[ucha]

So we're going to have jailbroken Teslas that have the full range but can't update their software OTA...

Current cost of Li-ion battery is $145/kWh. It surprises me that they'd chose to give away $2250 worth of battery simply because it costs more to develop a new one. I understand the batteries they use are pretty modular - the cost of adjusting down capacity should be minimal. I'm speculating that they expect a large portion of buyers of the 60 model to upgrade to the more expensive version to recoup the costs. They could make the price of the upgrade a decreasing function of the age of the vehicle because no one would want to update an old car.

[mikeash]

If the cost is $2,250 and they charge $9,000 for the post-purchase upgrade, then they only need 25% of buyers to upgrade the battery later for it to break even, and that's ignoring any cost savings in the manufacturing process.

[maxerickson]

I imagine the lower price point still covers the full cost of the battery.

The lower price point plus the upgrade revenue can certainly be expected to cover the costs of the program (because that's how businesses work).