Photo: Catalin Garmacea
Update: It's official folks! None other than sir Elon himself has admitted an over-the-air update will shave 0.1 seconds off the 0 to 60 time. Check out his Twitter post below.
Back in the old days, cars were made to go a little faster by replacing cams, cranks, heads or fitting bigger carburetors. Nowadays, chip tuning is the big thing, but with the EV market slowly evolving into something bigger than ever, performance can be enhanced through a simple firmware update.
Since the monstrously capable Model S P85D was introduced late last year, a rumor was propagated by various automotive journalists and a lot of Tesla forum people. Well, that rumor ignited like wildfire yet again, claiming that the P85D is capable of doing a blistering 2.8-second 0 to 60 mph (96 km/h) run.
Considering that the current P85D obliterates the 707-pony 2015 Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat in the 0 to 60 mph stint with its 3.2-second acceleration time, it’s not that far fetched to believe that it's 2.8s capable. Moreover, the recurrence of this subject goes to show that Tesla Motors may actually be working on the rumored update for the dual-motor P85D.
Improving acceleration through a firmware update isn’t that hard to understand with this application. To put it simply, if the Palo Alto-based company’s engineers and whiz kids are able to harmonize the power delivery of the two electric motors (470 HP rear, 221 HP front, 691 HP and 687 lb-ft total output), it is possible to control those 931 Nm of twist without letting the tires spin gratuitously while the car stands still.
I’m no rocket scientist and I’m not a big friend of technology, but it’s highly probable we’re looking at an optimization of the torque split between the two axles of the all-wheel drive Model S P85D. If the firmware update-powered 2.8-second stint to 60 mph morphs from rumor to reality, prepare for a five-door liftback sedan that can outrun royalty nameplates such as the McLaren P1 and Koenigsegg Agera R hypercars.
UPDATE: look at Elon Musk's tweet below and prepare for at least 3.1 seconds to 60 mph. Cheers, Elon!
Back in the old days, cars were made to go a little faster by replacing cams, cranks, heads or fitting bigger carburetors. Nowadays, chip tuning is the big thing, but with the EV market slowly evolving into something bigger than ever, performance can be enhanced through a simple firmware update.
Since the monstrously capable Model S P85D was introduced late last year, a rumor was propagated by various automotive journalists and a lot of Tesla forum people. Well, that rumor ignited like wildfire yet again, claiming that the P85D is capable of doing a blistering 2.8-second 0 to 60 mph (96 km/h) run.
Considering that the current P85D obliterates the 707-pony 2015 Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat in the 0 to 60 mph stint with its 3.2-second acceleration time, it’s not that far fetched to believe that it's 2.8s capable. Moreover, the recurrence of this subject goes to show that Tesla Motors may actually be working on the rumored update for the dual-motor P85D.
Improving acceleration through a firmware update isn’t that hard to understand with this application. To put it simply, if the Palo Alto-based company’s engineers and whiz kids are able to harmonize the power delivery of the two electric motors (470 HP rear, 221 HP front, 691 HP and 687 lb-ft total output), it is possible to control those 931 Nm of twist without letting the tires spin gratuitously while the car stands still.
I’m no rocket scientist and I’m not a big friend of technology, but it’s highly probable we’re looking at an optimization of the torque split between the two axles of the all-wheel drive Model S P85D. If the firmware update-powered 2.8-second stint to 60 mph morphs from rumor to reality, prepare for a five-door liftback sedan that can outrun royalty nameplates such as the McLaren P1 and Koenigsegg Agera R hypercars.
UPDATE: look at Elon Musk's tweet below and prepare for at least 3.1 seconds to 60 mph. Cheers, Elon!
Tesla P85D 0 to 60mph acceleration will improve by ~0.1 sec soon via over-the-air software update to inverter algorithm
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 29, 2015
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