Upgrading from 60kwh battery to 85kwh?

[randvegeta]

Does anyone know if you are actually able to buy an 85kwh batter and put it into a Model S 60 and then gaining the added range? I'm not all that bothered about the added performance, but the extra 25kwh (125km + of added range) sounds nice.

 

[BestRadar]

I am sure it could be done but would not be worth the expense of probably around $20k. If your 60 can be software upgraded to a 75 that would make much more sense and would be much cheaper.

 

[MorrisonHiker]

It's been done before but isn't something they do regularly: Life With Tesla Model S: Battery Upgrade From 60 kWh To 85 kWh

Hopefully in the future once the Gigafactory is fully online they will start offering upgrades.

 

[randvegeta]

I am sure it could be done but would not be worth the expense of probably around $20k. If your 60 can be software upgraded to a 75 that would make much more sense and would be much cheaper.

Mine really is a 60kwh battery from 2014. Software update not going to happen.

 

[randvegeta]

It's been done before but isn't something they do regularly: Life With Tesla Model S: Battery Upgrade From 60 kWh To 85 kWh

Hopefully in the future once the Gigafactory is fully online they will start offering upgrades.

I hope so. I don't have any plans to do that now, but when the battery starts wearing down to the point I can no longer make it to my regular destinations, should hopefully still be a better option than replacing the whole car.

 

[ecobon]

Quite pricey, but there is a listing on eBay that offers exactly what the OP is requesting. Just search for "tesla + battery"

 

[wdolson]

wk057 did upgrade an original S60 to an Model S P85 by swapping out the battery and doing some hacks to the firmware. This required some hacking expertise and is not supported by Tesla. As far as I know Tesla has never upgraded a 60 to an 85.

 

[MorrisonHiker]

As far as I know Tesla has never upgraded a 60 to an 85.

See post #3 above.

 

[bkp_duke]

A year ago when I was looking at a 60, I called Tesla to get pricing on moving it up to the 90. They told me it was 23k at that time, and that they kept the old battery pack for recycling.

Things may have changed since then, but that was a valid data point.

 

[Max*]

A year ago when I was looking at a 60, I called Tesla to get pricing on moving it up to the 90. They told me it was 23k at that time, and that they kept the old battery pack for recycling.

Things may have changed since then, but that was a valid data point.

I've heard that number before ($22,500 ($25k upgrade - $2,500 mandatory core refund fee), but it was always in the context of an 85kwh upgrade to 90kwh. Something about no plans to upgrade the smaller batteries (60/70/75).

 

[bkp_duke]

I've heard that number before ($22,500 ($25k upgrade - $2,500 mandatory core refund fee), but it was always in the context of an 85kwh upgrade to 90kwh. Something about no plans to upgrade the smaller batteries (60/70/75).

That's what I was quoted in March of last year when I called the San Diego service center. They said it could be ordered, but the math just didn't work out on that one and I wound up purchasing a P85 (and then a second P85).

 

[randvegeta]

I've heard that number before ($22,500 ($25k upgrade - $2,500 mandatory core refund fee), but it was always in the context of an 85kwh upgrade to 90kwh. Something about no plans to upgrade the smaller batteries (60/70/75).

I'm thinking more along the lines of when the battery is really no longer any fit for purpose. I'm very happy with the car as is, and I don't really need more power. But the extra 125km of range would be most welcome, and with any luck, a new battery will be significantly cheaper in 6 years time.

 

[Rifleman]

I'm thinking more along the lines of when the battery is really no longer any fit for purpose. I'm very happy with the car as is, and I don't really need more power. But the extra 125km of range would be most welcome, and with any luck, a new battery will be significantly cheaper in 6 years time.

This is my hope. I plan on driving my current 60 kWh battery until the point when it has degraded so much that it is not useful anymore, and then hopefully being able to upgrade to whatever tesla has available at that time. Right now, when virtually every Model S battery is still under warranty, there is not much need for an upgrade program, but there will be a point when there are lots of cars on the road that are no longer in warranty and need a new battery. Hopefully when that time comes Tesla will have a program in place.

 

[bxr140]

It seems like actual battery degradation is going to be minimal enough that what you propose is effectively swapping in new batteries into very old cars (15-20 years). I don't think there's going to be a huge need, and I think the associated negative PR will be pretty minimal.

There will be an aftermarket of used batteries which will be the more likely avenue for replacement. It exists today; as time moves on and more batteries become available, the cost will come down and the capacities will go up.

 

[Rifleman]

It seems like actual battery degradation is going to be minimal enough that what you propose is effectively swapping in new batteries into very old cars (15-20 years). I don't think there's going to be a huge need, and I think the associated negative PR will be pretty minimal.

There will be an aftermarket of used batteries which will be the more likely avenue for replacement. It exists today; as time moves on and more batteries become available, the cost will come down and the capacities will go up.

I wish that were the case. My 60 was showing 161 @ 90% this morning. It was at 188 @ 90% when I took deliver 40k miles ago. I have had tesla run battery diagnostics, and they assure me "my battery is in great shape", but I certainly have significant capacity loss.

My wife's car, on the other hand, come in at a strong 181 @ 90% every single day, even though it is older and has more miles on it. I guess battery degradation is somewhat random.

 

[bxr140]

I wish that were the case. My 60 was showing 161 @ 90% this morning. It was at 188 @ 90% when I took deliver 40k miles ago.

My 60 battery would top out at 178 before it took a dump [at a supercharger] and tesla replaced it. That was ~45k miles if I recall. The previous service said 'looks okay' when I complained about 185@ 100%.

Even so, I believe that level of indicated degradation is a corner case, and nobody really knows if indicated = actual.

Degradation is a bummer of a situation, but I don't think it's as bad as it seems.

 

[bonaire]

R-Man - you're in Ohio. It's cold now - so what should be happening is range should adjust based on current and recent driving conditions. Do you see more range mid-summer? Do you drive harder or use more climate control such as Heating and Defrost?

 

[Rifleman]

R-Man - you're in Ohio. It's cold now - so what should be happening is range should adjust based on current and recent driving conditions. Do you see more range mid-summer? Do you drive harder or use more climate control such as Heating and Defrost?

My car has pretty consistently been loosing a mile per month, since I bought it. In the spring/summer/fall, my watts/mile normally hovers in the 280 range, and in the winter I am normally in the 320 range. I am sure the cold is playing a factor, but my overall range loss is pretty consistent. The good news is I still have over 75k of battery warranty left, so I would imagine at some point, if the trend continues, tesla will have to admit there is a problem.

 

[bonaire]

My car has pretty consistently been loosing a mile per month, since I bought it. In the spring/summer/fall, my watts/mile normally hovers in the 280 range, and in the winter I am normally in the 320 range. I am sure the cold is playing a factor, but my overall range loss is pretty consistent. The good news is I still have over 75k of battery warranty left, so I would imagine at some point, if the trend continues, tesla will have to admit there is a problem.

Well, capacity is not warranted, but if it ends up stopping working then they can replace it. Sometimes, they will do such a thing if you end up signing an NDA for the "above and beyond" repair.

 

[sorka]

I wish that were the case. My 60 was showing 161 @ 90% this morning. It was at 188 @ 90% when I took deliver 40k miles ago. I have had tesla run battery diagnostics, and they assure me "my battery is in great shape", but I certainly have significant capacity loss.

My wife's car, on the other hand, come in at a strong 181 @ 90% every single day, even though it is older and has more miles on it. I guess battery degradation is somewhat random.

I suspect if you look at the battery strings with a CANBUS logger you'll find one is much lower voltage than the rest. If so, then this is not normal degradation but either dead batteries or batteries that blew their individual cell fuses which takes them out of the loop because when the cell fuse blows, it bypasses that cell completely.