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Elon Musk reveals Tesla software-locked cheapest Model Y, offers 40-60 more miles of range (electrek.co)

submitted 6 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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[–] [email protected] -2 points 6 months ago (1 children)

Or they could not reduce it for the same production cost. No money is saved by tasking an employee to develop the battery nerf.

Yes, but perhaps some money is saved by not having to manage multiple production lines for multiple battery capacities and also having to predict how many of each capacity is going to sell so you're not stuck with cars nobody wants?

There are no benefits. You could simply unplug at 80%.

Right, after you just paid more for battery that you've decided not to use. The benefit is that it's cheaper for the customer.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 6 months ago (1 children)

It’s only cheaper because they inflated the price from a limitation they created. There is absolutely no reason to limit the battery capacity in software in this manner other than to create an artificial divide to upsell people on the “”higher”” capacity.

[–] [email protected] -3 points 6 months ago (1 children)

It’s only cheaper because they inflated the price from a limitation they created.

TIL Tesla has a 100% monopoly over the electric vehicle market space.

Tesla is offering a wider variety of products at more diverse prices to try to better fit the needs of a larger portion of customers. They must have determined that it was cheaper overall to do it this way rather than physically rip the batteries out of the vehicles or they wouldn't do it.

to create an artificial divide to upsell people on the “”higher”” capacity.

I mean, isn't not offering a cheaper version at all already upselling? When the F-150 Lightning came out, people had a really hard time finding the standard range version because dealers didn't want to sell a lower trim version of the car with lower commission.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 6 months ago (1 children)

They must have determined that it was cheaper overall to do it this way rather than physically rip the batteries out of the vehicles or they wouldn't do it.

Or, you know, just keep the capacity the same and lower the price without imposing a battery nerf. It costs the same to make. The only reason the nerf exists is to extract money from consumers.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 6 months ago

You are not required to purchase your vehicle from Tesla. I mean, we're butting up against the primary tenets of capitalism here. I'm a socialist personally, but if there's one thing that capitalism is supposed to do well in theory, it's find market efficiencies. Tesla appears to have found one here. If anybody else could sell a non-software locked smaller-battery version of a similar vehicle for a lower price, people would buy that one instead.