Fulfilling a promise CEO Elon Musk made back in June, Tesla unwrapped an after-Christmas present for owners of its original Roadster sports car yesterday. A series of three upgrades -- to the battery pack, the tires and the aerodynamics -- that the company calls "Roadster 3.0" will increase the vehicle's range by 40-50%. Tesla expects to make the package available this spring at a price to be announced. It says that, "There is a set of speeds and driving conditions where we can confidently drive the Roadster 3.0 over 400 miles" on a single charge. It will demonstrate the capabilities of the upgrade early next year in a test run between San Francisco and Los Angeles whose city halls are 381 miles apart. But more than showing off, Tesla is kicking off a new era in the auto industry where "sustainable transportation" refers not only to the electrified powertrain but to the vehicle itself.
A total of 2,600 Roadsters were produced between 2008-12. As it was the first vehicle for the startup automaker, it relied on the availability of "gliders" (basically the car's body) sourced from Lotus. When the original contract came to an end, with it went the Roadster. If Tesla were a typical automaker, that would likely have marked the end of any improvements on the vehicle, unless a safety recall was required. While this upgrade is substantial, though, it's not especially unusual for Tesla. The Model S has seen a number of improvements in its 2 years on the market, several of which have been offered as upgrades to current owners.
Tesla's approach seems to be: If we can make it better, we'll do it. And what it means is that the company's older vehicles might stay on the road far longer than the typical automobile. On top of that, they might also remain closer to the state of the art. In September, the company rolled out the 6.0 version of the software that powers the Model S. That release included major changes to the vehicle's navigation system as well as remote start.
A nearly 50% increase in range, of course, is a more substantial change than just new software and is unlikely to come cheap. Given that the battery itself is 70 kilowatt hours, in between the two sizes available on Model S, and that lower rolling-resistance tires and aerodynamic modifications are included, it's likely buyers will pay $20,000 or so for the privilege. But the more modern battery cells not only have 31% more energy than those in the original Roadster, according to Tesla, they're likely quite a bit more durable. The new battery could have a lifespan of 200,000 miles or more.
That should keep the Roadsters out there for another decade, given how few parts are in an electric vehicle to wear out. Still, the Roadsters won't be completely updated. Features like Tesla's autonomous driving functions can't be added to older Model S sedans, let alone the Roadster. And it appears that even with the announced upgrades, Roadsters won't be capable of accessing Tesla's Supercharger network. But a substantial boost to a core feature of an out-of-production vehicle seems to have no modern precedent anywhere in the auto industry. And it raises a fascinating question of what could come next.
Musk quickly had to temper speculation that the Model S would be getting a similar upgrade, especially given that the Tesla blog post opens with this: "Battery technology has continued a steady improvement in recent years." After he first tweeted than deleted a comment about Model S, the company updated the blog post to include this: "No new Model S battery pack or major range upgrade is expected in the near term." With Tesla, even that's a bit tantalizing. The 30% gain in the Roadster's battery pack comes mostly from gains the Model S achieved by 2012. That's about 4 years worth of progress.
Fast forward to 2016, and it's not difficult to imagine a new battery for the Model S with similar improvements, perhaps reaching 110 kilowatt hours (from a max of 85 today), giving the sedan range that closes in on 350 miles. Tesla has already managed to squeeze out some gains in range through the dual-motor, all-wheel-drive versions of the Model S (though unfortunately getting one requires purchasing a new vehicle as that's not an upgrade option). And, unlike with the Roadster, which is moving from a drag coefficient (Cd) of 0.36 to 0.31, the Model S already has a Cd of 0.24, making it one of the most aerodynamically slippery vehicles out there. It won't be easy to get a 400-mile Model S this decade.
Of course, if it's possible to produce a battery pack that allows for one at any point down the road, it's quite probable (likely even?) that Tesla will sell that battery to whoever owns the first 50,000 Model S' that are on roads right now. That might not make them as good as new, but it will bring them closer than any 5-10-year-old ever had a chance of being before. Welcome to the new age.
