3 ms·

That can only explain the performance or the ludicrous mode, if really. I thought Tesla was always marketing that their selling point is cheaper batteries, whi

That can only explain the performance or the ludicrous mode, if really. I thought Tesla was always marketing that their selling point is cheaper batteries, which cant be a USP, as Panasonic can always manufacture the same for GM/Ford etc.

bradlys 9y ago
How can it explain the performance or the ludicrous mode? Ludicrous mode being a software update could easily be that you already have the performance innately but they cap your output at 85%. Same as any game where you have to pay to get the extra features/items (DLC) but every other player in the game already has the item when you're around them. All the players get it, it's just a flip of a bit to enable the item for you. Just costs $10k in this case...
- calvinbhai 9y ago
  There a lot more electronic / electric circuit magic in there with the battery for it to achieve the ludicrous mode ability. Initially when I heard that, I thought Tesla was bluffing. But the Ludicrous mode with P100D performance, and the fact that no other electric car maker is able to match that, leads me to believe that they are not bluffing.
  - giobox 9y ago
    > ...the fact that no other electric car maker is able to match that... The 100,000 dollar plus luxury electric saloon market isn't exactly overflowing with competition yet, so I'm not sure this really proves anything. Given time and a stronger focus on electric models, I have few doubts the usual German contenders will build electric cars every bit as quick. The "legacy" car manufacturers have been slow to wake to Tesla's successes in some regards, but that looks set to change rapidly over the next decade.
  - lafar6502 9y ago
    Maybe nobody else thought ridiculous mode is worth the money. What magic exactly do you need to discharge 100 kWh in 10 minutes?
    - calvinbhai 9y ago
      I dont know. If I knew, I'd be working for Tesla, or working on a startup that'd compete with Tesla, similar to how the head of battery engineering at Tesla did. :)
- itengelhardt 9y ago
  Initially ludicrous mode was not just a software update. You could get it on your (already delivered) MS P90D, but had to bring it into service. They changed a fuse and activated ludicrous mode in software. Of course, today all Tesla P100D get built with that fuse already in place - so it's "just a software upgrade" today. There's quite a bit of electrical magic going on for a fuse to be able to handle insane current bursts while retaining a good response time in case of a catastrophic fault.
  - amluto 9y ago
    IIUC the fuse is an electrically triggered explosive device. Badass, huh? What's going on is that the current drawn while flooring a ludicrous vehicle is a largish fraction of the current that should cause an instantaneous fuse blow. A fuse that melts at a given temperature and heats up as I^2 R wasn't going to cut it. In the electrical distribution industry, you'd get a fancy circuit breaker with an electrical trip device and call it a day. This has two issues for Tesla. First, your average electrical trip device uses a current transformer, and those don't work for DC. Second, DC current is considerably harder to interrupt than AC, and the current the fuse needs to carry is in the kA range (I have no idea what the short circuit current is), so a circuit breaker would be rather large. Hence a fuse, with a little explosive inside, with an active circuit, presumably using a Hall effect sensor, the voltage drop across the fuse, or maybe just a reed switch. (Hmm. It's nice when fuses and such don't need external power. I wonder if there's sufficient voltage drop across the fuse during a fault to power the circuit that blows the fuse? I bet there is. It could even be a very simple circuit like a Zener diode in series with a resistive heater that sets off the explosive.)
    - tyingq 9y ago
      Explosives in high current fuses is interesting, but not new or specific to Tesla. https://youtu.be/yTdngnsyNSE https://youtu.be/yTdngnsyNSE
      - amluto 9y ago
        I think that's the other way around. The fuses in that video trigger a tiny exclusive as a side effect of blowing. IIUC Tesla'a fuse blows because an explosive is triggered.

bradlys 9y ago

How can it explain the performance or the ludicrous mode? Ludicrous mode being a software update could easily be that you already have the performance innately but they cap your output at 85%. Same as any game where you have to pay to get the extra features/items (DLC) but every other player in the game already has the item when you're around them. All the players get it, it's just a flip of a bit to enable the item for you. Just costs $10k in this case...

calvinbhai 9y ago
There a lot more electronic / electric circuit magic in there with the battery for it to achieve the ludicrous mode ability. Initially when I heard that, I thought Tesla was bluffing. But the Ludicrous mode with P100D performance, and the fact that no other electric car maker is able to match that, leads me to believe that they are not bluffing.
- giobox 9y ago
  > ...the fact that no other electric car maker is able to match that... The 100,000 dollar plus luxury electric saloon market isn't exactly overflowing with competition yet, so I'm not sure this really proves anything. Given time and a stronger focus on electric models, I have few doubts the usual German contenders will build electric cars every bit as quick. The "legacy" car manufacturers have been slow to wake to Tesla's successes in some regards, but that looks set to change rapidly over the next decade.
- lafar6502 9y ago
  Maybe nobody else thought ridiculous mode is worth the money. What magic exactly do you need to discharge 100 kWh in 10 minutes?
  - calvinbhai 9y ago
    I dont know. If I knew, I'd be working for Tesla, or working on a startup that'd compete with Tesla, similar to how the head of battery engineering at Tesla did. :)
itengelhardt 9y ago
Initially ludicrous mode was not just a software update. You could get it on your (already delivered) MS P90D, but had to bring it into service. They changed a fuse and activated ludicrous mode in software. Of course, today all Tesla P100D get built with that fuse already in place - so it's "just a software upgrade" today. There's quite a bit of electrical magic going on for a fuse to be able to handle insane current bursts while retaining a good response time in case of a catastrophic fault.
- amluto 9y ago
  IIUC the fuse is an electrically triggered explosive device. Badass, huh? What's going on is that the current drawn while flooring a ludicrous vehicle is a largish fraction of the current that should cause an instantaneous fuse blow. A fuse that melts at a given temperature and heats up as I^2 R wasn't going to cut it. In the electrical distribution industry, you'd get a fancy circuit breaker with an electrical trip device and call it a day. This has two issues for Tesla. First, your average electrical trip device uses a current transformer, and those don't work for DC. Second, DC current is considerably harder to interrupt than AC, and the current the fuse needs to carry is in the kA range (I have no idea what the short circuit current is), so a circuit breaker would be rather large. Hence a fuse, with a little explosive inside, with an active circuit, presumably using a Hall effect sensor, the voltage drop across the fuse, or maybe just a reed switch. (Hmm. It's nice when fuses and such don't need external power. I wonder if there's sufficient voltage drop across the fuse during a fault to power the circuit that blows the fuse? I bet there is. It could even be a very simple circuit like a Zener diode in series with a resistive heater that sets off the explosive.)
  - tyingq 9y ago
    Explosives in high current fuses is interesting, but not new or specific to Tesla. https://youtu.be/yTdngnsyNSE https://youtu.be/yTdngnsyNSE
    - amluto 9y ago
      I think that's the other way around. The fuses in that video trigger a tiny exclusive as a side effect of blowing. IIUC Tesla'a fuse blows because an explosive is triggered.