Tesla asking for more money $4,500 for a battery range of about 130 km

At Tesla it is common to be able to book various features and in the past, you could also unlock range for a fee. The company then demanded a significant “ransom” from a buyer of a used Model S 90, which was once an S 60. It’s been a few years, but the electric car maker used to sell vehicles with different ranges, although the batteries actually gave more.

This was because you had “different” variants of a model on offer, but they had the same battery installed. The batteries were blocked or restricted by software, for example, a Model S 40 was a Model S with a 60 kWh battery. The reason for this was the fact that they did not want to produce batteries of different sizes for cost reasons.

Tesla started allowing unlocking for a fee at one point but later did it all together. But there was one exception, software-locked battery packs were still used in warranty cases. But in one case, Tesla was completely wrong, Electrek citing Tesla hacker Jason Hughes. The latter presented on Twitter the case of a customer who had contacted him. The buyer of a used Model S 90, which was once a Model S 60, brought his vehicle to the workshop. He wanted to install a software update.

Tesla finds “wrong”

But later, he got a call from the service center where Tesla said they found a bug and would install a “fix.” But this was a reset of the configuration to that of a Model S 60, which blocked Tesla from a range of about 130 kilometers.

The customer wanted to clarify the matter, pointing out that he had bought a 90 version, but Tesla held out – demanding $4500 to unlock the range. The customer contacted Hughes, who is known for his hacks, but he was also unable to help, at least not directly or immediately. However, he posted the case on social media and it went viral. The opinion of the users was clear, namely that this is a cheek. Tesla also responded to this, promising to clarify the matter and re-unlock the vehicle as a Model S 90.