Tesla's 85D and P85D Model S electric vehicles can go from a standstill to 60 miles per hour in 3.2 seconds, up to a maximum speed of 130 miles per hour. However, Tesla has announced an upgrade to the vehicle's software that will allow the electric cars to reach top speeds of 155 miles per hour.
In the specifications sheet of the Model S posted online, Tesla announced that higher performance for the electric car can be unlocked though the free upgrade to its software.
The upgrade can be applied to the Model S 85D, a more powerful version of the stock Model S that features a more powerful battery and a longer driving range compared to the base model. The Models S 85D, however, produces about the same 380 horsepower compared to the base model, from a dual motor which distributes generated power to both the front and the rear wheels.
The upgrade can also be applied to the P85D, which has a bigger battery and a dual motor that comes with a performance upgrade that churns out 691 horsepower, 221 horsepower to the wheels in the front and 470 horsepower to the wheels in the rear.
The Model S 85D, with prices starting at $85,570, and the Model S P85D, with prices starting at $106,570, were both previously electronically limited to a maximum speed of 130 miles per hour.
The electronic limitation was confirmed by Tesla on the statement released online, adding that over the next months, the company will be upgrading the vehicles for free. The upgrade is available for the entire lifetime of the car, whether the owner is the car's first owner or not.
In addition to the software upgrade, Tesla will be releasing an upgrade to the firmware of the power electronics of the vehicles that "will improve P85D performance at high speed above what anyone outside Tesla has experienced to date."
This statement seems to be related to the issues in the performance of the vehicles when they were tested for their torque, and that the update will be fixing the issue.
Drag Times, an automobile blog, reported that an independent dynamometer test placed the torque of the P85D at 864 pound-feet, and that the car had trouble in maintaining the said torque.
In addition, the upgrade to the firmware of the power electronics of the cars could also mean improved zero to 60 mph times.
The free upgrade will be rolled out over the next few months.
