Tesla Quietly Discontinues the 85 kWh Battery Option in Canada

[Battman]

I got my 90D in mid September and my brother got his 85D in early October. We both have a similar amount of Km's on our cars (close to 10k km) and take similar care of them. His 90% charge is 386km and mine is 401km. His 100% charge is 430km and mine is 448km. Given that his car is rated for 435km (he lost 5km) and mine is 463km (I've lost 15km!!!), IMO the 85kw battery is more resilient. After all Tesla has had five revisions of the 85kw, and they are on the first of the 90kw. And it not just the two of us; many of the Tesla owners in town with newer 85kw's are much closer to EPA rated than me.

Leasing may be a different story, but for those buying the extra 18km for $3600 is NOT worth it. Especially when you consider there is no performance improvement either. I would either save that money or put it into any other option.

Good luck with your decision. You will love the car either way.

 

[Destiny1701]

I'd say it's more than just comparing 2 cars. Charging ports, amps per charge at home, driving characteristics...all these come into play. I'd suggest it wouldn't be a true comparison of an 85 to 90 unless they both drove exactly the same. Same driver, same heavy/light foot, same roads, same stop/go traffic, same temperature outside for the duration of the comparison, same speed exactly for the entire 3-4 days. Same charging 40amp/80amp, charging cables all plugged in identical...there could be a number of factors affecting each individual car. Perhaps the 90 will degrade more over time...who knows.

For leasing, the price is $3600 extra yes but the residual on the 90D was also increased by 2k bringing the net payment difference
to abt $45/month on a 36 month lease or $35/month on a 4 year. Net cost around $1600 for the extra battery.

In the end your correct...either is amazing!

I got my 90D in mid September and my brother got his 85D in early October. We both have a similar amount of Km's on our cars (close to 10k km) and take similar care of them. His 90% charge is 386km and mine is 401km. His 100% charge is 430km and mine is 448km. Given that his car is rated for 435km (he lost 5km) and mine is 463km (I've lost 15km!!!), IMO the 85kw battery is more resilient. After all Tesla has had five revisions of the 85kw, and they are on the first of the 90kw. And it not just the two of us; many of the Tesla owners in town with newer 85kw's are much closer to EPA rated than me.

Leasing may be a different story, but for those buying the extra 18km for $3600 is NOT worth it. Especially when you consider there is no performance improvement either. I would either save that money or put it into any other option.

Good luck with your decision. You will love the car either way.

 

[Destiny1701]

Update: Ok looks like Tesla Corporate allowed the change to the 90D with only days away from the 85D chassis on the production line! Took some arm twisting from our sales rep and the service rep jointly to make a case and they succeeded after going up 3-4 levels on the management side. So if there are those of you who have orders in for an 85D and want to make the change to the 90D...one can always try depending on where your vehicle is on the production line. In addition I learned that the 90D battery has undergone some advancements starting Jan 2016...most likely due to customer feedback and a few tweaks to the design. Perhaps this may address the degrading max kW range or perhaps not...time will tell!
Regards, Nav

Yes. That's right. 85D. I had actually asked for March delivery but was surprised to see that the car is in transit. Last time three months after my purchase they introduced D and autopilot. This time around it is 90KW battery.

When Elon announced 90KW battery didn't he say that those who have 85KW can swap it for 90KW battery pack and that the battery size will go up by 5% every year.

Three Dog Day | Tesla Motors

"New buyers now have the option of upgrading the pack energy from 85 to 90 kWh for $3k, which provides about 6% increased range. For example, this takes our current longest range model, the 85D, to almost 300 miles of highway range at 65mph.Existing owners can also purchase the pack upgrade, but I wouldn't recommend doing so unless usage is on the edge of current range. On average, we expect to increase pack capacity by roughly 5% per year. Better to wait until you have more time on your existing pack and there is a larger accumulated pack energy difference."

 

[HankLloydRight]

Wow, congrats on that change.

 

[tinanbran]

Update: Ok looks like Tesla Corporate allowed the change to the 90D with only days away from the 85D chassis on the production line! Took some arm twisting from our sales rep and the service rep jointly to make a case and they succeeded after going up 3-4 levels on the management side. So if there are those of you who have orders in for an 85D and want to make the change to the 90D...one can always try depending on where your vehicle is on the production line. In addition I learned that the 90D battery has undergone some advancements starting Jan 2016...most likely due to customer feedback and a few tweaks to the design. Perhaps this may address the degrading max kW range or perhaps not...time will tell!
Regards, Nav

Interesting. I got a call from Tesla last night without being prompted as I had been down south and was in aware the demise of the 85kw. Tesla California called to explain the situation and options avail. They told me that no 85kw would be delivered after April 1. If I wanted to keep the 85 it would mean they would be moving up my production to make delivery mid march. They also honoured the price for upgrade for 90kw when I bought the car and no 500$ up charge! Very impressed with the service! I have gone ahead with the 90 and think its for the best. I personally think they handled this very well and am now super excited to be the soon owner of a 90d!

 

[Destiny1701]

Wow nice. Did you originally have an April delivery date? Maybe they comped the $500 charge as they were asking you to shift your delivery a month earlier ie. Inconvenience to the customer? Amazing that you actually received a call as I had none and had to initiate this process on my own. My delivery date was and still is March 22nd anyway so I suppose nothing was triggered in their system in terms of discontinued battery timelines.

And they honoured your original purchase price plus the 90D upgrade price? May I ask when you placed a deposit? Was it before the Dec 15' price adjustment?

Thanks!

Interesting. I got a call from Tesla last night without being prompted as I had been down south and was in aware the demise of the 85kw. Tesla California called to explain the situation and options avail. They told me that no 85kw would be delivered after April 1. If I wanted to keep the 85 it would mean they would be moving up my production to make delivery mid march. They also honoured the price for upgrade when I bought the can and no 500$ up charge! Very impressed with the service!

 

[mgboyes]

UK reservation holders for 85kWh cars are receiving calls from Tesla inside sales telling them that the 85kWh battery is going end of life, and asking if they'd like to upgrade to 90.

It's an optional upgrade though; their orders will be honoured as is if they wish to stick with 85.

 

[FourBucks]

Interesting. I got a call from Tesla last night without being prompted as I had been down south and was in aware the demise of the 85kw. Tesla California called to explain the situation and options avail. They told me that no 85kw would be delivered after April 1. If I wanted to keep the 85 it would mean they would be moving up my production to make delivery mid march. They also honoured the price for upgrade for 90kw when I bought the car and no 500$ up charge! Very impressed with the service! I have gone ahead with the 90 and think its for the best. I personally think they handled this very well and am now super excited to be the soon owner of a 90d!

(posted to a similar thread) I also got the call from Tesla to explain the situation with discontinued 85kWh pack in Canada. Looks like this will be the standard going forward for everyone soon so if you really want an 85, order it now! They gave me the option of keeping the 85 and taking early delivery in March (which I can't do) or upgrading (no $500 penalty) to the 90kWh pack for $3700 (their price on Dec 25'th 2015 when I originally ordered). Considering Canadian prices are set to go up on Feb 8'th again due to the low dollar I figure this is a good deal. I'll get more range (good for our winters) and better resale (who am I kidding, I'm never selling this baby) .

 

[HankLloydRight]

Does anyone know why they're only doing this in Canada?

 

[ecarfan]

I do not, but my speculation is that Tesla has started to phase out the 85kW pack and soon will announce that it will be no longer available in a growing list of countries until sometime soon (by the end of this year?) that size pack will no longer be available, period.
I will say with some confidence that Elon harbors no ill will towards Canada given that his mother was born there and it was the country he went to first after leaving South Africa.

 

[HankLloydRight]

I guess I don't understand phasing it out one country at a time. If they're going to phase it out, just do it... don't fart around about it.

 

[ecarfan]

I've requested this thread be merged with the existing thread about this subject, see Tesla Quietly Discontinues the 85 kWh Battery Option in Canada

 

[ecarfan]

Maybe there is some internal process advantage about phasing out that pack size by country that we don't understand...

 

[wdolson]

Does anyone know why they're only doing this in Canada?

I think Canada is just the first country. For their first place to phase out the 85 KWh battery, they wanted someplace close with relatively low sales (compared to the US) where they could iron out any snags before rolling out the change everywhere. In Canada they can kind of hide the price increase to the base 85->90 because prices were going up anyway due to the exchange rate. In the US they aren't going to be able to hide the price increase and because of that the US might be last on the list to see the 85 KWh battery go away.

 

[taldric]

So - interesting little tid bit - I don't have my Model S yet, but I ordered an 85D. When I decide my VIN using the algorithm on a different thread here my car should be a 90D (an E in the seventh slot). Maybe Tesla has quietly discontinued 85s and are replacing them all with 90s?

im not getting my hopes up or anything, I'm just punting it another anomaly that may indicate the 85s are on their way out.

 

[taldric]

So - interesting little tid bit - I don't have my Model S yet, but I ordered an 85D. When I decode my VIN using the algorithm on a different thread here my car should be a 90D (an E in the seventh slot). Maybe Tesla has quietly discontinued 85s and are replacing them all with 90s?

I'm not getting my hopes up or anything, I'm just noting another anomaly that may indicate the 85s are on their way out.

 

[cman8]

So - interesting little tid bit - I don't have my Model S yet, but I ordered an 85D. When I decode my VIN using the algorithm on a different thread here my car should be a 90D (an E in the seventh slot). Maybe Tesla has quietly discontinued 85s and are replacing them all with 90s?

I'm not getting my hopes up or anything, I'm just noting another anomaly that may indicate the 85s are on their way out.

+1. Im in your boat. I also have an E which suggest a 90 battery but I ordeed an 85D. It would be like christmas if it were true. But knowing tesla, they would just say "Nah". Even a discounted price would be cool.

 

[HankLloydRight]

Or you could be software limited to 85kwh.

 

[hidbigo]

+1. Im in your boat. I also have an E which suggest a 90 battery but I ordeed an 85D. It would be like christmas if it were true. But knowing tesla, they would just say "Nah". Even a discounted price would be cool.

I'm not sure where you are getting the idea that the 7th position in the VIN distinguishes between an 85 and 90 kWh battery. The 7th position is "E" for Fuel type = Electric. The 8th position can be 1-4 based on standard vs. performance and single motor vs. dual motor.

See ftp://ftp.nhtsa.dot.gov/mfrmail/ORG11229.pdf for the full details.

 

[cman8]

I'm not sure where you are getting the idea that the 7th position in the VIN distinguishes between an 85 and 90 kWh battery. The 7th position is "E" for Fuel type = Electric. The 8th position can be 1-4 based on standard vs. performance and single motor vs. dual motor.

See ftp://ftp.nhtsa.dot.gov/mfrmail/ORG11229.pdf for the full details.

Getting it from here

Where in the Sample yes it says fuel type electric but in actuality our fuels range from 70 (60 before) to 90kwh batteries

Digits 1-3, WMI: 5YJ = Tesla
Digit 4, Line/Series: S = Model S
Digit 5, Body Type:A = 5 Door Hatchback LHD
B = 5 Door Hatchback RHD
Digit 6, Restraint System:1 =
Manual Type 2 USA Seat Belts, Dual Front Airbags, Front/Rear Side Airbags, Knee Airbags [from the 2012-2013 NHTSA filing]
Manual Type 2 Seat Belts (FR, SR*3) with front Airbags, PODS, side Inflatable restraints, Knee Airbags (FR) [from the 2014 NHTSA filing]
Manual Type 2 Seat Belts (FR, SR*3) With Front Airbags, Side Inflatable restraints. [from the 2015 NHTSA filing]
3 = Manual Type 2 Seat Belts (FR, SR*2) with front Airbags, side Inflatable restraints, Knee Airbags (FR) [from the 2014 NHTSA filing]
4 = Manual Type 2 Seat Belts (FR, SR*2) With Front Airbags, Side Inflatable restraints. [from the 2015 NHTSA filing]
6 = exact meaning unknown used in non-US orders.
7 = exact meaning unknown used in non-US orders.
8 = exact meaning unkown used in non-US executive rear seat orders.
Digit 7, Charger Type (2012-2013) / Battery Type (2014+):A = 10kw Charger
B = 20kw Charger
C = 10kw Charger, w/DC Fast Charge
D = 20kw Charger, w/DC Fast Charge
H = Lithium - Ion Battery - High Capacity (85 kWh)
S = Lithium - Ion Battery - Standard Capacity (60 kWh until retired and replaced with 70 kWh battery in mid 2015)
V = Lithium - Ion Battery - Very High Capacity (90 kWh)
E = Lithium - Ion Battery - Extended Capacity (90 kWh) P90D Ludicrous
Digit 8, Motor/Drive Unit (2012+) & Battery Type (2012-2013):C = Base A/C Motor, Tier 2 Battery (31-40kWh)
G = Base A/C Motor, Tier 4 Battery (51-60 kWh)
N = Base A/C Motor, Tier 7 Battery (81-90 kWh)
P = Performance A/C Motor, Tier 7 Battery (81-90 kWh)
1 = Single Motor - Three Phase A/C Induction
2 = Dual Motor - Three Phase A/C Induction
4 = Dual Motor - Three Phase A/C Induction Performance (not documented but seen in wild)(on ARTinCT's P90D Ludicrous 124243)