Tesla has worked out a way to increase the range of its Model S Long Range Plus (LRP) , upping the ante after it broke the 400 mile (643km) driving range barrier in June.
That June breakthrough made it the longest range electric vehicle in the world, but only until September when Saudi-backed rival electric vehicle maker Lucid Motors unveiled its Lucid Air with a claimed 406 miles (653km) range.
That range was flagged by Tesla boss Elon Musk in company’s first quarter earnings call in January. Now, it would appear that Tesla will soon announce another range increase, bringing the driving range of the Model S LRP up to 409 miles (658km), according to reports.
This has not been flagged by Musk to our knowledge, and what is behind the range increase – whether it is hardware, or software improvements, or both – is as yet unknown.
In a photo sent to Electrek of a Monroney sticker (a mandatory auto information sticker that includes information from the US-based EPA’s fueleconomy.gov) from a new Model S LRP by a reader, it appears that the vehicle, which has a November 2020 build date has the updated range.
While the new driving range has not yet been updated on the fueleconomy.gov website, given it has appeared on the Monroney sticker we can expect this to be published soon.
We have reached out to Tesla Australia to discover if the new range increase will extend to the Southern Hemisphere also.
Bridie Schmidt is associate editor for The Driven, sister site of Renew Economy. She has been writing about electric vehicles since 2018, and has a keen interest in the role that zero-emissions transport has to play in sustainability. She has participated in podcasts such as Download This Show with Marc Fennell and Shirtloads of Science with Karl Kruszelnicki and is co-organiser of the Northern Rivers Electric Vehicle Forum. Bridie also owns a Tesla Model Y and has it available for hire on evee.com.au.