Elon Musk: 'Pay $2,000, and I'll unlock the secret power of your Tesla Model Y.'
Elon Musk may have found a solution to reduce the flow of money into Tesla's coffers. If Musk's plan to target Model Y owners succeeds, he'll be chasing more payments for more batteries.
Tesla Model ‘Y’
Imagine an automobile company intentionally locking a portion of the batteries loaded into a car, causing the vehicle to consume unnecessary energy to carry this “non-functional” battery weight, and then sending a message to the owners of this vehicle, announcing that if they want the locked batteries to be unlocked, they need to pay an additional $2,000.
Elon Musk wants $2,000
Actually, in the world of technology, this method is called “Ransomware.” In other words, a hacker “locks” your computer and holds it hostage. Then, they demand a ransom from you. Tesla has currently locked and held hostage a portion of the high-capacity batteries installed in Model Y vehicles. To unlock the lock, they demand a kind of “ransom” from the vehicle owners.
This reality came to light a few days ago thanks to a tweet from Elon Musk. According to Musk’s statement, the vehicle’s battery capacity allows for a range of more than 260 miles, but a portion of the batteries is locked inoperative when the vehicle leaves the factory. If Model Y owners want an additional 40-60 miles of range, they have to make a payment of $1,500 – $2,000.
Technically, this is a marketing method. The car manufacturer offers the extra range as an “option” and asks for $2,000 in return. However, the problem is that no additional batteries are added to the car for this option. These batteries are already embedded in the vehicle and increase the vehicle’s weight with their entire mass. This unnecessary weight causes the vehicle to consume more energy during driving. So, if Tesla didn’t install these unused batteries in the vehicles, the vehicles could already have a range of 30-40 miles more.
The “260 mile” range Model Y’s built over the past several months actually have more range that can be unlocked for $1500 to $2000 (gains 40 to 60 miles of range), depending on which battery cells you have.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 4, 2024
Working through regulatory approvals to enable this. pic.twitter.com/6d5Ntekk01
Since nobody seems to be complaining about the company’s policy, there appears to be a mutual agreement. However, in the automotive industry, these “software locks” are increasingly being used. In other words, we can say that car manufacturers are installing ransomware software on their own vehicles. However, most features are locks that only restrict digital capabilities without causing the vehicle to carry any extra weight.
You cannot heat your seat because you haven’t paid the subscription fee.
In 2022, Mercedes-Benz required customers to pay an annual subscription fee to unlock a software lock that would increase the engine power of their vehicles. BMW, on the other hand, had put a lock on seat heaters, requiring vehicle owners to pay an annual subscription fee to unlock it. However, BMW owners were not happy about paying this ransom, so the practice was abandoned.
