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Quite a bit of the total energy consumed by/through any vehicle is in its manufacture. Due to their relative simplicity, I believe electric vehicles offer a cle

Quite a bit of the total energy consumed by/through any vehicle is in its manufacture. Due to their relative simplicity, I believe electric vehicles offer a clearer path to a more consistent high-mileage lifecycle, with the battery pack as the primary wear item. I’d love to see million miles become the norm.

sjwright 7y ago
It will be interesting to see where the long term "wear items" are in an electric vehicle. Right now, I predict the most serious "wear item" is going to be cabin electronics (touch screen etc) and actuators (door handles, locks, gull wings, steering column etc). Battery packs—Tesla have shown that with sufficient battery management (stable thermals, avoiding charge state extremes) their packs can last extremely long distances. And they wear very gradually; an electric car with 70% of its original range is still a very useful item. Motors—I recall these were a high-fault item in earlier models, but as far as I'm aware these problems have been mostly solved and the reliable units have long lifespans. (And if they don't, they're comparatively trivial to swap out compared to an ICE drivetrain anyway.) Seats/Interior materials—I have no idea how durable Tesla's materials are compared to the competition. Does anyone have any insights on this? The models with all-aluminium chassis (because it's more valuable than steel and has an inherently long lifespan) makes them worth refurbishing. It would be cool if Telsa could license a third party to perform refurbishing on existing models—replacing older parts with newer equivalents. The benefit to Tesla is that improving a car's residuals increases its value and therefore "lowers the price" compared to competitor cars.
- dd36 7y ago
  https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=rhbD44jXffY https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=rhbD44jXffY Review of wear on Model S with 450k miles.
7952 7y ago
Maybe this is a bit extreme. But I would love to see car makers be required to offer long term (5 years +, 100k+ miles) warranties for free. Force them to use higher quality components and be up front about long term costs. But allow them to exclude battery packs from the warranty.
- kwhitefoot 7y ago
  Quite a lot already do: https://myioniq.com/hyundai-ioniq-warranty/ https://myioniq.com/hyundai-ioniq-warranty/
- aaronblohowiak 7y ago
  Tesla model 3: 4 yr/50,000 mi basic, 8 yr/100,000 mi powertrain

sjwright 7y ago

It will be interesting to see where the long term "wear items" are in an electric vehicle. Right now, I predict the most serious "wear item" is going to be cabin electronics (touch screen etc) and actuators (door handles, locks, gull wings, steering column etc). Battery packs—Tesla have shown that with sufficient battery management (stable thermals, avoiding charge state extremes) their packs can last extremely long distances. And they wear very gradually; an electric car with 70% of its original range is still a very useful item. Motors—I recall these were a high-fault item in earlier models, but as far as I'm aware these problems have been mostly solved and the reliable units have long lifespans. (And if they don't, they're comparatively trivial to swap out compared to an ICE drivetrain anyway.) Seats/Interior materials—I have no idea how durable Tesla's materials are compared to the competition. Does anyone have any insights on this? The models with all-aluminium chassis (because it's more valuable than steel and has an inherently long lifespan) makes them worth refurbishing. It would be cool if Telsa could license a third party to perform refurbishing on existing models—replacing older parts with newer equivalents. The benefit to Tesla is that improving a car's residuals increases its value and therefore "lowers the price" compared to competitor cars.

dd36 7y ago
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=rhbD44jXffY https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=rhbD44jXffY Review of wear on Model S with 450k miles.

7952 7y ago

Maybe this is a bit extreme. But I would love to see car makers be required to offer long term (5 years +, 100k+ miles) warranties for free. Force them to use higher quality components and be up front about long term costs. But allow them to exclude battery packs from the warranty.

kwhitefoot 7y ago
Quite a lot already do: https://myioniq.com/hyundai-ioniq-warranty/ https://myioniq.com/hyundai-ioniq-warranty/
aaronblohowiak 7y ago
Tesla model 3: 4 yr/50,000 mi basic, 8 yr/100,000 mi powertrain