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Tesla appears to be actively limiting the performance of their cars - Update: Tesla has confirmed and backed away

Tesla owners have noticed a change in the behavior of their cars, specifically in the performance models such as the P85 and the P90DL, where the performance of the cars doesn't seem to match previous or listed results.

User wk057 has done some pretty extensive reverse engineering, modifications, and looking into the internal systems of the car, including the battery pack. On TeslaMotorsClub what started as a thread about battery pack capacities not matching advertized amounts, rated amount of available energy doesn't even match the car's own reported energy, turned into a thread called Pack Performance and Launch Mode Limits. This thread has kicked off a bit of a firestorm as these performance limits weren't documented or disclosed.

It appears pretty clear that Tesla is counting the number of Launches (done through launch mode), as well as the number of Wide Open Throttle (WoT) events. When those counts go beyond some predefined values the car will reduce the amount of power available in order to protect the drivetrain and ensure long term reliability.

The Drive picked up the story, electrek posted 'Tesla confirms that it limits the power of performance vehicles after too many launches with ‘launch mode’' and people are tweeting to Elon for answers:

I'm hoping Tesla does the right thing for people that purchased the performance upgrades before these limits were disclosed and removes these limits while standing by their warranty.


Update 2016-01-17

It looks like Tesla is going to restore the car's performance with a future software update.

JonMc on TeslaMotorsClub.com posted:
JonMc, Yesterday at 7:41 PM
Hi everyone, 

Based on your input, we have decided to remove all software performance reductions tied to frequent max power usage. These changes will roll out with our next software update (in about three weeks).

We had put these reductions in place to proactively protect the powertrain from wear and tear. Instead, we will monitor the condition of the powertrain and let our customers know if service is needed so that we can take proactive steps, such as by replacing parts if necessary, to maintain the vehicle’s performance.

--Jon


electrek is also covering the response from Tesla inTesla listens to customers and walks back all software performance reductions tied to frequent use of max power and has more details about JonMc.
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