Tesla locks battery range behind paywall

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All rear-wheel-drive (RWD) Tesla Model Y vehicles sold before May 2024 were advertised with a 260-mile range, despite being equipped with battery hardware capable of approximately 320 miles. Tesla offers a paid software update for $1,600 to unlock this additional capacity.

Background

Tesla has been the pioneer car manufacturer of over-the-air (OTA) software updates, being the first ever to send one in 2012.^[1] While having full control of the software and being able to send updates can benefit customers in many ways, it enables the manufacturer to software-lock certain features and hardware that are present and otherwise functional in the car.

Incident

This has been the case for all Model Y RWD vehicles sold prior to May 2024, now superseded by the RWD Model Y Long Range. The first was advertised and sold with a 260-mile range, the second with a 320-mile one. The two vehicles have same nickel battery, weight, and charging curves, but customers who purchased the non-Long Range model have to pay $1600 to unlock the full capacity.^[2]^[3]^[4]^[5] Below the details:

Full range was not available as a factory option
It can be added to all RWD Model Y sold prior to May 2024
It can only be bought outright for a $1600 one time fee
The range will be unlocked by an OTA software update

Tesla's response

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Consumer response

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