"Temporary" battery upgrades by the month, maybe?

[timk225]

While waiting for my Model 3, the one thing I think about the most is to upgrade the battery or not.

Will I NEED NEED NEED the big battery for 90% of my daily travel needs? No. But there are times it'd be nice to have it.

I was thinking that maybe Tesla could offer "temporary" battery upgrades. For a set fee, like $100 or so, turn your 60 KW Model 3 pack into an 80KW pack for a month at a time.

This would give the extra capacity needed for long trips, but then you wouldn't get stuck paying thousands for a big battery that you don't need in the average week.

This would allow Tesla to earn extra cash from those who opt to not get the big battery all at once.

Good idea?

 

[Xevex]

Just my opinion, but I'd always like to go for a bigger battery. Once a while I'll be going for a trip about 150 miles with the music turned out loud, with the air conditioning on, and then I'll be nervous having a base model with 215 miles range. I want a peace of mind when I drive, and I'm willing to pay extra for that.

 

[BluestarE3]

I guess the question is whether or not Tesla can afford to include the extra cells in each and every Model 3 and only recoup a fraction of their cost from a fraction of the cars sold. If it is too costly to include features such as a secondary display and self-presenting car handles, I can't see them including additional battery capacity that, for the most part, won't be paid for by the consumer.

 

[ItsNotAboutTheMoney]

They will not do what they did with the recent Model S60(75). That was temporary anti-Osborne Effect and it made sense at the time.

But for the Model 3 they are trying to keep the cost down. They cannot afford to sit on thousands of dollars worth of cells and downsell base models.

 

[kingjamez]

I think the OP is arguing for a temporary battery swap. Otherwise, it's a complete fantasy to expect Tesla to do software limiting on the M3.

 

[habanero69]

I think the OP is arguing for a temporary battery swap. Otherwise, it's a complete fantasy to expect Tesla to do software limiting on the M3.

I have a MS 60. If they did that on some type of a temp basis, it would be shut up and take my money. If I really ended up liking, I might even pay to upgrade permanently...

 

[BluestarE3]

I think the OP is arguing for a temporary battery swap. Otherwise, it's a complete fantasy to expect Tesla to do software limiting on the M3.

Ah, I see. Unless Tesla brings back and greatly expands the number of swap stations beyond the one pilot site, the work will have to be done at already swamped Service Centers. The wait-list may be prohibitively long and the cost may be unattractive. Every battery swap appointment takes away available slots for other service/repair work, which only exacerbates the frustration of Tesla owners who are already waiting a long time to get needed work done.

 

[timk225]

I think the OP is arguing for a temporary battery swap. Otherwise, it's a complete fantasy to expect Tesla to do software limiting on the M3.

This is what I was referring to. I think it is not financially smart for Tesla to put the extra cells in all the Model 3's, and software limit them to the smaller size.

However, if they do go with software limiting, instead of the smaller battery having fewer cells in it, then they can make up some cash renting that extra capacity when people need it for a big trip or something.

 

[TexasEV]

Not gonna happen. If you might need longer range, buy the bigger battery.

 

[BluestarE3]

I think this may have been suggested before, but how about a "Rex" (Range EXtender) battery pack that can be rented and snapped on just before a long trip and returned after you're done? That way, you wouldn't have to deal with swapping the huge battery pack... just add some capacity to your existing pack. Not sure where it would go on the car though, without taking up interior space (on long trips, you'd probably not want to sacrifice luggage space in the trunk/frunk) or throwing off the weight balance of the car. This would also add engineering and manufacturing complexity to a car Tesla wants to roll off the line like sausages.

Realistically, though, Tesla's solution for dealing with range issues is their Supercharger network. Rather than investing money on a battery swapping infrastructure, it would be better to spend it on expanding the breadth and density of their Supercharger network.

 

[Thomas Edison]

I have a MS 60. If they did that on some type of a temp basis, it would be shut up and take my money. If I really ended up liking, I might even pay to upgrade permanently...

This

If the model 3 has a software limited battery, this would be the best way to convince some of us to upgrade and at the least make them some money for the rentals we would use for those long trips.

 

[kzod]

Tesla does offer that. If you need the range boost just pay them $10k and they'll upgrade it for 100 years or the life of the car. Use your heads people. Tesla is NOT in the business of losing money. Oh wait, maybe they are for now. Never mind.