Elon Musk: Tesla could've made a car with a 600-mile range a year ago

Hoping for a Tesla Model S with 500 or 600 miles of range? We've got bad news: It's probably not coming.

A Tesla fan commented on Lucid's recently launched 500-mile Lucid Air electric sedan on Twitter, claiming that Tesla will be the first to mass-produce a car with such a range. Musk, however, replied that the company could've made a Model S with 600 miles of range "12 months ago."

"That would’ve made the product worse imo, as 99.9% of time you’d be carrying unneeded battery mass, which makes acceleration, handling & efficiency worse," Musk wrote. "Even our 400+ mile range car is more than almost anyone will use."

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Even though electric vehicles' range has improved greatly in the past couple of years, with many models having more than 300 miles of real-world range, many owners (and prospective owners) still thirst for more, given that the process of charging is more of a hassle than filling up the tank of a gas-powered vehicle. As one commenter pointed out, in certain conditions the range drops considerably, and some users would likely prefer more range over acceleration.

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But Musk's comment implies that Tesla won't pursue more range in its Model S by adding a larger battery – though the company will probably still make improvements by making other optimizations.

Tesla's upcoming refresh of the Model S originally had a Model S Plaid+ variant, advertised as having 520 miles of range, but plans for that version were later scrapped, with Musk saying there's "no need" for that model as the regular Plaid is "just so good."

It's worth noting that Tesla's upcoming Roadster sports car is advertised as having 620 miles of range and the fastest acceleration in Tesla's lineup. This implies that high range and top acceleration, as well as quality handling aren't mutually exclusive, it's just that Tesla doesn't think it's economical to try to make it all happen in the (considerably cheaper) Model S.