
Tesla’s Model S Gets “Ludicrous” Mode, Will Do 0-60 in 2.8 Seconds - arturogarrido
http://techcrunch.com/2015/07/17/teslas-model-s-gets-ludicrous-mode-will-do-0-60-in-2-8-seconds
======
stefanobernardi
Even if not a software update, I still find Tesla's way of thinking of a car
as an actual (continuously update/upgrade-able) product fascinating. Very rare
for hardware.

It gives an amazing user experience, "Hey restart your car and it's now got X
and Y". Respect.

Edit: clarifying the term "product".

~~~
tthayer
Agreed. The 2015 Mazda3 we just bought has a horrible info/nav system that
crashes and frequently stops responding. I'm guessing the actual chance of it
ever being fixed at 0%. Tesla's get an automatic OTA update that would fix
that kind of thing and it wouldn't be something you'd have to 'deal' with for
the rest of your ownership of the vehicle.

~~~
coldpie
I will never buy a vehicle with both an infotainment system and a steering
wheel. Subaru lost a sale of a brand new car when the dealer sat down, turned
the key, and the radio showed.... a loading bar.

Fuck that. I deal with shitty software enough everywhere else in my life. I'm
not going to put up with that in a 4000lb piece of metal going 70 MPH.

~~~
jakemoshenko
Here I am trying to imagine a vehicle with infotainment but without a steering
wheel. It raises so many questions!

Do you assume that we will purchase self driving cars frequently enough that
the infotainment will keep pace? Do you anticipate purchasing a personal train
or fighter jet? Do the handlebars on a motorcycle count as a steering wheel?

~~~
waterlesscloud
I'm trying to imagine a personal car without a steering wheel without an
infotainment system.

Of course such vehicles will have infotainment. I've long been thinking about
what sort of content would work best. Short, serialized content released on a
weekday schedule would certainly be an opportunity. Perfect watercooler
fodder.

~~~
Someone
Ads, of course, for some definition of 'works best' (extreme variant: self-
driving car offers to pick up what you order while you are at work) If I were
an employer, I might pay my personnel to have the infotainment part replaced
by educational material on their way to work.

~~~
grkvlt
Nice idea...

As an _employee_ you could get the ride in the car free, as a perk, iff you
watch the educational material _and_ pass a test on it. This would be assessed
during the ride via onscreen multiple-choice questions; get less than 50%
correct (or, turn it off) and you have to pay for the journey!

------
rjusher
One thing I don't understand is the position of the big car makers(BMW, MB,
AUDI) being a passive observer in this field.

Tesla is getting so much, that if any automaker that can deliver a car with
half the specs of a model S, and keeping their model's prices as a mass
produced car, would deliver a big punch to Tesla, and would greatly move the
market forward.

Is it the investment necessary for building a network of charging stations?

I highly doubt it is because Tesla has more money for R&D than any other car
maker.

Is getting a Model S, earns you the title of being an early adopter. Because I
believe the market already shifted towards this type of vehicles, but I may be
polarized, because I already desire an electric car.

~~~
bravo22
The batteries in a Tesla aren't very green and sadly they are quite large. Big
automakers think in volumes of millions of cars, Tesla delivers about 25K
(EDIT: looks like 40K projected for this year[1]) cars a year.

[http://www.forbes.com/sites/greatspeculations/2015/05/12/tes...](http://www.forbes.com/sites/greatspeculations/2015/05/12/tesla-
earnings-review-small-margin-production-improvements-in-q1-too-small-
for-2015-targets/)

~~~
CydeWeys
Isn't it an overstatement that the batteries aren't green? Yes, there are
environmental impacts from the production, but still a lot less than the
environmental impacts of all the oil that would otherwise be produced and
burnt to fuel the car over its lifetime, no?

~~~
Merad
But, isn't the lifetime of the battery pack significantly lower than the
(presumed) lifetime of the actual car? If your Model S stays on the road 20
years but requires 3-4 battery replacements, that's several big hits against
its environmental friendliness.

~~~
digikata
The lifetime of the battery will likely be much longer than it's life in the
car - if the plans for 'second life' re-use as static energy storage devices
come to pass.

------
liamk
Amazing, that's as fast as the Lamborghini Aventador
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lamborghini_Aventador](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lamborghini_Aventador)

~~~
theonlyhighlndr
In a straight line... The Tesla weighs more than an F150 and corners like a
boat

~~~
vvanders
It certainly weights a bit, but the CoG is much lower than any ICE car due to
the battery pack running along the floor.

That gives it much better handling characteristics than an equivalent ICE car.

~~~
cherry_su
It [Tesla Model S CoG = 17.5-18"]'s competitive with supercars, i.e. that of
the Ford GT [1], and better than the Porsche Boxster [2], which is not a
supercar.

[1]
[http://www.motortrend.com/oftheyear/car/1301_2013_motor_tren...](http://www.motortrend.com/oftheyear/car/1301_2013_motor_trend_car_of_the_year_tesla_model_s/viewall.html)

[2] [http://www.caranddriver.com/features/tesla-
model-s-60-2015-1...](http://www.caranddriver.com/features/tesla-
model-s-60-2015-10best-cars-feature)

~~~
theonlyhighlndr
Okay. Now what are their lap times? Center of gravity is one of the dozens of
aspects working in conjunction that make cars fast. One of the most important
being, weight.

~~~
kllrnohj
[http://fastestlaps.com/cars/tesla_model_s_p85d.html](http://fastestlaps.com/cars/tesla_model_s_p85d.html)

Unfortunately only 1 track, but it's not pretty and turns in times slower than
a Golf GTD (diesel) or Fiesta ST.

The P85 has a bit more tracks:
[http://fastestlaps.com/cars/tesla_model_s_performance_model....](http://fastestlaps.com/cars/tesla_model_s_performance_model.html)

Around Willow Springs it's slower than a Ford Mustang Ecoboost (0-60 5.2s,
310hp), and around Laguna it's close to 3 seconds slower than a VW Golf R
(0-60 4.5s, 300hp)

The Tesla is a luxury barge after all, not a sports car, so these results
shouldn't exactly be surprising.

~~~
theonlyhighlndr
Exactly, yet people who have no clue about cars will say that because it has a
faster 0-60 time it's a faster car. Teslas marketing department is damn good.

~~~
qbrass
Cars spend most of their time between 0 and 60. It's a good area to optimize.

~~~
kllrnohj
Smooth, effortless acceleration is definitely a luxury feature, too. This is
exactly why 6 figure luxury sedans often have very powerful V8s, V10s, or even
V12s.

Just don't confuse that with being a _fast_ car, at least not around a track.

------
vvanders
More impressive to me is the fact that the 90kWh battery is already trickling
down to the Model S. It was originally developed for the Model X.

I think it's safe to say that we'll see Model X features moving down to the
Model S much faster than previously thought. This is how you relentlessly
improve a product instead of holding specific features to a Model without
solid technical reasons.

~~~
beambot
I've been reading Henry Ford's autobiography ("My Life and Work"), and it
seems like Musk is taking a page directly from Ford's playbook with continuous
product (and component) updates that are (mostly) backwards compatible with
previously-produced vehicles in the same model.

The parallels are pretty amazing, and they go much much deeper too (eg.
fabrication automation, experimentation, engineering to the highest extent
possible, etc).

~~~
rebolek
I hope they don't go too much deep...
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_International_Jew](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_International_Jew)

------
rdl
If you can do this as a $10k update "safely" with a computer-controlled pyro
fuse, I wonder what you could do by hacking the firmware and replacing it with
a piece of busbar. 2 seconds?

~~~
Cshelton
I feel like the limit of what these motors can do now is being held back by
something they can't control anymore, tire grip.

I think a lot of these software updates on the acceleration speed aren't
because they all of the sudden figured out how to get more power from the
electric motor. I think it's from tweaking the "no-slip" system or whatever
they call theirs. Basically when the car detects it's losing grip, it cuts
back the power. I think this is a balancing act on how to get the system to
push the limits of slipping without putting the average user into a ditch
because they tried out the "ludicrous" mode.

I'm sure on static conditions in a lab, Tesla can make the thing do something
like 2s. It would require something other than a regular tire on a regular
road though.

~~~
bsmith
What if the car actually used the suspension to 'drop' just a fraction of an
inch lower to the ground (to increase its momentary, apparent weight) as soon
as you punch the accelerator to get some extra grip? I wonder how much of a
difference the momentary 'downforce' would make.

~~~
sokoloff
You'd be better off _raising_ the ride height as the dynamics of raising the
ride height will increase downforce on the wheel/tire assembly at the start of
the transient.

------
csense
I like the Spaceballs reference.
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mk7VWcuVOf0](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mk7VWcuVOf0)

~~~
chisleu
Incoming, "this isn't reddit" trolling. :)

I recently got to see this in the theater with my 6 year old. We have watched
it at home dozens of times and he knows most of the big one liners. It was
excellent. I love that the tesla team is willing to have so much fun with
their upgrades. I can't wait until I can afford one.

------
Animats
More usefully, there's an option to increase the range to 300 miles. That's
still only half the range of many stock gasoline cars, though.

~~~
mikeash
You only need enough range to go as far as the next charger, or until your
bladder is full, whichever is last. 300 miles is plenty (overkill, really) for
long distance travel.

Gas car range is more about how many times per month you need to stop at the
gas station in normal use. More range makes that more convenient. With home
charging, the convenience of an electric car is better even with less range.

~~~
vonmoltke
> 300 miles is plenty (overkill, really) for long distance travel.

Don't read trip with me, then. I drove from Hartford, CT to Dallas, TX last
month in two days (900mi the first day, 750 the second). Trips like this are
specifically why I nixed the Model S as an option and went with a turbodiesel
Passat (with its 750+ highway mile range).

I realize I'm in the minority, but it is a notable minority. I don't want to
be forced into an hour-long stop every 300 miles.

~~~
mikeash
900 miles in a day is stretching it, but not entirely out of the question. You
can sustain a long distance average speed of about 55-60MPH (counting time for
stops) in a Model S 85. It will be slower than you could do in a gas car if
you push it. If you _don 't_ push it, it won't be any slower, and could even
be faster. (Refueling a gas car takes a lot less time, but can't really be
done concurrently with other things. If you were going to get coffee or
whatever at each charging stop regardless, then you're looking at 5 minutes
for gas versus zero for electricity. Accomplishing this with perfection is, of
course, a bit of a challenge.)

Note that an hour every 300 miles isn't generally how you'd do it. Charging is
faster the closer your battery is to empty, so your best bet is to work in the
bottom ~50% of your charge range when possible, and spend ~20 minutes charging
at intervals of ~150 miles. You'll note that this is about how far apart
Tesla's superchargers are spaced. That, to me, is about the right interval for
a quick coffee, bathroom, or stretch break. Your mileage may, of course, vary.

The biggest problem with your particular trip isn't the time for charging, but
the general lack of charging infrastructure along the shortest route. If you
route through superchargers, the distance is about 300 miles longer due to the
need to take I-70 into Kansas to follow the chargers. This should improve with
time, and current owners will benefit, but until it does there are some trips
that are just not as good with superchargers. But improvements there pay off a
lot better than improvements in range beyond 300 miles.

------
leeoniya
so it's a fuse that costs $5k or $10k. is it made from 5oz-10oz of solid
platinum? what am i missing here [1]?

[1] [http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=search-
alias%3D...](http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=search-
alias%3Dautomotive&field-keywords=300a+fuse&rh=n%3A15684181%2Ck%3A300a+fuse)

~~~
outworlder
What you are missing is that it's a 1500A fuse.

Source: [http://jalopnik.com/the-tesla-model-s-just-got-upgraded-
to-l...](http://jalopnik.com/the-tesla-model-s-just-got-upgraded-to-ludicrous-
speed-1718577723)

> While working on our goal of making the power train last a million miles, we
> came up with the idea for an advanced smart fuse for the battery. Instead of
> a standard fuse that just melts past a certain amperage, which means you
> aren’t exactly sure when it will or won’t melt or if it will arc when it
> does, we developed a fuse with its own electronics and a tiny lithium-ion
> battery. It constantly monitors current at the millisecond level and is
> pyro-actuated to cut power with extreme precision and certainty.

That was combined with upgrading the main pack contractor to use inconel (a
high temperature space-grade superalloy) instead of steel, so that it remains
springy under the heat of heavy current.

The net result is that we can safely increase max amp throughout from 1300 to
1500 Amps. If you don’t know much about Amps, trust me this is a silly big
number of Amps to be going through something the size of your little
fingernail.

What this results in is a 10% improvement in the 0 to 60 mph time to 2.8 secs
and a quarter mile time of 10.9 secs. Time to 155 mph is improved even more,
resulting in a 20% reduction.

~~~
pbreit
What a fantastic read! I wonder if they get any tech or materials from SpaceX?

~~~
outworlder
Well, SpaceX uses inconel. They also must have a quite good understanding of
pyrotechnics, as they need to use that in a lot of places, eg. stage
separation.

So I'd say yes, at least on the tech transfer part.

~~~
damoncali
Inconel has been around for decades. It's just a nickel alloy. Nothing
terribly special about that.

------
mhurron
Does it cause it to go to plaid?

~~~
andyeskridge
Aparently the new Roadster will. [1]

[1] [http://techcrunch.com/2015/07/17/surprise-tesla-is-
working-o...](http://techcrunch.com/2015/07/17/surprise-tesla-is-working-on-a-
new-roadster/?ncid=rss)

~~~
rdl
I assume that means awd for the new roadster; Otherwise I don't see how they
could do tires.

~~~
scott_karana
Don't forget that strength-to-weight is a big determinant of acceleration, so
the new Roadster wouldn't necessarily need to be AWD. (and here's hoping it's
not!)

There are plenty of Benzes, BMWs, and domestic sports/sporty cars with massive
acceleration "despite" being RWD. (See all the Viper vs Model S videos, for
example)

A Model S drivetrain in something that _isn 't_ 2200kg long-wheelbase sedan
would be amazing :)

------
burger_moon
0-60 times are nice but I want to know what the 60-100 time is. That's what
generally used for 1/4 mile estimates.

Is there any diagrams of information easily available about the couple style
used between the motors and the wheel hubs? I wonder how they're done and what
the limit of them is with the amount of torque they put out. In a previous
life I used to build a lot of race cars and shearing axle bolts wasn't
uncommon in drag applications.

It would be awesome to see them test out a full on drag tesla.

~~~
ylhert
I'd imagine pretty good. It's got such a low drag coefficient, and at those
speeds liquifying the tires is not as much of a problem. I'd think that the
60-100 times might be more impressive than it's 0-60 when compared to
conventional cars!

~~~
eatmyshorts
Looks like an 2012 model that is _not_ the P85 and did _not_ have the OTA
performance update from last year could do it in about 9 seconds. For a
reference, that's faster than a BMW M5. Source:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_03g4UHtCWo](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_03g4UHtCWo)

------
Jun8
On a different note: is it possible to opt out of Tesla software updates (for
whatever reason)? AFAIK, this is not possible
([http://my.teslamotors.com/forum/forums/same-distasteful-
appe...](http://my.teslamotors.com/forum/forums/same-distasteful-appeasing))
The two options when an update is available seem to be install now or later.

------
devy
It's a $10k upgrade, not cheap! I wonder which Ludacris song[1] was the hold
music looping before today's Tesla press conference call...

[1] [http://www.theverge.com/2015/7/17/8994519/tesla-ludicrous-
sp...](http://www.theverge.com/2015/7/17/8994519/tesla-ludicrous-speed-
model-s)

~~~
devy
Ok, I found it myself. It's "Beast Mode"! [1]

[1] [http://www.wired.com/2015/07/guess-elons-ludacris-
fan/](http://www.wired.com/2015/07/guess-elons-ludacris-fan/)

------
mrfusion
How can they get that many amps out of the battery? It seems like you'd need a
capactior to have that kind of power?

~~~
outworlder
Well, the battery is not a single monolithic design, it is composed of
thousands of small (think AA) cells. My uneducated hunch is that that design
helps them extract power from many cells in parallel. It's also huge, taking
almost all the floor of the car.

Not sure how they cool that beast though.

~~~
bronz
The batteries are actively liquid cooled.

------
myth_buster
Tesla's seems to be beating a dead horse! Don't get me wrong; I love what
Tesla does but making a faster production car seems to be an answer to the
critics who I think have already taken home the message that the electric car
is as fast as the best IC car!

I think what they should address is getting out the affordable Model 3 as fast
to the market as they can. They may loose the game if the incumbents beat them
to it. They would need volume to sustain their production and maintenance
costs. Once every manufacturer gets onto the electric wagon, a lack of wider
adoption, could become their Achilles heels.

~~~
outworlder
Should that happen, my guess is that they would be quite happy to sell their
batteries to everyone else.

~~~
UnoriginalGuy
Didn't Tesla already give away their battery intellectual property or similar?
If they did why wouldn't these other companies not just produce it themselves
to cut Tesla out?

~~~
outworlder
Their patents, yes. That's just the beginning.

Now all that one needs to do is to poach their battery engineers. And build
their own factories. And iron out the kinks.

It's not like a competitor will be able to get their tech and beat them at
their own game overnight - while delivering a cheaper product!

------
braum
and still no Model X or even serious updates about it... and yet I will still
let them keep my $5k until it arrives...

------
fowlslegs
Seems like they took inspiration from the branding on the Chromebook Pixel LS
(Ludicrous Speed)--the 16GB RAM, i7 one that I'm lucky enough to have ;-)

Fun fact: most cars today run about 20 separate operating systems. My guess is
Tesla is fairly above average. Anyone have a figure on this?

~~~
dragonwriter
> Seems like they took inspiration from the branding on the Chromebook Pixel
> LS (Ludicrous Speed)

More likely, both Google and Tesla took inspiration from the movie
_Spaceballs_.

------
aswanson
I wonder if it will have a "Drake" mode to do 0-100 real quick.

------
curiousjorge
this alone will be a good enough excuse to get this car if you could afford
it.

Asides Nissan GTR, supercars running in 300,000 USD will do roughly 3.0~3.1.
hypercars like pagani, p1, porsche, laferrari achieve sub 3.0

I'm extremely impressed. Even more because this was just another regular
software update.

~~~
myth_buster
It's not a software upgrade

    
    
      One catch: unlike most Tesla Model S tuning enhancements, this one isn’t 
      a software update — and it’s not free. Why? Because Tesla had to make new, 
      physical hardware to make this possible. Specifically, they had to make a 
      fuse that didn’t melt when you pulled ridiculously high amperages over it.
    
      The fuse upgrade will be a $10k option for new buyers, and cost $5k (before 
      installation) for existing P85D owners.

------
jkot
Where is source code?

------
ck2
No-one needs this, I predict accidents.

I hope insurance companies can determine which models have this and
inexperienced drivers should pay more.

Just hope no-one kills anyone.

~~~
epmatsw
Well that's a pretty silly way to look at this. No one needs a car that can go
faster than 85mph, but pretty much every car on the market can break that
limit. What makes this different?

~~~
ck2
It takes a lot more effort to go more than 85mph (and the engine has to work
differently depending on the environment).

Someone stepping on the pedal and being where a pedestrian is in 2 seconds
could be very fatal for inexperienced drivers.

~~~
steffan
> Someone stepping on the pedal and being where a pedestrian is in 2 seconds
> could be very fatal for inexperienced drivers.

Probably far more likely to be fatal for the pedestrian

