My post describing my experience with the dual-motor long-range Tesla Model 3 I bought back in April 2019 generated further questions about battery life, recalls, and driving range in winter that I answer here.
Battery life
Recently, I was in a waiting room and couldn’t help overhearing a conversation about electric vehicles. The two people agreed they wouldn’t consider owning one, and the dominant stated reason was fear of high-cost battery replacements. It became clear after a while that they mistakenly believed EV batteries would have to be replaced as often as lead-acid batteries in gas cars. The truth is that Tesla batteries are expected to last longer than the rest of the car.
A few days ago, I was startled to receive a notification on my phone that my car’s battery needed to be replaced. A few seconds of poking around on the Tesla app eased my worries. I didn’t realize that my car has a lead-acid battery as well as its large high-tech battery. So, $164 later, my lead-acid battery has been replaced. The main battery powering my car is still fine.
Recalls
Tesla has been in the news frequently for having “recalls” of their cars. This brings to mind images of millions of cars lined up at service stations, but that’s not what’s going on. Almost all of these recall changes are just folded into the next software update.
Tesla pushes out software updates to cars every month or so. They mostly contain improvements they’ve made. Sometimes, they include things regulators want. In one case, the font size on a warning message was made larger. Quite the recall.
The only substantive recall item I can remember was something to do with cabling near my trunk. When I was having a camera realigned for US$34, the technician improved the cabling at no extra charge.
Driving range in winter
Electric vehicle batteries have an optimum temperature. Heating or cooling them draws battery power, and operating the batteries outside their optimum temperature range is less efficient. There is nothing the driver has to do about this; the car handles it all itself. However, the net result is that the car’s range is lower in winter than it is during other seasons.
The difference in range has been noticeable, but not a problem for me. One time that I looked at some numbers, the difference in range between a summer day and a below-freezing winter day was close to 15%, but I can’t say whether this is typical. I suspect the difference depends on how cold it gets and the make of electric car. To be fair, gas cars burn more gas in winter as well.
Conclusion
My conclusion remains the same: I love my Tesla Model 3’s quiet power and its well-designed features that get improved regularly through software updates. Most of what I see online about EVs is overblown or doesn’t apply to Teslas. My car is very cheap to run, but the purchase price was high. It’s been the best car I’ve owned, but until they become cheaper, I can only recommend them to those who can reasonably afford a luxury car.
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Michael, I keep my Toyotas for 15-20 years driving about 15K KM a year - my wife's Highlander even less. Do you expect a Tesla will last that long if properly maintained? You mentioned that Tesla batteries are expected to last longer than the rest of the car. Will they last that long in Toronto weather?
ReplyDeleteThe evidence so far looks good. Tesla reliability is high, despite the relatively short time they have been building EVs compared to the world's gasoline cars. However, the oldest Teslas starting at the model S are 12 years old, so we won't know anything for certain until more time has passed.
DeleteIf we exclude batteries for the moment, EVs have a huge reliability edge over gasoline cars because they are so much simpler. This edge will dominate as EV design matures.
Battery advances are ongoing as research groups scramble to get a piece of the multi-trillion dollar pie. It remains to be seen how much further batteries will get in terms of car range and immunity to cold.