Compare this to Honda. I bring my car to the dealership for a repair and they see non-OEM parts on there. Surprise! They still repair it! It's amazing!
The Model S is a very expensive vehicle and the consumers buying one know what they're getting in to (otherwise they're spending six figures on a vehicle obliviously, so they're exceptionally negligent and it's still their fault). The Finnish guy in question plainly knew what he was getting in to, he spent a lot of money and went through the hassle to get the car over to Finland in the first place. You can bet he knew the batteries were very expensive before he got himself into that mess.
If you have reasons other than social/virtue/fashion signal then perhaps your statement is not true at all?
For example, the 0-60 times of the non-Plaid Model S trims are excellent... but the braking is poor across the board, the non-Plaid Model S run out of steam very quickly at higher speeds, etc.
So not a great performance value unless you're only looking at the Plaid and plan to drag race...
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And the luxury is great compared to an econobox... but again, you get in a $65,000 ICE and the materials are much better, fit and finish are better, noise levels are better (drivetrains are usually not the main source of noise in cars, tires and wind are)
So not exactly a great luxury cad, and luxury cars aren't known for value to start.
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And the eco aspect, yes you can argue you're doing something great for the environment... but spending $60k+ on a new car is not exactly the best way to save the environment...
You could pick up a reliable used luxury vehicle that gets around 35 mpg like a Lexus HS.
It'll take almost 3 years driving to even catch up to the CO2 cost of even the lowest capacity Model S (remember it's not just the battery, it's the entire car. manufacturing cars is intensive stuff regardless of drivetrain)
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Now all this isn't to say a Model S is a terrible car, but it's something where, if one looks on paper, it's not as easy to justify buying as the sales figures imply.
So there has to be something missing... and that's usually the social/virtue/fashion/cool factor.
And there's honestly nothing wrong with that, people don't like to be told this but: we all care a little more about appearances than we let on.
Even if you're not consciously thinking "A tesla is a fashion accessory", you're more likely to think:
- Replacing the center console with a touchscreen is so cool and futuristic!
Than the truth:
- Replacing the center console with a touchscreen was a way to make things easier on Tesla: Touchscreens are cheaper once you remember how much tooling is involved in a traditional center console, and what it does it tact time
The parallels are almost perfect though:
- If you want to buy just the cylinder block (not even a short block actually!) for 10 year old top of the line Mercedes Benz direct from your dealer? $24,000 https://mbparts.mbusa.com/oem-parts/mercedes-benz-cylinder-b... And that still needs another 10-20k in parts to be a functional motor
- But buy a rebuilt long block from a junked car and you can probably get one for about 10k
- If you're willing to do some work you can probably pull one yourself in a junkyard for a couple thousand. (really a couple of hundred, but factor in getting it to your installer, tools to get it out, etc.)
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I will say the challenge with EVs is the risks are higher for reconditioning.
If you buy a poorly rebuilt engine, yes in theory you car can go up in flames, but most likely if it doesn't seize up after install, you're in the clear.
If you buy a poorly reconditioned car battery, you have a permanently dangerous problem lurking, and it likely only gets worse...
Edit: Also the floor is definitely lower for ICEs. There are engines out there that are so ubiquitous you could replace them for a couple of beers and a friendly pick and pull place.
Battery packs on the other hand are way too complex to have that sort pipeline. Even if old packs become ubiquitous the risk of improperly handled battery packs means there'll have to be a "blessed path" batteries follow after removal. You can't exactly start tossing battery packs around with cranes the way we currently do with scrap ICEs
Going with the Honda analogy here, you can rebuild an Acura engine for a lot cheaper, or still replace it entirely for cheaper than $22k.
The RLX was the closest Acura had, and while significantly cheaper than the S class, and installing a new engine is definitely in the ballpark of $22k
Head + block is already pushing 10k (https://estore.honda.com/acura/parts/view-acura-parts-catalo...)
Add in the internals, gaskets, accessories, then top it off with labor and you might even be over (especially since Honda/Acura won't sell you an assembled long block)
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In general manufacturers will not sell you a whole engine for a sensible amount of money, and if it's a luxury car that's doubly true.
Rebuilding is always going to be the economical option but that's not exclusive to ICEs. Tesla packs get reconditioned by 3rd parties despite their (relative) complexity, and other cars have cottage industries that have formed around their battery packs like the Leaf and Prius.
The floor replacement on an ICE is lower as I mentioned, but the Model S and competitors are near the ceiling for this kind of thing
And don't get me wrong, our second car is Honda Pilot. It's OK, but it's no Tesla.