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Rumor: Tesla to Launch Longer-Range 'P100D' Model S, Model X

If they come out, Tesla's rumored cars will easily get more than 300 miles on a single charge.

 & David Murphy Freelancer

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If you've been sitting on the fence about a potential Tesla purchase—and we're jealous if so, given the disposable income you must have—then the car manufacturer might sway you over to its retail or online store with its latest rumored Tesla tweak. According to multiple reports, Tesla is allegedly prepping a new 100-kWh battery pack for an updated "P100D" version of the Model S and Model X.

In layman's terms, that means more distance for your driving before you have to autopilot your Tesla back into your garage for some charging (or find a Supercharger to hook into for a little bit). According to the Dutch blog Kenteken, European regulators have officially approved the battery pack for use in the car—a tidbit that was found via a simple search of said regulator's open database.

However, that's not the only clue to the potential existence of a P100D. That very nomenclature was discovered back in March by a person who took a bit of time to root through a Model S firmware update. Nestled within the update was a reference to a P100D in the form of an image of a P100D badge for the rear of one's Tesla. Jason Hughes took to Twitter to discuss his finding, and even got a response from Elon Musk himself (after accusing Musk and Tesla of trying to downgrade the firmware of his Model S in response to his sleuthing).

According to Kenteken's research, the rumored P100D is listed as having a range of 613 kilometers, or 381 miles. That's quite a bit more juice than the company's best offering right now, the Tesla 90D (at 294 miles). As Autoblog notes, the P100D rating is a bit generous, as it's based on the New European Driving Cycle instead of the United States' Environmental Protection Agency's rating methods.

While it's likely that Tesla will easily be able to beat 300 miles on a single charge with a "100D" battery, we don't yet know the exact specifics of what Tesla plans to release or how much charge these new car iterations will have. It's thought that Tesla will likely unveil a 100D, P100D, and P100D with Ludicrous Mode enhancement when it ultimately announces the new vehicles—whenever that is.

About Our Expert

David Murphy

David Murphy

Freelancer

David Murphy got his first real taste of technology journalism when he arrived at PC Magazine as an intern in 2005. A three-month gig turned to six months, six months turned to occasional freelance assignments, and he later rejoined his tech-loving, mostly New York-based friends as one of PCMag.com's news contributors. For more tech tidbits from David Murphy, follow him on Facebook or Twitter (@thedavidmurphy).

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