Tesla Model S P100D outed by hacker

Tesla looks to be planning a faster Model S after a programmer says he found reference to an as-yet-unreleased version of the car in one of the manufacturer's firmware updates.

Hacker Jason Hughes claims he uncovered the information in the company's 7.1 software before cryptically leaking it on Twitter.

The "Tesla community" quickly decoded the message to spell out P100D – the badge the new version will wear, says Autoblog. Shortly afterwards, Hughes tweeted an image of it.

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The website adds that a "weird and intriguing" Twitter exchange then took place between Hughes and Elon Musk, the car-maker's chief executive, who seemed to congratulate the hacker on his skills.

If Hughes is accurate, the badge suggests a Model S using a 100kWh battery pack is on the way, which would make for the most powerful version of the car to day and with a booster range over Tesla's current range-topper, the P90D.

According to Auto Express, the P100D may have a range of more than 330 miles on a single charge, while the added power could shave the 0-62mph time down to a figure of around just 2.7 seconds, making it marginally faster than the Ludicrous Mode P90D.

Tesla currently sells the Model S in two versions in the UK – one with 70kWh, available as a rear-wheel or all-wheel drive car, and a 90kWh all-wheel-drive P90D. The 85kWh versions were axed last month, both in a bid to simplify the range and because demand had fallen. Now it seems the middle spec car could also have been dropped to clear the path for a new range-topper.

Electrek says the 100kWh option could possibly make its way onto a non-performance version – those without the P suffix - of the Model S, too, and that it's not too hard to see the battery making its way onto the Model X SUV.

There's nothing about the upcoming Model 3, though, with Tesla fans getting their first glimpse of at the end of the month.