Tesla's new model S - now with crippleware?

[vcoleiro1]

Yes - but I still see this as a bit different from CPU binning.

The resources needed to make the 75 kWh battery are extracted, processed and refined, but only 60kWh are used - which is a waste of resources if the upgrade isn't purchased.

The car hauls around the additional 15 kWh of battery weight - that it cannot use without the upgrade. Decreasing it's net efficiency. Assuming linear extrapolation, the 75kWh battery would weigh 25% more than a 60kWh battery would.

Installing a 75kWh battery at the 60kWh price point is clearly profitable - because I doubt that Tesla would sell a car at a direct loss. The physical hardware has, at that point, been paid for.

I suspect that the primary advantage to Tesla for doing this is so that they can advertise a lower price in advertising. "From $xx,xxx and up..."

It still strikes me as very dissengenuous.

Tesla is doing this for profit, not for advertising. As you mentioned there is still profit in selling the locked 60kWh version at the lower price. The point here is that there were some people who could afford a Tesla at the lower price but couldn't at the higher prices. By offering the locked 60kWh battery version as they have now , they are getting all those sales . All those sales and profit would otherwise be lost - That's why.

As I mentioned before, as not a lot of people bought the 60kWh battery option in the past , they axed it, as they did with the 40kWh version prior. By the way the 40kWh Tesla actually had a 60kWh battery that was SW locked. So nothing new here. Making a lot of one popular line of battery has the economic benefits of scale.

Tesla also mentioned a considerable number of people do upgrade. Which is factored in. Now if they had a 60kWh battery, what would Telsa do with them other than recycle the used cells, that's a cost Telsa don't have anymore. ie another factor in all this. As is the fact that if the customer trades in the vehicle in the Tesla Pre-owned program, it can be unlocked by Tesla and sold for a higher price.

Does that mean the 60kWh purchasers have a con in the extra weight, short answer is yes. They also have the pros of a cheaper price (it's cheaper than it was when it was last offered) . They have the pro of a cheaper upgrade if they want it. And most importantly, a longer battery life as the battery cycles through all the cells .