Press Conference July 17

[ohmman]

Since our cars can be upgraded OTA as new features roll out, there isn't as much of need to get the latest and greatest like an ICE.

I think this discounts the fact that there will be additional hardware added beyond Autopilot, and of course body style changes. The car can be upgraded OTA but only within the parameters allowed by the hardware. I imagine a point at which my MS will no longer be eligible for upgrades. The last one I get will be where it stays, either because of onboard processing power, available hardware, Tesla sunsetting model support, etc. It's a continually advancing vehicle beyond the OTA upgrades, so I don't worry much about the CPO market.

 

[gg_got_a_tesla]

Nothing really says that model x won't come with a bigger battery yet? right?

Insufficient data, you can argue it either way. Until Septermber-ish, we're just guessing.

My guess is that the X will not have a pack bigger than 90 this year. It wouldn't make sense for Tesla to offer a larger pack for the X from the get go and not for the S given that they share the same platform. Given that the 90 has just been announced, it's very unlikely that there'd be a larger pack this year.

 

[schonelucht]

Agreed. Elon and Tesla unfortunately don't seem to wholeheartedly want to get into the battery upgrade business yet, particularly for the non-85 packs.

What strikes me again about this whole thing, is how bad Tesla is at communication. Confusion reigns supreme on this forum as usual, even though we have a lot of users here who keep track of the company pretty well.

In short, we don't even know the answer of a simple question like will an upgrade be offered to 40/60/70 cars. Even worse, there is someone here who has a P85D currently on order who's DS told him that Tesla will offer the upgrade to a 90 for up to 6 months after purchase? The weird thing is, it could even be the truth. Tesla really seems adverse to provide a clear battery upgrade path.

 

[TexasEV]

What strikes me again about this whole thing, is how bad Tesla is at communication. Confusion reigns supreme on this forum as usual, even though we have a lot of users here who keep track of the company pretty well.

In short, we don't even know the answer of a simple question like will an upgrade be offered to 40/60/70 cars. Even worse, there is someone here who has a P85D currently on order who's DS told him that Tesla will offer the upgrade to a 90 for up to 6 months after purchase? The weird thing is, it could even be the truth. Tesla really seems adverse to provide a clear battery upgrade path.

Tesla said the upgrade is for 85kWh batteries. It seems clear to me that means it will not be offered to 40/60/70 cars. We don't know how the price will be determined yet, but that's not an issue because it's not available yet for upgrading, just for new car orders.

 

[YoungStranger]

What strikes me again about this whole thing, is how bad Tesla is at communication. Confusion reigns supreme on this forum as usual, even though we have a lot of users here who keep track of the .

I think given the success of Elon in getting the message worldwide you are being a bit unfair. I think if you asked Tesla directly over the next week if you owned an S40S60 and they didn't know then that would be poor communication, but this forum is noisy, full of contradictions... And that is the way we like it!

 

[bonnie]

My guess is that the X will not have a pack bigger than 90 this year. It wouldn't make sense for Tesla to offer a larger pack for the X from the get go and not for the S given that they share the same platform. Given that the 90 has just been announced, it's very unlikely that there'd be a larger pack this year.

Agree completely. The battery pack was probably ready for the X, to ensure a minimum range & it only made sense to offer it to S customers once it was ready.

 

[NigelM]

Agree completely. The battery pack was probably ready for the X, to ensure a minimum range & it only made sense to offer it to S customers once it was ready.

Agree also. But I also suspect that there won't be an 85 option for the X.

 

[DDotJ]

So I know the newly designed advanced Li-ion fuse for Ludicrous mode is exclusive to those who ponied up the extra $10000, but is the newly designed contactors going into all vehicles rolling off the line?

And I've heard of contactor failures in a few battery packs on the forums, I wonder if these new contactors solve that issue.

 

[hbouw]

What strikes me again about this whole thing, is how bad Tesla is at communication. Confusion reigns supreme on this forum as usual, even though we have a lot of users here who keep track of the company pretty well.

In short, we don't even know the answer of a simple question like will an upgrade be offered to 40/60/70 cars. Even worse, there is someone here who has a P85D currently on order who's DS told him that Tesla will offer the upgrade to a 90 for up to 6 months after purchase? The weird thing is, it could even be the truth. Tesla really seems adverse to provide a clear battery upgrade path.

At this point in time, Tesla is clear that the upgrade will be offered to 85kWh cars. The fact that we do not know whether an upgrade for 40/60/70 kWh cars will be available has nothing to do with bad communication. Tesla may simply not know themselves yet, or know but not be ready to tell us.

 

[strangethingintheland]

My guess is that the X will not have a pack bigger than 90 this year. It wouldn't make sense for Tesla to offer a larger pack for the X from the get go and not for the S given that they share the same platform. Given that the 90 has just been announced, it's very unlikely that there'd be a larger pack this year.

+1 as others have also said.

I had hoped for more than 90K for the X (and S), but at this point they are all about minimizing risk for the launch of X. Thus, AWD launch last year reduced risk, having 90K packs in production will further reduce risk. In my mind, the only meaningful open question regarding hardware (short of HUD displays or something exotic among the unrevealed features of the X) is whether there will be an upgraded sensor suite. If so, I'd expect it also to launch on the S first and then the X, both to further reduce risk at X launch, and to prevent S sales from slowing prior to the X launch. Of course if their is a sensor suite upgrade, given all the autopilot software delays, those October '14 purchasers of the D will be even more upset. But that's another story/thread...

 

[ecarfan]

Agree also. But I also suspect that there won't be an 85 option for the X.

Yes, I expect that the X Design Studio will only offer 70 and 90kWh battery choices, and the 85 choice will disappear from the S Design Studio page in the near future.
Is an audio recording of the Friday press call available somewhere?
UPDATE: Sorry, found it at Tesla Motors Ludicrous Mode Press Conference (Audio) 2015-07-17 - YouTube

 

[MSEV]

I just finished reading the bio of Elon and the "incomplete" communication makes sense to me. My understanding, from the biography, is Elon doesn't practice or rehearse, he doesn't have time to and doesn't care to. IMHO, he had things he was ready to tell us and he told us; the nuances (which may seem important to a few or many of us) will be hammered out and fixed up shortly. This is how he does it. My 2 cents.

 

[SteveG3]

My guess is that the X will not have a pack bigger than 90 this year. It wouldn't make sense for Tesla to offer a larger pack for the X from the get go and not for the S given that they share the same platform. Given that the 90 has just been announced, it's very unlikely that there'd be a larger pack this year.

I think there's still a reasonable chance that when a Model X design studio comes online there will be a third battery pack size, ~105 kWh (that is, 70, 90, and ~105 with the 85 phasing out). If this happens, I'd expect it to be offered for the S as well. I don't think this is as likely as I did before Friday's announcement... but my gut says ~30-40% likelihood. I don't think we'll have to wait more than 4 weeks to find out.

 

[dhanson865]

I think there's still a reasonable chance that when a Model X design studio comes online there will be a third battery pack size, ~105 kWh (that is, 70, 90, and ~105 with the 85 phasing out). If this happens, I'd expect it to be offered for the S as well. I don't think this is as likely as I did before Friday's announcement... but my gut says ~30-40% likelihood. I don't think we'll have to wait more than 4 weeks to find out.

I think you'll find they avoid the 5s.

We saw that when the first jump from 60 to 70 was made. They could have easily done a 65 in between and didn't bother.

It'll take longer but they'll do a 100 after the 90. I don't think we'll see the 100 pack until 2016 and there will be a long line of 2015 Model Xs sent out with 90 packs as the max before then.

 

[pvogel]

I think there's still a reasonable chance that when a Model X design studio comes online there will be a third battery pack size, ~105 kWh (that is, 70, 90, and ~105 with the 85 phasing out). If this happens, I'd expect it to be offered for the S as well. I don't think this is as likely as I did before Friday's announcement... but my gut says ~30-40% likelihood. I don't think we'll have to wait more than 4 weeks to find out.

I doubt it's that likely, (I'd say <10% likely) but I could see it as a possibility exclusively for the X which could have a beefier suspension than the S and could handle the additional weight of a 100 kWH pack.


Peter+

 

[ItsNotAboutTheMoney]

I doubt it's that likely, (I'd say <10% likely) but I could see it as a possibility exclusively for the X which could have a beefier suspension than the S and could handle the additional weight of a 100 kWH pack.


Peter+

My gut says a 0% likelihood of a 105kWh pack.

 

[brucet999]

Yes, I expect that the X Design Studio will only offer 70 and 90kWh battery choices, and the 85 choice will disappear from the S Design Studio page in the near future.
Is an audio recording of the Friday press call available somewhere?
UPDATE: Sorry, found it at Tesla Motors Ludicrous Mode Press Conference (Audio) 2015-07-17 - YouTube

Thanks for posting the link.

As I listened to the question about why all the effort expended to enable "Ludicrous" mode, I realized that this was probably just a byproduct of what was necessary to get "Insane" mode for the 10% heavier and bigger frontal area (so greater air resistance) Model X.

 

[schonelucht]

I think given the success of Elon in getting the message worldwide you are being a bit unfair. I think if you asked Tesla directly over the next week if you owned an S40S60 and they didn't know then that would be poor communication, but this forum is noisy, full of contradictions... And that is the way we like it!

Elon is great at getting the media involved. But that's marketing messaging. When it comes to real answers that customers and owners can rely on, they're not so great. In fact, they often fail to communicate properly with their own staff who'll often give wildly contradicting statements to customers. I can't give them a pass on that front at all.

 

[tomas]

Elon is great at getting the media involved. But that's marketing messaging. When it comes to real answers that customers and owners can rely on, they're not so great. In fact, they often fail to communicate properly with their own staff who'll often give wildly contradicting statements to customers. I can't give them a pass on that front at all.

Some people get offended when everything is not just so. Others, including me, don't mind a bit of to and fro - especially when product is groundbreaking. Last week, I saw more CPO cars at highland park store than had been shipped in total when I bought mine. That's in 2.5 years. Growth in employees exponential. Want them to slow down and get everyone on same page? Or just keep churning out and improving this magical car?

PS think about it, this is like being able to upgrade engine in your ICE... Think anyone offer that ever?

 

[matbl]

PS think about it, this is like being able to upgrade engine in your ICE... Think anyone offer that ever?

OT but I'll bite. Actually, yes. BMW sent me advertisement for engine upgrade a few years ago. Or to be correct, SW upgrade to crank more power of the same emgine... I think it was something like 10% increase.