Product Reviews

Tesla Model S Does 400,000 Miles In Just Three Years And Lives

My one concern regarding electric cars is the health and longevity of their batteries. If you’re similar to me and it’s putting you off purchasing an EV, then this story might come in handy.

A shuttle company from California called Tesloop recently broke a Tesla record by putting on 400,000 miles in just three years. The car in question is an S90D nicknamed ‘eHawk’, and is used to ferry people around in EV luxury.

In a blog post by Tesloop, they tell us that each mile in the Tesla cost them $0.15. So in total, that’s $60,000. They also estimate that a Lincoln Town Car would cost them $0.22 per mile, which is $28,000 more than the Tesla in total. They also estimate that their Model X has saved them $49,000 over a Mercedes GLS, but that’s by the by.

But what about the batteries? that’s what you all want to know, isn’t it? Well, they’ve had to replace it twice. Once after 194,000 miles and once after 324,000 miles. Not such a surprise when you take into account the fact that they must be charging the car much more than usual and while Tesla encourages you not to charge it to 100%, they must do this multiple times a day. The customer never waits, of course.

Tesloop report one interesting statistic, however. The battery degradation after the first 194,000 miles was only 6%.  Not bad when you compare it to how fast your phone battery degrades, for example. The second battery degraded prematurely with a 22% degradation after just 324,000 total miles, although this was due to a poorly functioning battery voltage assembly. This was replaced by the warranty and the software was updated to cope.

It’s worth noting that their Model X is still on its original battery after 300,000 miles with only 10$ degradation. Not too shabby!

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Finally, you must be wondering how the interior has kept up with so much activity? Well, the photos certainly prove that the Tesla’s interior is hard wearing. In fact, apart from slight creasing in the leather seats, I can’t see any noticeable wearing at all.

So what do you think? Has this answered some of your questions and put you at ease, or are you still hesitant to trust an electric car? Tesloop insist that this car will do another 600,000 miles while still under its 8-year warranty, so expect plenty more updates in time.

Alex Harrington

Alex started racing at a young age so certainly knows his way around a car and a track. He can just about put a sentence together too, which helps. He has a great interest in the latest models, but would throw all of his money at a rusty old French classic and a 300ZX. Contact: alex@grandtournation.com

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