What sort of maintenance are performed on these cars??
Seems like there is nothing to be maintained, given the all steel, aluminum, glass stuff everywhere.
Does it have any oil changes required, like in brakes or transmission?
Seems like there is nothing to be maintained, given the all steel, aluminum, glass stuff everywhere.
Does it have any oil changes required, like in brakes or transmission?
Other than that, since there are much fewer moving parts, there is much less regular maintenance necessary. Brake pads and discs survive much longer thanks to regenerative braking.
But I wouldn't call a once-in-a-decade service a hassle in maintaining a car. Without any luck you might have to service your suspension and track angles as often (due to potholes and whatnots) to keep your tyre wear in control.
* every 7,500mi: rotate tires
* every 22,500mi: change cabin air filter
* every 5 years: replace brake fluid
* every 150,000mi: replace battery cooling fluid
that's it. crazy!
What's that?
I don't think I've ever had this done when getting my tires rotated. They just move the wheels and tires from front to back and sometimes from left to right.
Allows for uniform wear and tear for the tires.
Some even interchange the left and right tires.
Radial tires are unidirectional, so if you go left -> right your tires will be rotating backwards, and then they won't be able to channel water out from the treads.
No polluting oils, no polluting coolant fluids, etc.
I'm from India, and for my car, an average of 1$ per 50 miles goes into maintenance.
Awesome
"The main problem areas involved the drivetrain, power equipment, charging equipment, giant iPad-like center console, and body and sunroof squeaks, rattles, and leaks."
The most common problems involve replacement of the electric motors, warped brake rotors, door handles that fail to slide out as a driver approaches, and numerous squeaks and rattles, which may be more apparent given the very quiet nature of electric propulsion.
Other problem areas cited by Tesla owners are leaking cooling pumps for the battery pack, dead windshield wipers, persistent alignment issues with the wheels, and misaligned latches for the front trunklid and the rear liftgate.
Thus far, all such problems have been handled under Tesla's four-year/50,000-mile warranty (it's eight years and unlimited mileage on the powertrain)--and owners appear to be pleased with the level of attentiveness and customer service they have received. But Consumer Reports notes that once the car is out of warranty, such problems could become expensive for owners of older Teslas to fix.
http://www.greencarreports.com/news/1100561_tesla-model-s-to...
Coming from a state run engineering enterprise, where every motor is purchased from the lowest bidder, even the worst quality motors run for decades before even showing signs of any trouble, including mechanical.
For a car like the Tesla, it's hard to believe that the motor will give any sort of trouble.
Also, most electric motors, even those driven by variable frequency drives, are extremely simple in construction and are extremely resilient to shocks and prolonged use.
Almost all modern motors have efficiencies upwards of 97.5%, so you have very less heating losses and mechanical losses even in the most demanding conditions.
But I didn't write any of that comment, it's quoted directly from an industry observer.
Just recently we've learned of faulty airbags in vehicles going back ~17 years, occasionally killing the driver.[1]
We can't point at a thing and say "well, it's full of parts that ought to be reliable, so it'll be reliable."
Only time will tell.
1. https://www.productsafety.gov.au/news/takata-airbag-recalls-...
I personally like the idea because I hate carrying my keys with me and a credit card sized car would be much better for me. But I think Tesla should offer to sell normal key fobs for people who which to use those instead.