Tesla extends Models S, X range to near 600km, battery life to 1.6m km

The Driven

Electric carmaker Tesla announced on Wednesday (Australian time) that it has worked out how to extend the range of its Model S and X electric vehicles well over 500km on a single charge – without using a larger battery.

The new upgraded range may not require an upgraded battery, although as of next year Tesla says it will also begin making a new battery designed to last 1 million miles (1.6 million kilometres) – which would equate to 80 years of driving for a person who averages 20,000km a year.

In addition to various announcement during its Autonomy Day on Tuesday morning (Australian time), which included details about Tesla’s proprietary AI chip (that will be installed in all new Teslas from now on making them ready for full self-driving), Tesla also shared plans to introduce “robo-taxis” as soon as next year.

Musk last week said that the Model 3 is being built to last 1 million miles to make the robo-taxi plan economically viable, but at the time he admitted that the battery would not last that long and would need to be replaced.

But now he has confirmed that Tesla is working on a new battery pack that it will start making next year.

“The new battery pack that is probably going to production next year is designed explicitly for 1 million miles of operation,” Musk said at the Auto9nomy Day event at Palo Alto.

To read the full story on RenewEconomy’s electric vehicle dedicated site, The Driven, click here…