Welp. More reasons why combustion engines are generally better.

They can't expect electric vehicles to take over when they require that kind of maintenance. People simply don't care to take care.

It sounds like the Tesla design requires constant attention. The Volt is a much more practical system.

The Tesla is a pure electric. The Volt has a gas-powered generator onboard.

Tesla clearly needs to figure out a less-expensive way to replace the battery.

One would think the solution would be to build a car that totally shuts off when not in use, or at least completely turn itself off when the battery reaches a critical level while being parked for extended periods of time.

A car that stays on when not being driven is stupid. Especially if said car is supposed to be environmentally friendly.

I just recently "Bricked" my laptop battery

5 cars out of 2500 failed due to owner neglect? That's what, two tenths of one percent? Sounds like a real epic problem to me. A simple fix would be a relay to completely disconnect the battery when it gets too low.

It is an epic problem when instead of fixing it, you could buy a comparable performance car...

That really is not that bad. How many people kill their cars each year by putting diesel in a gas car or running without oil? Stupid people kill cars nothing new there. If I could I would still buy one of these in an instant!
-Nick

How many of those cars require $40K to fix?

Diesel doesn't kill gas engines. A simply flush of the fuel system should get it running again. Cost about $80. Ask my Crown Vic, she knows all about it. Just saying.


ANd yeah, I never cared for Teslas, you could buy a real nice sports car with what it cost to replace one of those batteries.

It took 3 volts to catch fire 3 weeks after accidents for a massive investigation to start. And the fix for those wasn't 42k.

And that's only one office that knows of 5, who knows how many there are throughout the country. Clearly this news is shocking.

Heh.

Is that even possible on an electric car? I don't think there is one simple terminal like on a panthermobile.

It all depends on the technology. Run a carbureted gasoline powered car out of gas, you refill it, pour a little down the carb, and go on about your merry way.

Run a modern EFI gas-powered engine out of gas, and you risk damaging the fuel pump, which can easily be a $400 repair.

Run a diesel engine out of gas, and you have to have a mechanic take the top of the engine apart and re-prime everything, and this can get expensive in a hurry.

Internal combustion engines need all kinds of regular, orutine maintenance like tune ups, oil changes, new belts and hoses, radiator flushes, etc, that an electric car never needs. An electric motor is also far more efficient than a piston engine could ever dream of being. Like any technology, there are trade-offs. The maintenance and repair tradeoffs are accepted with gas engines because we are so familiar with them. If your familiar with how battery powered cars have to be cared for, then the risk of "bricking" your car can be mitigated to the point you shouldn't have to worry about it (Only 0.2 % of Tesla owners managed to brick their cars. I'd think totalling it out in a wreck would be a bigger concern).

Plus, this is still fairly new technology. The Tesla is to electric cars what the Model T is to gas cars-an attempt to take what was otherwise a niche technology for the rich and bring it to the mainstream. Compare the level of maintenance of a Model T flathead 4 to a Y-Block 50 years later. Compare the Y Block to the modern 4.6L. Other than spark plugs and filters, tune ups have been eliminated on modern cars, the spark plug changes are stretched out to 100K miles, and modern synthetic oils and quality filters can stretch oil changes to 10,000 miles. What would a Model T engine look like after 10,000 miles if it got zero maintenance?

My point is, as this technology gets more and more common, the risk of bricking a battery will go down, as will the replacement cost.

And anytime there is a $40,000 risk to the consumer, the free market will look for a way to address that risk. With 5 failures, that's $200,000 in failed batteries. So if each of the 2500 Tesla owners purchased a $1000 bricked battery replacement policy from a private party, an insurance company could cover all failures and still walk away with $2.3 million in profits. If Tesla really does sell 250,000 Model S's, expect to see an aftermarket insurance or warranty company selling a policy to address this, even if Tesla won't cover it. I see a marketing opportunity here. An insurance company could partner with Tesla to include the premium in the cost of the car and cut the company a check every month based on sales volume, and Tesla would be able to advertise that the batteries are covered if you brick them.

I'm sure those five owners who are out $40,000 take great comfort in that statement.