I agree. I would argue that the batteries are valuable enough that they will eventually be utilized at some point (like secondary market or if the vehicle happens to last long enough to fully wear out the batteries), but they could certainly be put to better use now. In fact, I’d argue that most 200+ mile range EVs are a waste of batteries, because many consumers don’t realize that they could get by with much cheaper, lighter 100 mile range vehicles. That’s not really the fault of the manufacturer though. I put the blame on consumers who don’t realize that the use case of an EV that you charge at home daily is different than a gasoline vehicle that must be refueled at a station.

All that aside, this conversation was about how Tesla is greedy for software locking batteries. I’m arguing that giving away unusable batteries is hardly an act of greed.