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Comment by sippingabonedry | Hacker News Reader

I'm reminded nearly every other day that EVs need no maintenance and should never see the inside of a mechanic's garage.

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I can't really complain about the maintenance of the EV parts of my cars. I know some EVs fail there too, but my two EVs have been flawless when it comes to the electric drivetrains and the batteries.

But having an electric car doesn't make salt and potholes magically disappear, unfortunately.

What maintenance do they actually need? Tires, brakes, wiper blades, air filter, washer fluid? All fairly trivial to DIY. One thing that I would do is disable the cellular modem, to prevent unwanted "upgrades."

You forgot suspensions.

> One thing that I would do is disable the cellular modem

Is that even possible in modern EVs? Without breaking critical functions like maps, etc.

That's what Apple CarPlay and Android Auto are for.

Tesla does not have CarPlay/AA support.

When did my car being able to navigate become a critical function?

When Tesla convinced people to outsource their ability to drive for ARR.

When you bought a BEV and need to recharge on a road trip. And have the car prepare the battery for charging. And make sure the charging station will be working and available when you arrive.

Brakes! They sometimes rust on Teslas due to lack of use.

Do you swap out the rotors anytime there's rust on them?

If it's just surface rust, some hard braking should clean up the surface as the brake pads will remove the rust when applied.

Rotors, especially cheap ones, rust almost instantly, on any car.

Coolant - at least in the Hyundai Kona ev

You still need things like brakes though, right?

Of course. It's a ridiculous notion yet that hasn't stopped anyone from repeating it constantly.

More than a few times my mechanic has found something pending failure (like a leak) during regularly scheduled ICE maintenance and alerted me to keep an eye on it.

when I say EVs need less maintenance I mean things like cylinder honing or clutch slipping.

do people actually think you buy a tesla and just drive?

> do people actually think you buy a tesla and just drive

Unfortunately these people exist by the thousands.

I do that with a Leaf. I did have to change a tyre after 4 years, and last week I filled the wiper fluid.

People do this with ICE cars, so yes.

Their marketing worked well here, most Tesla drivers I know have commented that they will never need to service their car. At least, they do until they wear their tyres to the point they disintegrate while driving. A mechanically illiterate public coupled with effective marketing is a dangerous combo when they're flying around in 2 tonne boxes still filled with wear parts.

They do that with ice vehicles anyway. They’re just not ignoring oil changes, fuel and oil filters, transmission, belts, etc. with an ev.

> At least, they do until they wear their tyres to the point they disintegrate while driving

I don't think anyone who knows tires wear out thinks Teslas have special tires that don't wear.

> A mechanically illiterate public coupled with effective marketing is a dangerous combo when they're flying around in 2 tonne boxes still filled with wear parts.

Good news: Teslas will tell you when you do need to do the little maintenance that is required, including worn tires.

I believe it's the only, or at least first, car that measures tire wear by comparing GPS distance traveled to wheel rotations, accounting for tire pressure.

> I don't think anyone who knows tires wear out thinks Teslas have special tires that don't wear

I've started taking my Dad's Tesla in to get tires rotated when I'm in town because he flat refuses to do it because of this nonsense.

Perhaps you should be taking his keys instead. Though tire rotation is just an economic decision (I haven’t had a car that could have its tires rotated in decades) not a safety decision. Just means tire will need replacing sooner.

No, this is a long-term thing. In high school the minivan I drove to violin practice crapped its engine onto the freeway because it apparently hadn’t had an oil change in years.

They need brakes changed far less often due to regenerative braking.

Yeah, but the brake fluid still needs to be regularly changed. The fluid is hygroscopic and if the fluid absorbs too much moisture from the air, the brake system can fail under hard braking. Basically hard braking heats up the brake fluid and the water inside can boil and turn to steam which is compressible and your brake pedal goes to the floor without actually making the brake calipers close. Regenerative braking should still work but in an emergency you probably want more.

> I'm reminded nearly every other day that EVs need no maintenance and should never see the inside of a mechanic's garage.

Are you being sarcastic, perhaps?

EV ownership is mostly about lying to yourself and saving face.

From direct experience.

Also worth noting that the fuel on a second hand petrol car cost less than the depreciation on the EV for me.

Just wondering whether you considered second hand EV in your maths.

But yes, if you don't drive much at all, an EV might be more expensive for now. Assuming stable fossil fuels prices.

That was a second hand EV.

Have not owned a tesla, but have had three EVs in the family. All three new cars. All of the EVs have spent way more days at the dealership than any of my ICE cars of the last 30+ years.

Have had ICEs all my life, have one M3 2019. Been to the dealership exactly once in 7 years.

For all the heat they got in the beginning when they were figuring out production (esp. panel alignment), 2019s were already very good performance and maintenance-wise.

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