Two-thirds of Tesla S Drivetrains Failing by 60K?

That is a lot of power from a small package:

On a positive note, one third of Tesla owners could expect to get more than 60K out of their drive train!

It is not like they paid a hole lot for the car anyway, right :wink:

I’ll probably never own a Tesla but my sympathy goes out to those that may have one of the failing machines.

I actually drive past that Tesla dealer . . . the Los Angeles dealer, pictured in the article . . . about once a week

But since I’m poverty-stricken, there’s no real reason to drop in and look at the merchandise

There’s a high-roller at my mother’s church, he drives a Tesla S. Seems like a pretty nice person, actually

Making the car twice as reliable means that 30% of the owners will still have drive line failure at 60,000 miles. That is still not acceptable, but it is moving in the right direction. If Tesla replaces the drive train for all failures up to 60,000 miles, that should keep the owners happy. Or at least a lot happier than if they were hung out to dry. We had a similar experience with our 2003 Silhouette. The transmission went out at 58,000 miles. Fortunately, Olds had a free 60/60 warranty for all vehicles sold after they announced their demise, and our transmission was replaced with a new one at no cost to us. We still think fondly of the van with over 150,000 miles on it. I can understand how the Tesla owners could still be happy if they only lose the car for a week or so, even though we pail less than one fifth of what a new Tesla S costs.

I’m just hoping that the replacement drivetrain is greatly improved, and more reliable, versus the one that failed

It would be pretty pathetic if the replacement also failed within 60k

Weren’t electric cars touted as being MORE reliable than gas or diesel vehicles? Maybe I misread that.
To read the article, it sounds like bearing failures - i.e. “Replacement when they start to make noise”

This is proof positive that it’s best to let somebody else be an early adopter :wink:

I think db is right, this isn’t an inherent problem with electric cars, just what you’d expect when a new technology is first introduced on a large scale. And Tesla cars are a bit over the top on their acceleration specs, which I’d guess the owners are testing out, which can’t be good for reliability. I’ve noticed when there’s a Model S in the front row of the traffic light I’m in, that Model 6 is way ahead of all the other cars seconds after the light turns green. Of course I usually mosey up next to the waiting Model 6 at the next light in my Corolla … lol …

I did notice that Consumer Reports is now flagging some Tesla models as a reliability problems.

Electric motors aren’t a new technology. But it’s true, Tesla has gone for flashy performance instead of useful practical cars. They are repeating that mistake with the Model X, the “SUV” with articulated/automated rear doors and other complicated features that push prices over $100k.

Tesla cars cost over $100K because they have $60,000 batteries in $50,000 cars! That’s why Tesla is working so hard to produce cheaper batteries, to earn a profit on the cars they sell instead of the carbon credits carrying the freight.

People who have money are more fun to deal with than people who don’t.

@DrRocket

Not sure I entirely agree with you

Sure, when you’re running a business, you don’t want customers who can’t pay their bills

But over the years, some of my best friends have pretty much been penniless paupers

Maybe the drivetrain problems have something to do with driving the cars in quarter mile intervals too often. They are incredibly quick, and it seems like the temptation to wring them out would be great. Well, it would be a big temptation for me, anyway.

But over the years, some of my best friends have pretty much been penniless paupers

Let me add that is true for me, too. Except I would add: and who cannot afford a car, but do ride burros.

@irlandes

:smiley:

@JT,yep. thats a lot of torque to play with,big brother(deceased) used to tell me,“People who drive with the throttle to the firewall,create a lot of problems for themselves”

“People who drive with the throttle to the firewall, create a lot of problems for themselves”

Yup!
Over the past few decades, I have known a few people whose driving mode is…pedal to the metal…and that includes both the accelerator pedal and the brake pedal. When all that somebody knows is full-throttle acceleration–followed inevitably by very hard braking–no vehicle is going to be very durable or very reliable for very long.

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As a young adult, leaving my teenage years behind, one of the biggest eye openers I got was just how reliable and long lived a little bitty Honda CB175 motorcycle becomes when you drive like a grownup instead of constantly having to prove how fast you can go and how many wheelies you can do.

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