Tesla Model S will now do 0-60mph in 2.3 seconds, and the Model X in 2.6, thanks to new OTA update

The latest Tesla over-the-air update sees performance and thermal efficiency improvements lowering 0-60 times for the Model S and Model X.

We’ve become used to over-the-air updates (OTA) arriving at regular intervals for our phones, improving performance (hopefully, although not always) and security, and making them more efficient.

As cars become more like computers on four wheels than the very analogue vehicles most of us grew up with, OTA updates are now starting to arrive for cars too. None more so than Tesla.

Tesla has been delivering regular OTA updates for their cars for quite some time, sometimes proper practical stuff, sometimes performance enhancing, and sometimes purely frivolous. And their latest OTA – now rolling out for the Model S and Model X – improves not just performance, but thermal efficiency too.

Some might say the latest updates are Tesla’s response to the performance of the new Taycan, but whether that’s the case or not, they do seem to make the Model X and Model X even more appealing to those seeking maximum performance.

The OTA update improves acceleration in the Model S to deliver a 0-60mph of just 2.3 seconds, and on the Model X to 2.6 seconds. It seems likely this has been done by increasing peak power, although Tesla hasn’t confirmed that.

What Tesla has also done is allow the S and X to adopt a ‘Cheetah’ stance for launch – nose down and adjust damping to boost traction off the line – and improved thermal efficiency.

That improvement in thermal efficiency – by a factor of three, apparently – meaning you can drive faster for longer, and do more launches without ‘priming’. Which obviously us has nothing whatsoever to do with the Taycan’s ability to constantly repeat its launch party trick.

But whatever the reasons for Tesla’s latest updates, Tesla owners are unlikely to be complaining.