I saw this in USA Today. How does Tesla give customers more battery power?
Is it enough to flee a hurricane?
What kind of range does this allow?
How long does a recharge take?
How about if there’s no electricity at charging stations?
CSA
From Tesla – "Batteries that typically have a capacity of 60 or 70 kWh will have 75 kWh of power until next Saturday."
You asked good questions. I can only guess the charging stations “charging cut-off upper range” limit was raised. Maybe Tesla can do this at the charging stations via remote control. Is going from 70 kWh to 75 kWh that much a difference? What does that give you in extra miles? And because they make it temporary does that mean it could damage the batteries? This hurricane evacuation may put a kink in Tesla sales. But then some gasoline vehicles were out of gas and stranded on the highways. But you can bring them gas, you can’t bring a Tesla a charge or new batteries. And if the charging stations have no power supply then the gas stations would have no power supply to run their pumps.
I can imagine a person stopping to charge their Tesla and by the time the charge was complete the hurricane has passed 
Tesla and all car makers restrict how low you can discharge the battery to extend its life. The numbers I’ve read are roughly 40% discharge. Let if fall below that on a regular basis and the battery life is drastically shortened. You may have experienced that with phones or tools. If Tesla opens up the discharge restrictions to, say 5-7% you’d get more range but need longer to recharge. If you have the 315 miles range model, that would get you roughly to 540 miles or out of the state if you lived in Marco Island or Miami. Whenever you run out of juice, you will be stopped for a good long while, especially if local power is out in Georgia.
Most Tesla owners are well heeled enough to fly out and leave the Tesla behind.
BTW, I hope @Whitey is OK over in Vero Beach. I left Florida Friday morning for Alabama - carrying 20 extra gallons of gas in my truck. And I needed 10 gallons of that.
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One of the things that rubs me the wrong way about Tesla is that a lot of the options or features that they sell to you for thousands are already baked into the car itself. Things like Ludicrous Mode, and Autopilot are already physically in the car. They just “unlock” them via software. It’s basically DLC (downloadable content) for cars.
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It’s actually not that different from electronic devices for home use.
With computer printers, there will be various versions of essentially the same model, and the major difference as you go up in price is that the more expensive ones are faster and may have more bells and whistles. However, all of those features are usually baked-into the cheaper versions. The insertion of an extra electronic component slows the cheaper printers down from the speed of which they are actually capable.
Keep in mind many small engines are like this. For example a 9.9 outboard engine is the same as the the 15 hp version with a extra restriction plate and different fuel jet. Many lawnmower engines are this way. Maybe 18 hp Briggs is the same as the 26 hp Briggs with a carburetor restrictor and smaller fuel jet. The cost of the 26 hp version might be $400 more but is really the same.
I would think you could hook the car to a portable gas generator.
I never had to try it but they claimed my 59 VW would float. Something to think about.
Crippleware is standard across pretty much all industries. Remember the 486 days? Disable the DX math-co to make a cheaper SX.
The thing I like about Tesla’s approach is that you still have the option to unlock the greater range permanently if you pay for it. So you can get in at a cheaper price point, and then later when you have more money you spend some of it and get a longer-range car.
Gas to the rescue.
I was wondering about that. How about a hitch mounted carrier with a portable generator charging the battery pack as you drive in an emergency?
CSA
Volkswagen had many clever ads in print and I remember one indicating that…
… Volkswagens will definitely float, but they won’t float indefinitely. 
Perhaps somebody with a better PC hook-up than I have could find it.
Compared with cars of that era it was probably a pretty good achievement.
Not only were they good at keeping water out, but I had trouble getting any heat or ventilation in mine. 
CSA
It would probably extend your range, but would not charge faster than the batteries discharged. Plus, a lot of people had trouble getting out of Florida because gas stations were out of gas, so the generator wouldn’t be able to run anyway.
I dunno. I don’t think Teslas can pull a trailer with a generator. I don’t think it’s allowed. Maybe just park the Tesla in the garage on blocks or something so it won’t get wet and flee the area in the SUV instead. I really doubt that this would be the only vehicle in most people’s fleet. Think the lines at the gas station are bad, can you imagine the lines at the charging stations?
+1
In view of the price of Tesla vehicles, I don’t think it is likely that the majority of these folks own ONLY a Tesla. If someone can afford to buy a Tesla, it is probably a second or third vehicle for the household.
If they went north early enough, electricity would be available. As long as the EV owner knows where the chargers are, they could likely get to Virginia. Tardy people would get stuck no matter what they drove.
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There are 19 Tesla Supercharger locations in Florida, each location has 6 or 8 charging stations. Travel might be difficult if 1000 Tesla vehicles were traveling on the same day, I wonder how popular these vehicles are in Florida.
Tesla had marketed the “60” version of the Model S with one range by artificially (with software) restricting the battery capacity of that trim. The Model S “75” has the same battery and more range, but Tesla opted to sell it for much more money. BestRide’s Nicole Wakelin did this spot making Tesla seem like a good citizen. You be the judge. The “60” is now discontinued. The answers to your questions following the one about how it is done, are: 1) No. 2) about 25% more, so about 270 miles, 3) A recharge depends a lot on circumstance. Between a day and an hour is the range (seriously). On a 115-volt circuit, the charge time is many hours. At a Supercharger, a Tesla can recharge 80% of its capacity in about 30 minutes. 4) Of course, if the electricity is not available the car cannot be recharged, However, why would the electricity be out before the hurricane arrives is worth asking in response to your point. (Charge percentage corrected)
I have lived here on Florida’s south west coast for 4 years and I have seen 4, I think, between Lee and Collier counties…
Naples and Marco Island are in Collier county and are pretty affluent communities and Lee county is no slouch either.
Nationwide, ALL electrics are less than 1% of all cars sold and Tesla is a fraction of that, so 1000 cars for all south Florida is pretty unlikely.
That would be the charge rate for a wall unit for at home. A Tesla Supercharger can charge much faster;
“Stay charged while you’re on the road using the Tesla Supercharger network. Placed along well traveled routes, a Supercharger provides up to 170 miles of range in as little as 30 minutes.”
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