Tesla has confirmed that its new “Standard Range” Model S and Model X have the same battery pack as the Long Range version, but with its capacity being software-locked.
If popular enough they’ll probably build another battery for them down the road.
But this allows them to test a different price point and see what the market does without doing any investments other than the reduced margin on each model they ship.
That said, they’ve done this before with the S at least.
This isn’t a new concept, or exclusive to Tesla. I know first hand that camera companies do this too. Commonize the imaging chip and software lock the available imaging quality behind price tiers. You get somewhat lower manufacturing costs by having just one component sku and larger volumes of that sku. You need to sell at a certain price point to make it viable, but still have to offer lower price point options to keep and keep market share.
I’m not saying it’s a good idea, but it’s not new or unique . Far more common than people realize.