I know the website shows the SR AWD and the LR RWD as both having the same 0-60 time of 5.1 sec. Has anyone done the math to calculate which configuration would have more horsepower/torque and might actually be faster?
That would be pure speculation as no one knows battery size etc in SR ...you would have to extrapolate based on range stated for the SR and motor size ...u want fast ? Just get the P
It's really not about 2 motors or hp/torque in this example. It's mostly about how much juice the battery can feed the motors. The fact Tesla says they are the same tells you that the rear motor of the standard battery does not make as much power as the LR rear motor, and that is due to having less energy available from the battery.
Given the preliminary weight number that we've been given for the SR, and the difference we've seen between LR-D and LR, it's pretty much a lock to be a couple hundred pounds lighter. If the lower range isn't an issue for your situation, it's going to be a great option at $5000 lower than the LR (-$9000+$4000). I wouldn't be surprised if they Tesla ultimately sold a lot of these. The sticking point is going to be the range as in snowy climates, where AWD is more popular, the nominal range of 215mi is probably on going to be about only about 90mi functional daily use in the winter and I'd only count on maybe 160mi full range on those cold days.
In theory the SR AWD Model 3 would be almost as fast as the P Model 3 but have less range. Tesla is going to cap it’s performance to 1.) maintain range 2.) not cannibilize LR sales
I agree with above if u want to make analogy of smaller battery AWD vs larger battery RWD look at specs from previously Tesla’s The smaller battery AWD for the most part is somewhat slower than larger battery RWD ...also was it confirmed the SR battery is actually a different pack or just a software locked version or LR ? ...my vote still remains the same though ...u want fast go P Tesla Model S 0-60 Times - 0-60 Specs
The battery has roughly 1/3 less capacity. To maintain roughly the same voltage, via having the same number of cells in series, you have to have 1/3 less cells in parallel. That means the C for the battery will be only 2/3 of the amps of the LR pack, thus only 2/3 of the HP potential. The only way to overcome this is to have the SR pack actually be physically an LR pack but limited via software to have a 1/3 of the battery left untapped under the software defined floor. The preliminary curb weight floating around for the SR of 3552lb suggests that just isn't the case. But even more critically it would cost Tesla at least $2500 in materials, primarily in the form of cells, to build the SR pack that way. That's a whole lot of cash to roll out the door with every car. EDIT: There is another theoretical way to overcome the limit which is to try draw from the battery at 7.5C instead of the 5C that the LR pack is currently drawn at. But if they could do that [without destroying the battery] it'd either have massively advanced tech compared to the LR pack or the LR would have an insane amount of potential left untapped, as well, that they could have used in some way for the LR. From an engineering POV that just doesn't add up, not with Musk still just speculating that maybe they can get a little more out of the Performance Model 3 depending on if it turns out the battery is up to it.
Do you think Tesla builds a software limited pack.... or two separate packs? Either way - Tesla is in no 'hurry' to build the SR that is for sure.
I just can't see them including that much hardware unsold. 220mi is going to cover a LOT of people's needs so the market for a $9K+ unlock post-sale would be relatively weak. This isn't the the situation of the 40kWh S, that was so range limited that few people wanted it. The 60kWh to 75kWh is a lot smaller percentage difference (1/5 vs 1/3 unsold) and the unlock was a lot cheaper. That 60kWh was more about a government regulations workaround providing a specific price-point that fit under certain credits/rebate limits. Both of these were also relatively small production runs and Tesla wasn't trying to operate at the same margins that the Model 3 is at. The extra cells would represent something in the range of eating up half of the SR's gross margin, that's pretty harsh when you're needing that gross margin to cover everything all the way to the customer.