'Ludicrous Mode'? Tesla adds power to already-fast Model S

Technology

‘Ludicrous Mode’? Tesla adds power to already-fast Model S

Tesla Motors says it’s adding a new “Ludicrous Mode” to high-performance versions of its Model S electric car. CEO Elon Musk said Friday that the upgrade will cost $10,000 for new buyers of the Model S, whose base price is $70,000. Current Model S owners will be able to get the upgrade for $5,000 plus the cost of installation in the next six months. It will allow the car to go from zero to 60 miles per hour in 2.8 seconds. Tesla had referred to a previous package as “Insane Mode." Musk also said Tesla will upgrade the battery pack of the Model S to improve its range, something it plans to do every year. Shares of the company rose $7.98, or 3 percent, to close at $274.66 on Friday.

Meanwhile, Tesla is rapidly snapping up more land around its gigafactory in the Nevada desert, according to the Wall Street Journal. Yahoo Finance’s Aaron Task, and many others, believe Musk does have very aggressive goals for Tesla that reach well beyond electric cars. Task, who is a Tesla shareholder, says it’s the possibilities that investors are betting on when they bet on Tesla. The $5 billion factory in Nevada is critical to Tesla’s core business. Most of the factory will go toward building car batteries, with the aim of reducing the cost of the batteries by at least 30% on the road to rolling out half a million cars. Task believes Musk’s ultimate ambition is to completely recreate the entire energy grid in the United States, if not the world. And the battery technology is a major piece of how he plans to accomplish that lofty goal.