Tesla finally unleashes full power of Ludicrous performance cars after customer complaints

There’s another episode in the long saga of Tesla’s max power limitations on its Ludicrous performance cars and it finally looks like it might be the last as Tesla now unleashed the full power without restrictions.

You might remember in March when we spoke too soon by reporting that “the controversy around Tesla’s undisclosed performance restrictions is finally truly coming to an end” as the automaker was deploying a new update to seemingly remove those restrictions.

As it turns out, the update was interpreted poorly by most people, myself included. Since that update, every owner of a Tesla performance car (Model S/X P85D, P90D, P100D) can access the full power of their vehicle, but they had to use ‘Launch Mode’.

It was the only way to reach max power.

Tesla President of Sales and Services Jon McNeill now says that they have also removed that restriction last week:

“I’d like to provide a quick update on this topic. Some of you with a P90D and Ludicrous acceleration mentioned that you did not want to use Launch Mode to simultaneously activate maximum battery performance. We’ve listened and are happy to tell you that for those that wish to do so, you can again enable maximum battery performance independently from Launch Mode, ensuring that you have maximum flexibility in how you use your car “

The fix is in the latest 2017.32 software update, which Tesla started to push to its fleet last week. Most cars should have it by the end of this week.

Previously, owners could only access the full power of their vehicles from a standstill by using launch mode.

It was an important limitation for some that wanted to full access to the 1,600 amps that their $10,000 Ludicrous mode upgrade promised and made Tesla’s Model S P100D the quickest production car on the planet.

Tesla had previously justified those limitations as a way to prevent premature wear of some components:

Software performance reductions due to frequent max power usage have been removed. These reductions had been in place to proactively protect the powertrain from wear and tear. lnstead, we will monitor the condition of the powertrain and display an alert if service is needed so we can take proactive steps, such as by replacing parts if necessary, to maintain the vehicle’s performance.

They warned owners that enabling the full power could cause that “wear and tear”. That’s when they introduced the “I want my mommy” warning:

Several owners had been complaining that the launch mode-only solution was inadequate.

One owner went as far as taking Tesla to small claims court over it and others asked to be reimbursed for their Ludicrous upgrade.

Tesla says that those particular pressures “weren’t related” to the latest change, but coincidently (or not), the owner who sued was the first to be made aware of the impending update last week ahead of McNeill’s confirmation last night.