This Week In Tesla - Model 3 Taxis Coming To NYC, Range and Power Boosted in New Update

Model 3 Approved to be NYC Taxi Vehicle

New York City has long relied on Japanese and the occasional American car for its taxi fleet. Generally speaking, most of the cars are hybrids with some purely gas cars sprinkled in. Although there are currently 37 car models approved to be taxis, there is only one EV and it is the most recently approved: the Tesla Model 3.

EV’s are continuing to become more and more attractive due to the cost effectiveness of charging. This especially rings true when gas stations are not all that common in Manhattan, where most taxis spend their days picking up and dropping off passengers. On top of that, the average NYC taxi driver typically drives around 150 miles a day. This means that they could get the standard range Model 3 and still have more than enough range to get home at the end of the day. Additionally, the Model 3 is built to last. In fact, a tweet from CEO Elon Musk claims that the drive unit and body of the Model 3 can last for up to 1 million miles!

Range, Power Boosted in New Firmware Update

Tesla fans have become used to the regular over the air updates that improve their vehicle’s user experience, slightly change some driving characteristics, and tweak autopilot capabilities, however what happened this week is rather monumental: the firmware update consists of updates that will increase the car’s power and range.

According to Elon Musk, the power of any Tesla that receives the update will be boosted about 5%. As far as the range update goes, it has yet to come out. This confuses many as the website indicates a 3 mile improvement in both Model X and S long range models. The Model S range gets boosted up to 373 from 370 and the X gets bumped up to 328 from 325. Musk announced that these changes are not from software, but rather just from their testing of the existing cars, which proved the range was in fact greater than they had previously thought. This range update also holds more than what appears on the surface. Previously Tesla had been advertising the range of their cars to the 5 or 10 mark (“325”), but now it seems they are being more precise (“328”).

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