SoylentNews is people
SoylentNews
Bloomberg recently reported the re-introduction of Tesla's model "S60" all-electric sedan: Tesla's Betting You'll Pay $9,000 for a Software Upgrade
The new S60 starts at $66,000 and has a range of about 208 miles. For $8,500 more, customers can choose an upgraded version, called the S75, which can travel about 40 more miles per charge ... So the upgraded model has a bigger battery, right? Nope. The two versions of the car are identical and sport the same 75 kWh battery. The only difference is that the software on the lower-end version limits the capacity of the S60's battery, crippling its range. In fact, owners can instantly transform a lowly S60 into an S75 at any time for a fee of $9,000 ...
The article doesn't elaborate on how the software "limits the capacity of the S60's battery, crippling its range". Would Tesla be in the wrong if the limitation was entirely artificial, a trivial switch in the software? What about if the S75's software was far more advanced than the S60's, to stretch the battery's capacity to its absolute maximum?
I suppose this counts as crippleware, possibly using something like a feature toggle.
(Score: 2, Insightful) by gOnZo on Friday June 24 2016, @01:00AM
Two points:
1. It is entirely possible that the S60 (earlier product) was engineered with healthier safety margins on battery charge / discharge cycles. This is as it should be. Although I'm sure the battery packs & charge management system went through extensive analysis, and likely many prototypes before becoming a product, providing a healthy safety margin would be prudent. Once the product has been out in the field for a number of years, and any 'issues' that are identified are addressed (such as underbody armor [teslamotors.com] to protect the battery pack against damage), THEN you can count on the engineering side of the company yielding to "marketing/sales" pressure... "how can we make this better?". One of the ways engineering might deliver on this pressure is to convert some of that generous safety margin. As others pointed out, there will be tradeoffs, such as reduced battery life. As long as there aren't a raft of stories about S75s bursting into flames in the garage, there will definitely be a market.
2. Give Elon Musk a break. It's not like I know that much about him or his management style, but I think it's a bit much to pin this on him. Unless he's some kind of maniacal micro-manager that exacts total control over the smallest details of ALL of his businesses (he does have several), it is much more believable that he has a sales &/or marketing TEAM that sets pricing policy on Tesla products. The guy is creative as all hell, and deserves a bit more credit than some posters appear willing to extend him.