What is limiting factor to Model 3 Power Output?

[ZeApelido]

Thinking specifically about the LR RWD edition, but could apply to any type.

Tire friction, motor power limit, battery current output limit?

Or do you think there is slight software limitation that may be unlocked at a future date?

 

[SSonnentag]

Motor, inverter and high voltage contactors would be my guess.

 

[okashira]

almost definitely software.
The battery is very strong, my calcs put it at or better then the 100kwh pack in the MS, assuming wiring and fuses are up to the task.
The cells are a good 50% more power on the same weight/volume basis as the 18650's in the MS/MX.
I think there's room in the motor based on initial 0-60 reports of 4.7s and elon's tweets about unlocking the RWD performance.

 

[SSonnentag]

almost definitely software.
The battery is very strong, my calcs put it at or better then the 100kwh pack in the MS, assuming wiring and fuses are up to the task.
The cells are a good 50% more power on the same weight/volume basis as the 18650's in the MS/MX.
I think there's room in the motor based on initial 0-60 reports of 4.7s and elon's tweets about unlocking the RWD performance.

I would suggest that the more power-dense a battery is, the more difficult it is to shed heat. Less surface area and more heat production.

 

[StellarRat]

FIRE

 

[ewoodrick]

Pretty simply, cost.

The wires, inverter, switches, even fuses are all candidates. You don't make them as big as possible because of the cost.

100's of amps at 100's of volts ain't nothing to sneeze at.

Is Tesla going to repeat the history of the S? Maybe, but not to the same degree

 

[JeffK]

The wires, inverter, switches, even fuses are all candidates. You don't make them as big as possible because of the cost.

But the cables to the Model 3 battery are supposedly larger than those of Model S...

 

[ZeApelido]

Right now I have to guess software. I just feel they are leaving a little room to bump up performance when competitors cone

 

[mike123abc]

I would speculate software. But, the software limits could be in place to guaranty all components work to spec. What I mean by that is perhaps if they allowed .5 seconds faster acceleration only 97% of the cars could do it with 3% not being able to do it. A second faster could mean 50% of the cars could do it. Tesla wants 100% of the cars to be able to make spec, and they just have to qualify all the components minimum performance meet the spec. They do not want to have a percentage that complain that the car they got is substandard.

 

[Knightshade]

almost definitely software.
The battery is very strong, my calcs put it at or better then the 100kwh pack in the MS, assuming wiring and fuses are up to the task.
The cells are a good 50% more power on the same weight/volume basis as the 18650's in the MS/MX.
I think there's room in the motor based on initial 0-60 reports of 4.7s and elon's tweets about unlocking the RWD performance.

Which initial reports are you talking about? Do you mean youtubers who did non-controlled testing including rollout or something?

Because Teslas official 5.1 number does not include rollout.

Meaning the "rollout" number is more like 4.8 (which is indeed what the car magazines got in their testing, which does include it)

There's probably more on the table unlockable with SW (though much more to be had that way with the AWD, since it's a P3D- hardware-wise) but probably not a ton without getting into significant traction limitations.

 

[Lunares]

It's absolutely software. But if you want to make your battery range go down by 20% over 10 years instead of 10% so that you can accelerate faster, go ahead

 

[insaneoctane]

My guess is that the RWD motor and inverter have an additional 10% to 20% available that is limited by the software. Tesla has to warranty these vehicles and therefore probably are not configured to run at 100% capability.

Should not be a battery issue since AWD and P versions have the same batteries and are far more demanding

 

[MXWing]

Other -

Tesla still wants to sell a 130,000 car.