Tesla Boosts Car Battery Power During Irma, Raising Questions of Control<br />Owners of certain Model S sedans and Model X S. U.V.s noticed<br />that the battery capacity of their electric cars had increased, giving them as much as 40 extra miles of range to outrun the deluge.<br />“I never thought I was paying for a car that was neutered — I was paying less to get less range,” he said.<br />Starting in 2016, Tesla produced a run of Model S and X cars equipped with battery packs built to have 75 kilowatt-hours of capacity<br />but constrained by software to have access to only 60 to 70 kilowatt-hours of power.<br />The company began producing cars this way to streamline manufacturing; it could produce the same type of battery<br />but provide different price points, charging customers up to $9,500 for an upgrade to full capacity.<br />Range anxiety — the fear that an electric vehicle will run out of charge before reaching its destination — can be magnified in emergency situations.
