customers fund the 90kWh ramp. When Model X is in full production and they can handle the volume, they'll drop the 85kWh.

 

[oneday]

Didn't see it mentioned here, but I noticed a S70RWD on the design studio. Isn't this new as well?

 

[Drax7]

Indeed. Many shareholders were likely trapped by what was undoubtedly hedge-fund selling on the news with the aid of their algobots. That would have created a cascade of stop-loss orders being hit. Other individual investors would have followed dubious internet "advice" to sell on the news. Then sanity quickly returned and the share price soon recovered to the level before the announcements. The hedge-funds may have bought back in near the very short-term bottom and profited handsomely. Now I would not be surprised if financial analysts have good things to say and drive the price up even more.

This was not a bad call at all.

This is very sad news for the german auto industry.

This is putting real preassure on shorts.

And this makes me as happy as CALGARYARSENAL supporting this company with my real money

Elon is vey grateful to mercedes for saving him from bankruptcy, mercedes will seek a partnership with tesla down the road,
and elon will return the favor.

 

[SteveG3]

Link to tables on fastest 0-60 and quarter mile time production cars from wikipedia for context on P90D 2.8 and 10.9 second numbers (spoiler, peer group can't be had for $120K):

List of fastest production cars by acceleration - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

some of you are probably way more familiar with these cars than I am, but I think next closest is Nissan GT-R Nismo at $150K, Porsche 911 Turbo S at $183K and then a big jump into hundreds of thousands of dollars to buy. Not sure if any of the others seat more than two people.

 

[mejojo]

Ah, why not?

People are paying $10k to go from the 70 to the 85 kWh battery. That's $10k for an extra 15 kWh.

At $3k for the 5 kWh upgrade, it's a 10% savings than the step up from the 70 to 85. (e.g. a this "step rate," it's only $9k for the equivalent 15 kWh upgrade).

Thus, your comment doesn't make sense or am I missing something?

5kWh is not a noticable improvement in how you can drive....15kWh is. IMO.

 

[doggusfluffy]

5kWh is not a noticable improvement in how you can drive....15kWh is. IMO.

I'm unclear but isn't it also upgrading this smart fuse too, along with the 5kWh too?

 

[SteveG3]

let's not sort all this out through the fun house mirror of the media... we can tweet TM, Elon, or email Tesla investor relations, and ask that they put a recording of today's call on their website.

here's Tesla's form to email IR

Contact Investor Relations | Tesla Motors

 

[mikes_fsd]

Elon is vey grateful to mercedes for saving him from bankruptcy, mercedes will seek a partnership with tesla down the road,
and elon will return the favor.

Mercedes got the favor back when they sold the stock last year - I believe... Elon owes them nothing more. But a partnership can be beneficial...

 

[Subhuman]

I CERTAINLY would not pay $3K to add 5kWh.

It would have been nice to see the 85 price drop by $3k and the 90 replace the 85 price point.

 

[Drax7]

Mercedes got the favor back when they sold the stock last year - I believe... Elon owes them nothing more. But a partnership can be beneficial...

let the chips fall where they may