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Comment by alldayeveryday | Hacker News Reader

> It's more things like replacing tires at least once a year (which I think high torque EVs will do even faster), then at about 100k miles they replaced the wishbones / control arms.

I've not heard of tires that need replacing once a year, unless you are doing an insane amount of driving. Tires are generally lasting 50k, 60k, even 85k miles. Can you elaborate on the scenarios that require yearly tire replacements?

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Definitely not true for any kind of safe quality tires. Safety means good dry and wet grip, convenience means noise level, and economy means wear.

Wear for anything quality and safe is maximum 40-50k km, the better performing tire the less. Yeah cheap (mostly) chinese crappy unsafe tires will last much more, but its due to them being too hard and have very little grip, especially in wet.

It means difference between being perfectly safe in 120kmh in moderate rain/snow vs being scared shitless that next bend may kill you (and car certainly behaves like that), so you drive 70-80kmh and become an obstacle to others in very low-visibility and high danger situation.

Definitely not worth saving on tires, ever.

Low profile tires do not last 50k much less 85k miles. Lots of BMW tires are front/rear and left/right which means you can’t rotate. People on the X7 forms said they had to start changing tires around 20-25k.

My coworker had a Leaf and said he went through rear tires 2x as fast.

This. For example a BMW 550i eats rear tires under heavy acceleration and front tires under sporty cornering, because it's not a light weight car. Worse for low-profile and sporty tires, better grip but softer rubber.

A BMW 550i has similar horse power as a Tesla Model 3 performance, but I think like any EV the Tesla delivers even more low-end torque. So it can kill tires even faster, and it's all-wheel-drive...

The BMW tires are about $200 more expensive then the Tesla. In 5-7 years the Tesla would be drastically less in maintenance but in years 4-5 the BMW could be less if you need to throw an extra set on the Tesla. Not sure I’d want a 550i outside of an extended warranty. However, newer BMW v8 twin turbos are a LOT more reliable than the first couple generations.

Tesla economics are much better because by 2021 you'll be able to use it as a Robotaxi in the Tesla network. You'll keep 70% of the revenue while you're just sitting at home.

When FSD launches in 2021, you'll also be able to work your tech job while you're driving to work, earning you extra money if you're hourly, or extra time if you're salaried.

Similar HP…but not Torque. :-)

That's what I said :-) but now I've Googled it and it isn't really true they're both around the 600 Nm range. But I think the delivery is still different, EVs deliver peak torque directly from standstill, which is the worst option for the tires.

> Tires are generally lasting 50k, 60k, even 85k miles.

I would not want to be in a car with a tire that lasts 85K miles.

Tires come in all kinds of compounds for different conditions but in general, the grippier the tire (i.e. better braking, better turning) the shorter the lifetime.

Race tires take this to the extreme, maximizing grip at all cost and they only last as little as a few hundred miles.

That would be silly for street use of course, but the general pattern stands. Less wear = less grip. I buy top performance street tires for maximum safety, the tradeoff being they'll last about 15k-25k miles depending on the car.

Other factors that have a big influence on tire life is car weight and acceleration. EVs are both very heavy and (most of them) fast accelerating. So tire life is bound to be less than on an otherwise similar ICE car.

Absolutely. I've had my Model Y for about 1.5 years (14,500 miles). Recently, I've had to replace the rear tires due to slow pressure loss. Supporting 5,000 pounds certainly increases wear and tear; alas, they don't come cheap [0].

At least the "run-flat" design is worth it for long road trips, the ability to re-inflate, and increased storage space.

[0] https://tsportline.com/products/continental-procontact-rx-25...

> Tires are generally lasting 50k, 60k, even 85k miles.

Probably depends on road conditions. Where I'm at good tyres — my criteria being soft ride, good grip, low noise — last at most 40k km. But then the roads here aren't exactly the best.

Not just tyres, even things like oil, filters, engine mounts etc need to be changed more frequently where I'm at, compared to Western countries.

Very heavy and fun-to-drive cars like Teslas (all that battery weight) go through them faster.

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