Tesla Model S 70 lets you pay to 'unlock' a bigger battery

They did this with the 40kwh option when they first offered the S. They didn't produce this battery and shipped a 60kwh battery that was software limited to 40kwh. I had a 40 on order and was delighted by this. I got the speed of a 60 for free and also not charging your battery to capacity can increase it's longevity. Plus, this gave me or future owners the option to unlock if they wished (I never did).

I think this is fair for when they transition to larger packs. You will get upset customers if you introduce a larger pack right after they bought the smaller. This gives customers the option to upgrade in that transition period.

Also, I noticed a comment:

"Are they hoping some people are going to buy the upgrade when they’re about to out of juice".

It doesn't work like that, you pay to unlock the extra capacity which needs to be charged. When your battery is depleted it won't matter.

Product windowing strategies like this fascinate me. I get the sense that a lot of people in the HN audience hate them, but part of me feels like they provide a net benefit to consumers. I'd be curious to see what other kinds of car features could be controlled like this. All the other ones I can think of are pretty closely related to safety, which seems like it would be much harder to justify to a buyer.