Have you ever wanted to give your Tesla extra power but have had to wait for the automaker to roll out updates? Or, didn’t feel like paying the extra moolah they charge to unlock the added performance? Well, this will intrigue you then. If you watch the YouTube videos posted by Rich from Rich Rebuilds, you may even know his garage-partners, Electrified Garage. These guys have teamed up with a company called Ingenext from Quebec, Canada, and have managed to hack into Tesla’s systems. The company has cracked the code to happiness, and that happiness will cost you half the price of what Tesla charges for a Performance upgrade. Sweet deal, right?
It’s 50 Extra Horses And Quicker 0-60 Time For $900 Lesser Than Tesla
Rich’s friend owns a Model 3 Long Range All-Wheel-Drive that takes 4.4 seconds to sprint to 60 mph from a standstill. Tesla offers a Performance Upgrade for the same that reduces the 0-60 mph time to 3.9 seconds. But, the company charges $2,000 for it.
Called the Ghost upgrades, it is offered in three stages. The first stage reduces the 4.5-second time to 3.8 seconds. It also includes a drift mode that disables the traction control system. The Stage 2 upgrade would further bring this time down to 3.2 to 3.4 seconds. This includes lap mode, battery-pack heating. Stage 3 will be unveiled later, but you can expect it to breach the three-second barrier.
Post the Stage 2 upgrade on the 2018 Model 3 Long Range All-Wheel-Drive, they pit it against the Model 3 Performance Dual Motor multiple times. The former beat the Model 3 Performance comfortably every single time. Later they did solo runs to get the best 0-60 mph times and managed to achieve it in 3.27 seconds! This is insanely fast. Ingenext also does a full conversion from Model 3 Dual Motor to Performance that adds 150 horses. Imagine what the results would be post that upgrade.
How Much Does The Upgrade Cost?
As mentioned earlier, Tesla charges $2,000 for the upgrade. Ingenext, however, charges only $1,100 for this ‘Boost 50’ upgrade. But, given how Tesla disowns cars that are tampered with, people will think twice before opting for this upgrade.
On a different note, the guys at Electrified Garage also procured two "exhaust systems" for the Tesla Model 3. This would work as usual with the throttle and create actual sounds on the outside, unlike the sound emulators offered by EV companies that let out fake sounds from the speakers of the car. If this clicks and works well, it will surely find a lot of buyers.
What’s Ingenext All About?
A couple of months back, Guillaume André, owner of an electric vehicle reseller and repair shop ‘Simon André’ in Trois-Rivieres in Quebec, Canada, successfully converted a Tesla Model 3 Long Range Rear-Wheel-Drive to a Dual Motor car. They later hacked the Model 3’s driver inverter software to configure the single motor setup to power motors on both the axles. The folks later realized that they could change the software to unlock the $2,000-worth Acceleration Boost upgrade as well.
Long story short, the owner started a new company called ‘Ingenext’ to offer these upgrades for almost half the price that Tesla charges. Perhaps, he too understands that Tesla will not let this pass and may seize the operations, and that is why he made a separate company to do it instead of risking his existing business.
Final Thoughts
If you have to gain even 30 or 40 horses in an internal combustion engine car, you need to go through a hell of a process. But, in the case of EVs, it can be done via an over the air update. Tesla keeps sending updates for its cars over the air. All you need is Wi-Fi or an LTE connection to get it done, unlike cars with engines that require you to drive it a garage, swap parts, get your hands dirty, etc. (not talking about remaps here). On the flip side, you are at the mercy of the automaker to boost your EV for you. You cannot tear up on the car and put it on steroids like you could on ICE cars. All you can do is wait for an update, pay whatever the automaker is charging, and then enjoy the added power.
In that sense, this is big news, especially if you’re into performance upgrades but didn’t opt for an EV for this reason. EVs offer full torque right from the word ‘go’. You don’t have to wait for the company upgrades and can take it over to private garages and get it done. Oh, wait; over-the-air updates. You don’t even have to go anywhere! We’ll have to wait and watch how Tesla responds to this.
What are your thoughts on this hacked upgrade? Share them with us in the comments section below.