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If the feature is built in to the car from the factory and disabled via software so they can charge more then you are already paying for the parts and lugging a

If the feature is built in to the car from the factory and disabled via software so they can charge more then you are already paying for the parts and lugging around the added weight in the vehicle thus costing you more in fuel. Software locking a hardware feature that is integrated is an awful practice. Telsa chose to do this presumably to only have to buy a single seat configuration and streamline installs so they could hit production quotas.

fragmede 3y ago
Right. Instead of manufacturing a 50, 80, and 100 kWh battery pack, and having to go through the whole process of getting certifications and everything for each size, they just make 100 kWh packs all day long, and then software limit them to 50. Which means, in the case of an emergency, the company can bestow extra range on lower-end vehicles, which they did for Hurricane Irma. https://www.theverge.com/2017/9/10/16283330/tesla-hurricane-irma-update-florida-extend-range-model-s-x-60-60d https://www.theverge.com/2017/9/10/16283330/tesla-hurricane-...
- pkaye 3y ago
  Does that imply there is not much of a manufacturing cost difference between 50 kWH and 100 kWH battery pack?
  - doxick 3y ago
    Great reply! It's either so close that you're overpaying for the 100kWH, or it's not very close in which case you're overpaying for the 50kWH. Either way: the 50kWH is hit: carrying dead weight on a smaller capacity. A not insignificant weight.
  - acer589 3y ago
    No, they were selling 75 kWh packs as 60. The gap was nowhere near 50 -> 100.
wongarsu 3y ago
For many features it makes sense. Heated seats for example have trivial hardware costs. It's basically a couple resistive wires, plus the necessary controls. The process costs of manufacturing some cars with and some without heated seats likely far exceed the cost of the heated seats themselves, so it's cheaper to just put them in every car. But heated seats are a great upselling opportunity, people are willing to pay $200-400 for them, more if you bundle them in a package with other stuff the customer doesn't actually need but that creates a vague sense of value. The compromise that minimizes production costs and still allows that upsell is to put them in every car and disable them via software.
- Eisenstein 3y ago
  Just because it is easier and cheaper for you to do something doesn't make it right to do it.
- kstrauser 3y ago
  I'd be hard pressed to imagine a greater waste of resources than to include all possible hardware in all possible sold goods, with only some of the features enabled. That maximizes waste with only a portion of buyers able to use those things.
- myself248 3y ago
  Back in the day we used to just call those "standard features" and every car had them.
  - robryan 3y ago
    They could do that but would have to raise the base price. These addon features allows a cheaper entry point and price discrimination for those who are willing to pay more. Whether it ends up being wasteful is complicated, there are would be operating effeciencies in putting the same hardware into every car.
    - abduhl 3y ago
      >> They could do that but would have to raise the base price. Why? The component is already in every vehicle. This is not like binning for chips: every vehicle must (and does) have the capability because it’s unknown whether a consumer will pay for the upgrade. If anything, the price should go down because software costs have decreased by removing the software locks.

fragmede 3y ago

Right. Instead of manufacturing a 50, 80, and 100 kWh battery pack, and having to go through the whole process of getting certifications and everything for each size, they just make 100 kWh packs all day long, and then software limit them to 50. Which means, in the case of an emergency, the company can bestow extra range on lower-end vehicles, which they did for Hurricane Irma. https://www.theverge.com/2017/9/10/16283330/tesla-hurricane-irma-update-florida-extend-range-model-s-x-60-60d https://www.theverge.com/2017/9/10/16283330/tesla-hurricane-...

pkaye 3y ago
Does that imply there is not much of a manufacturing cost difference between 50 kWH and 100 kWH battery pack?
- doxick 3y ago
  Great reply! It's either so close that you're overpaying for the 100kWH, or it's not very close in which case you're overpaying for the 50kWH. Either way: the 50kWH is hit: carrying dead weight on a smaller capacity. A not insignificant weight.
- acer589 3y ago
  No, they were selling 75 kWh packs as 60. The gap was nowhere near 50 -> 100.

wongarsu 3y ago

For many features it makes sense. Heated seats for example have trivial hardware costs. It's basically a couple resistive wires, plus the necessary controls. The process costs of manufacturing some cars with and some without heated seats likely far exceed the cost of the heated seats themselves, so it's cheaper to just put them in every car. But heated seats are a great upselling opportunity, people are willing to pay $200-400 for them, more if you bundle them in a package with other stuff the customer doesn't actually need but that creates a vague sense of value. The compromise that minimizes production costs and still allows that upsell is to put them in every car and disable them via software.

Eisenstein 3y ago
Just because it is easier and cheaper for you to do something doesn't make it right to do it.
kstrauser 3y ago
I'd be hard pressed to imagine a greater waste of resources than to include all possible hardware in all possible sold goods, with only some of the features enabled. That maximizes waste with only a portion of buyers able to use those things.
myself248 3y ago
Back in the day we used to just call those "standard features" and every car had them.
- robryan 3y ago
  They could do that but would have to raise the base price. These addon features allows a cheaper entry point and price discrimination for those who are willing to pay more. Whether it ends up being wasteful is complicated, there are would be operating effeciencies in putting the same hardware into every car.
  - abduhl 3y ago
    >> They could do that but would have to raise the base price. Why? The component is already in every vehicle. This is not like binning for chips: every vehicle must (and does) have the capability because it’s unknown whether a consumer will pay for the upgrade. If anything, the price should go down because software costs have decreased by removing the software locks.