Tesla's big announcement to end range anxiety with a software update basically makes it impossible for a driver to run out of range unless they're wearing diapers.
That's the word from Elon Musk, who announced two new features to the Model S in version 6.2 of its software, which will be pushed out in the coming weeks.
The first is something called Trip Planner that's always running in the background and communicates between the car and the Supercharger and its partner destination charging network to warn the driver if he goes out of range. It keeps tabs on the most convenient charging locations, along with elevation changes and uses the onboard data connection to determine the windspeed of a certain area to provide more accurate range estimation.
"It's impossible to run out unless you do so intentionally," says Musk.
Range Assurance is basically a trip planner that plots out the optimal route based on the charging network, and when you're plugged in, it will send a notification to your phone when it's ready.
All told, it's exactly what we expected: more granular data to provide drivers with better information.
Contact the author at damon@jalopnik.com.
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