Tesla to Add a New, Higher-Capacity Battery Pack to the Model S

2016 Tesla Model S (Credit: Tesla Motors)

Government entities have no reason to be concerned with embargos and the veil of secrecy automakers put up. This is no more evident than in the accidental reveal of a new version of the Model S by the California Air Resources Board, which was discovered by the folks at Electrek.

In CARB’s report, which outlined the list of vehicles eligible for single-occupancy carpool lane stickers, the clean-air watchdog group listed a Model S 75D as one of the eligible models. That’s all well and good, but the issue is that there is no 75 kWh Model S as only the Model X has this battery. While this could easily be written off as a typo, the Electrek team jumped into action and reached out to Tesla. The automaker then confirmed that a 75 kWh Model S is in the works and that it will be available at the end of this week.

It is unclear whether the 75 kWh battery will outright replace the 70 kWh model or just be an upgrade. Many experts assume it will be an upgrade that will run about $3,000, but I cannot help but wonder if a 5 kWh gap is enough to entice buyers to shell out extra cash. This leads me to believe Tesla may be replacing the 70 kWh battery pack altogether.

Regardless of its place in the lineup, this upgraded battery pack should increase the Model S’ range by around 25 miles, putting it at about 285 miles.

We’ll bring you all of the details once this new battery pack becomes official.