Elon Musk Says Tesla Model S ‘Range Anxiety’ Will End With A Software Update

Posted 14 hours ago by Darrell Etherington (@drizzled)

Elon Musk has teased something big coming from Tesla this week – an end to ‘range anxiety.’ The Model S (and every other electric vehicle), Tesla’s current flagship, has been known to inspire so-called range anxiety, wherein a driver spends a lot of time worrying about when they’ll next be able to get a full charge, and consequently don’t often drive anywhere near the upper limit of their battery’s range.

Musk’s tweet promises more info a Thursday 9AM PT press conference around how a coming software update for the Tesla S will “end range anxiety.” The Tesla S has already accrued some impressive new abilities via software update, including an acceleration speed boost for its P85D.

To fight range anxiety, Tesla has already invested in a network of high-speed supercharger stations across the U.S., and introduced a pilot program to test the feasibility of swapping out physical batteries in just a few minutes for around the cost of a tank of gas.

This update could either be a way more intelligently manage the existing power available to Tesla S vehicles to significantly extend range, but it seems more like it will offer some improved way to deal with the existing limitations on car battery tech. Either way, we’ll know more Thursday at 9 AM PT.