Tesla has increased the cost to upgrade the high voltage battery pack in the original Roadster. This is the first time Tesla has increased the price of the 3.0 battery pack since it was initially launched in 2015.
The last classic Roadster was built in early 2012, equipped with a 53kWh battery pack that provided up to 244 miles (393km) of range on a full charge. Two years later in 2014 CEO Elon Musk announced during the company’s Annual Shareholder meeting that a “fairly exciting upgrade” would be coming for all Roadster owners, which turned out to be a larger battery pack.
Called the Roadster 3.0 battery upgrade, which didn’t end up arriving until 2016, the new battery came in at 80kWh, enough to boost the range by roughly 40% to 340 miles (547km), all for US$29,000. Tesla said at the time they were not making a profit at that price, and that it was priced higher per kWh than the Model S “due to the almost entirely hand-built, low-volume (only 2 or 3 per week) nature of Roadster battery packs.”
Tesla has kept the price of the 3.0 battery upgrade the same in the 8 years since it was launched, but faced with ever increasing costs, Tesla has had to increase the price. According to an internal notification sent to staff and obtained by Drive Tesla, the upgrade will now cost 38% more at US$40,000.
Tesla says they have also had to increase the price to more accurately reflect the complexity in building these battery packs, and that the price change is effective immediately. The notification only provides the price in US dollars, but does say it will be available in other currencies at an equivalent price, putting the upgrade at nearly $55,000 in Canada.
