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Tesla's 100 kWh Battery Pack: 'Rumors Are Accurate,' Says Chowdhry

TSLA | August 15, 2016

Trip Chowdhry of Global Equities Research is considered by some investors to be a leading authoritative figure on Tesla Motors Inc (NASDAQ: TSLA).

The analyst boasts that he has been following the company since 2009, has spoken to around 6,000 current and future car owners and attended multiple battery technology conferences over the years.

In a research report sent to clients, Chowdhry suggested that rumors of a 100kWh battery pack on Tesla Model S and X vehicles "are accurate."

Chowdhry's Take

In fact, Tesla is preparing to make its battery a key differentiation between the lower priced upcoming Model 3 sedan and the higher priced Model S sedan and Model X SUV. Specifically, the range of the Model 3 will cap off at 250 miles but the range of the Model S and X will start at 300 miles.

"Our Research indicates that 100 kWh battery pack will easily push the Model S range to >300 miles, and that will be a significant milestone for the Industry," Chowdhry wrote.

Chowdhry continued that Tesla will only manufacture two battery packs to create production efficiencies. The first will be installed on Model 60, 70 and 75 vehicles (with a total capacity of 75 kWh) with the other installed on Model 85, Model 90 and Model 100 (with a total capacity of 100kWh) vehicles.

The vehicle's on-board software will control the available range of the battery and customers can pay for extended range and the software will unlock incremental battery power. The car's owner could pay for the extended range and power directly from the car itself.

In addition, Tesla could also be set to offer an "on-demand" feature in which a customer can pay for additional capacity for a certain amount of time, such as during a long-weekend car trip.

Shares of Tesla were trading higher by 0.82 percent at $227.46 at time of writing Monday morning.

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