New Tesla Roadster Upgrade Promises 400-Mile Range

Cameron Aubernon
by Cameron Aubernon

Still have a Tesla Roadster in your garage? Merry Christmas: You now have a 400-mile range EV, courtesy of CEO Elon Musk.

Jalopnik reports Musk tweeted on Christmas Day about the upgrade that had been promised to the 2,500 or so Roadster owners by the end of 2014. The upgrade is expected to consist of a new battery pack and controller, which would enable one to drive from Los Angeles to San Francisco without hitting a charging station at all.

The timeline and cost, if any, for delivery as yet to be announced as of this writing. Model S owners, meanwhile, will be getting theirs over the “long-term,” per a second tweet from Musk.

Cameron Aubernon
Cameron Aubernon

Seattle-based writer, blogger, and photographer for many a publication. Born in Louisville. Raised in Kansas. Where I lay my head is home.

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  • SexCpotatoes SexCpotatoes on Dec 26, 2014

    We'll see how these work out. Cost to replace? Full cost or is Tesla eating some of the price of it? Any weight savings while increasing range? Will it even increase range by that much in real world use? Is the complete LA-SF trip without stopping to charge at normal highway speeds or at posted highway speeds?

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    • SexCpotatoes SexCpotatoes on Dec 26, 2014

      @VoGo Well, this wouldn't make a bad commuter if one could pick one up all in for about $1500 with the upgrades included.

  • GoFaster58 GoFaster58 on Dec 26, 2014

    You'd think they could have come up with a better design than this piece of crap!

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    • Scoutdude Scoutdude on Dec 26, 2014

      Tesla didn't come up with the design for this Lotus did. Tesla just bought the shell and installed the power train.

  • Mor2bz Mor2bz on Dec 26, 2014

    "cost, if any"? YGTBFK LMAOROTFF Tesla is going to pick up the cost for a new battery pack, controller, and now I read the Tesla blog, wheel bearings and lower rolling resistance tires? I don't think so.

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    • Scoutdude Scoutdude on Dec 27, 2014

      @Luke42 The Tesla Roadsters are mainly used as toys they are not practical daily drivers like the Model S. So no you will not find very many people who will use them "hard" to test them. The people I know with a Roadster use it as their 3rd car. Their Leaf and RAV-4 EV are their daily drivers. The people I know with Model S use it as their daily driver. My neighbor who has one has a Leaf which he may have finally gotten rid of since he had not interest in driving it anymore. The other person who I know with one has one it as his only vehicle and uses it as the main family car.

  • Theswedishtiger Theswedishtiger on Dec 26, 2014

    Wow this is so cool. You mean to say that with is roadster I am now only fifty miles short of my nearest WORKING EV station

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    • LectroByte LectroByte on Dec 27, 2014

      Why all the hate? When I remodelled my house a few years ago, I added a 220 outlet to the garage since it was practically free to do so since they had the wall opened up by the panel anyways. Now, if they can get one of Telsa's down into this hillbilly's price range, I'll be set, not like I'm out on the big road all that much anyway, and 400 miles is a long way in these hills.

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