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Tesla leaks code hinting at Model 3 100 kWh battery pack, Ludicrous mode, and more

Tesla leaked some code in recent software updates hinting at a possible Model 3 with a 100 kWh battery pack, Ludicrous mode, and more.

Some hackers have root access to Tesla’s software in their vehicles, and they have often revealed features ahead of time.

A Tesla hacker known as Green has done it several times, but he slowed down his leaks over the last year, focusing on cool visualizations of what the Tesla Autopilot can see.

For the end of the year, he is back at it and released a ton of interesting information that he found in recent Tesla software updates.

There are some relatively small but interesting changes, like Tesla moving away from traditional TPMS sensors in favor of their own BLE sensors:

This code leak appears likely to turn out to be correct since as Green pointed out, Tesla has filed an application with the FCC for the new device.

Green also found some hints of new wheels coming from Model 3:

Tesla recently launched the new Gemini wheels for Model 3, and it wouldn’t be the first time that Tesla wheels first leak through Tesla’s software.

We have also recently seen on Model Y prototypes wheels first unveiled on the Model 3 prototypes but that never made it to market:

It might be one of those new wheels Green is seeing in the code of Tesla’s latest software updates.

Now to the bigger stuff — much bigger, but also less likely to happen.

Green found a reference to a 100 kWh battery pack for the Model 3, which would be a massive increase over the current biggest Model 3 pack (75 kWh):

The hacker also found a reference to Ludicrous Mode for the Model 3, which is something CEO Elon Musk has promised in the past, but Tesla never released it for the Model 3 Performance:

To be clear, Green himself warns that it’s still all speculation at this point:

Tesla moves in unknown ways and none of that may come to life.

While it’s a good sign that it’s in the software, Tesla has sometimes included things in updates that never made it to the wider fleet.

Electrek’s Take

As a Model 3 Performance owner, I’d love to finally see a power upgrade resulting in a Ludicrous mode, but I also kind of think that if it was going to happen, it would already have.

I’ll believe it when I see it.

As for the 100 kWh battery pack, that would be a massive surprise, and also, not really necessary.

What would Tesla do with a 100 kWh battery pack? A $60,000 Model 3 vehicle with 400 miles? I am not exactly sure how many people actually want that.

300 miles of range is plenty for most people.

Don’t get me wrong, I am not against it, but it would be very surprising to me.

The good news is that it would also likely indicate an energy density improvement to enable such an energy capacity in the Model 3 form factor. Maybe with a new Tesla-made battery cell?

What do you think? Let us know in the comment section below.

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Avatar for Fred Lambert Fred Lambert

Fred is the Editor in Chief and Main Writer at Electrek.

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