3 ms·

Re: the battery lifetime, I think you're mistaking lifetime for reliability. You can have something with a moderate or even short lifetime that still has high r

Re: the battery lifetime, I think you're mistaking lifetime for reliability. You can have something with a moderate or even short lifetime that still has high reliability during that lifetime. Lithium batteries certainly do degrade over time - even in storage they degrade. But during their expected lifetime they are very reliable, and you can expect them to need no maintenance at all. The same goes for the power electronics and electric motors: if properly designed and operated within their specs they can last indefinitely as there are hardly any wear mechanisms. Of course, Tesla has had a spotty history in actually achieving that, with the flash chips being a good example. At least when I was doing electronics a few years ago, I ran into quite a few automotive grade microcontrollers and flash chips advertising expected lifetimes of 25 or even 100 years(1) if used correctly with sufficient wear levelling. In that case, Tesla obviously didn't. 1) http://ww1.microchip.com/downloads/en/appnotes/91072a.pdf http://ww1.microchip.com/downloads/en/appnotes/91072a.pdf 40 years retention over full temperature range, 100 years at 25degC.

closeparen 6y ago
The “unreliable” luxury brands are reputed to be just fine during their lease/warranty periods. If this defense works for Tesla it has to work across the board.
m463 6y ago
You know what, I guess my thinking and writing was not clear. I was thinking - with an EV you don't have to DO anything. I had a leaf and was thinking I should take it in for maintenance, but looking at the manual there was coolant, but you changed it at 125k or something. The brakes wore very little. Tires maybe. maybe brake fluid since it's hygroscopic. There was small stuff - windshield wipers and fluid. there was a cabin air filter. wash it. As far as reliability, it worked fine daily.

closeparen 6y ago

The “unreliable” luxury brands are reputed to be just fine during their lease/warranty periods. If this defense works for Tesla it has to work across the board.

m463 6y ago

You know what, I guess my thinking and writing was not clear. I was thinking - with an EV you don't have to DO anything. I had a leaf and was thinking I should take it in for maintenance, but looking at the manual there was coolant, but you changed it at 125k or something. The brakes wore very little. Tires maybe. maybe brake fluid since it's hygroscopic. There was small stuff - windshield wipers and fluid. there was a cabin air filter. wash it. As far as reliability, it worked fine daily.