Tesla Model S that clocked 430,000 miles undergoes battery inspection, reveals 28% battery degradation after 8 years of heavy use

[Chris Bennion]

I really don't care. If the nerdy Tesla people can guarantee a reasonable mileage/life from the battery pack then ordinary people like me will buy then but if not we won't.

[Michael p]

So in 8 years you have to pay half of EV car price again because it lost 30%+ of range
Noice

rofl. Have you owned a car at any point in your life ? Show me one vehicle that reach those miles with no intervention to the engine or transmission . Over the course of 430,000 miles just oil changes every 10,000 miles will cost a minimum of $13,000, brake pads and rotors will be a few extra k and of course you NEED to do a serpentine belt or chain replacement at least once. If you count the savings in running costs too you can probably buy a another new Model S compared to any combustion vehicle.

[Yotizio]

ICE cars all have reduced gas mileage over time as well. Test your 2004 Honda and you'll likely find it lost 15%. Lots of reasons for this, especially in a machine with thousands of moving parts.

[Ross]

Hi all,

Keep it in perspective, it only show cases one Tesla. Let's look at the overall life cycle of battery degradation. We need to compare across a larger test case, not one.
You cannot take anything read here as fact. Ice engines are proven, l own a Toyota and have 460000 km with all original engine and transmission. Besides, you still need to maintain the battery pack and the article doesn't cover how the vehicle was charged. So this report is not worth anything. How do you know if the battery pack has been replaced? Did you inspect the vehicle yourself? I go only of what l have experienced and used, until then, this article is nothing but words and has no relevance, either than convincing you why EVs are worth buying. Come and see me when your battery pack fails or needs replacing? Out of pocket $20,000.00

[Mike Dane]

How do we know your claims of mileage and original engine and transmission are not lies? You exemplify the problem we have today. Lack of trust. People only will believe what they already believe to be true.

[Asfd]

So in 8 years you have to pay half of EV car price again because it lost 30%+ of range
Noice

Except gas vehicles have really bad maintenance problems.  Their motor camshafts can lock up, and thats a common issue.

[JHC]

This article brought to by Tesla. lol

[Brian M]

First, why are you wearing a face mask, while standing in front of a pristine mountain lake? What do you think you'll catch out there?
Second, you paint with broad strokes with your assumptions based on a one off vehicle. The experience of this one car is not indicative of all Teslas let alone all EVs. And your comment that ICE vehicles have frequent (mostly true) and expensive (not necessarily true) service requirements shows your bias. A new motor for an ICE vehicle is about $10K. A battery for an EV is easily $30K, and are required more often than you let on.
Lastly is your presumption that 180 or 250 miles would meet most, if not all our needs. You have no idea what my driving requirements, needs are so who are you to tell me this spec would be acceptable? Maybe for many city dwellers that don't venture far from home. But not "most" by far.
Also, EVs are not the green machines the coolaid drinkers make them out to be either.

[Vadimir6669]

MY friend who got a 2014 Tesla S just have her battery replaced for $19,000 at dealership.  ONly got 68k+ miles on it.

That's why independent shops are opening the packs and just replacing the few bad cells for a fraction of the cost.

[Jaci]

ICE cars all have reduced gas mileage over time as well. Test your 2004 Honda and you'll likely find it lost 15%. Lots of reasons for this, especially in a machine with thousands of moving parts.

Yes, but there are gas stations every couple of miles. By comparison there are only 2 tesla chargers in my country, half of the other chargers are not working. So chances to be left out of juice for 300 mile radius are actually quite high. You will most likely have to spend your last 50 miles or so desperately wandering from charging site to charging site. Not having the ability to charge at home, and having to spend at least an hour to charge at a station, makes EVs unpractical at the moment, even as a in city daily driver.

[Pegaroo]

For the sake of easy math, let's say an EV with a 100kWh battery pack loses 25% range after X years. To charge the battery to what the car thinks is 100%, from 0%. Does it take 75kWh or 100kWh?

75KWh the battery loses capacity

[asdgfdgg]

Over the course of 430,000 miles just oil changes every 10,000 miles will cost a minimum of $13,000

lol what is this price for oil change. Sipping cash year to year is different from out of pocket right here right now 20K.

Have you owned a car at any point in your life ?

You totally haven't

[asdgfdgg]

MY friend who got a 2014 Tesla S just have her battery replaced for $19,000 at dealership.  ONly got 68k+ miles on it.

Because the article hides the fact it's mostly not a "distance" degradation, it's "age" degradation. And it will be way worse if your country has both hot summers and cold winters.
As for distance degradation, mechanically this tesla is basically almost totaled.

[Lucas P]

Brian,

Couldn't agree more.  It very hard to trust anyone wearing a mask outside next to a mountain.

[Garence]

The trust failure point was the author stating that no maintenance was required for 430k miles.

That's absurd. The usage of this Tesla? Taxi. That means plenty of stop & go city traffic. Lots of punishing  conditions. Most tires last no more than 60k miles before needing to be changed. Same for brake pads, rotors, and even suspension (shocks & struts) usually within 120k ~ 200k miles.

Also 1 case is no foundation to lay sweeping positive claims about EV battery & motor endurance. Let's see the full range -- those that did remarkably well and those that didn't. Then check percentages.