Range Race Heats UP - Will Older Model EVs get Upgrade Options?

So what does this accomplish? It gives Tesla the first car company honors to offer the 300 mile range EV (its just 15 more miles than the 85Kwh pack) but who is worried about that? My question is, “will these manufacturers allow customers with older model year Nissan Leafs and Tesla S cars, to retro fit the new battery size configurations into the older cars?” I really hope so as this will help solidify the aftermarket for these cars as well.

In essence we are seeing the car companies racing for the top spot that most drivers crave…..increased Range. With Nissan announcement a few weeks ago, the 330 mile range Nissan Leaf, Tesla answered by adding in an extra 5kwh of battery capacity for the Model S. Since the Tesla is already out of production, I would say they are the first to market with the 300 mile range car. Even though they retrofitted an original Tesla Roadster a while back with better energy density cells and gave that car a 500 miles range EV package, this truly is a first for customers.

All in all, the range race is heating up. We are seeing the two giants in the EV world fighting to deliver what consumers want. They are pushing for an everyday driving car that delivers 500 miles and can still charge up overnight in people’s garages or in their driveways.

The other variable that isn’t really being addresses is the cost. Can the GigaFactory really lower the market cost of these cells enough to make the average priced electric car the same cost as an average priced gas car? I believe we are the path to doing just that. We are seeing technology increases faster than I have ever seen before in all kinds of different industries so we are about to see the unthinkable. That gas isn’t always going to be the defacto winner of the range race.

We have seen over 300,000 plug in cars sell in the USA market in the last 5 years. The upward trend is clear. We are not that far away from seeing technology truly transform the USA market and finally the average consumer will start to have a choice in regards to his transportation fuel. The oil monopoly of transportation fuel will come to an end. My hope is, it can only come too soon.