[Eli5] How can software updates in Electric Vehicles “unlock” more range. Isn’t range something that should be determined by the efficiency of the hardware?

Question

[Eli5] How can software updates in Electric Vehicles “unlock” more range. Isn’t range something that should be determined by the efficiency of the hardware?

In: 7

Answer 1

It’s too expensive to have different assembly lines to create cars that actually have different ranges. They make only the max range model, and limit the others via software.

Edit: Since people don’t believe me: [Tesla Boosts Car Battery Power During Irma, Raising Questions of Control](https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/11/business/tesla-battery-irma-upgrade.html#:~:text=Tesla%20drivers%20in%20Florida%20got,range%20to%20outrun%20the%20deluge.)

> Starting in 2016, Tesla produced a run of Model S and X cars equipped with battery packs built to have 75 kilowatt-hours of capacity but constrained by software to have access to only 60 to 70 kilowatt-hours of power. The company began producing cars this way to streamline manufacturing; **it could produce the same type of battery but provide different price points, charging customers up to $9,500 for an upgrade to full capacity**.