What it says to me as a consumer is that the vendor doesn't value the product, and so I shouldn't either.
For example, a pet shop: "Sorry, someone else already adopted that three-legged dog we advertised on discount to a good home. But we can give you one of our regular puppies at the same price. Of course, we'll have to 'adjust' it first ..."
Yes, it's a perfectly rational decision of the kind which gives MBAs a bad name.
You are being incredibly mean to Tesla here. It says right in the article that producing the 40kWh pack didn't turn out to be economically viable due to investment costs.
Your view gives two possibilities:
1) Lose money on the 40kWh model by investing millions in production equipment for a product that almost no one wants
2) Lose money on the 60kWh model by selling it for less than it costs to produce
None of these are viable. As far as I can tell, Tesla has chosen the best option here (given that they want to keep the 40kWh model on the market, which for marketing purposes I am pretty sure that they will).
I'm sorry, I'm not trying to be "incredibly mean" to a car company. I'm trying to express how I, as an aspiring electric car buyer, feel about crippleware adding 300 lbs of mass to a vehicle for which I would have to pay the energy costs to haul around.
Tesla's obligation was to deliver cars at least as good as were pre-ordered at at least as good a price.
Tesla has chosen your option (2) here, shipping the heavier 60 kWh battery for the 40 kWh price. They have chosen this option because it benefits them economically.
However, to ensure that it does not benefit the customers who preordered the 40 kWh battery, they are artificially restricting the capacity. As a result, the customers who ordered a 40 kWh battery are receiving a heavier car with no additional range to account for it.
For example, a pet shop: "Sorry, someone else already adopted that three-legged dog we advertised on discount to a good home. But we can give you one of our regular puppies at the same price. Of course, we'll have to 'adjust' it first ..."
Yes, it's a perfectly rational decision of the kind which gives MBAs a bad name.