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My cousin recently had a flat tire in her EV. Roadside Assistance did not have a spare, required an expensive tow & her day was a total loss. Dragging a toddler

by tunap 4y ago

My cousin recently had a flat tire in her EV. Roadside Assistance did not have a spare, required an expensive tow & her day was a total loss. Dragging a toddler along made a stressful experience worse, as well. I did not previously realize most(?) EVs have no spare tire included.

lotsofpulp 4y ago
Many new cars do not come with a spare either. I had a family friend I needed to help, and their Dodge caravan minivan, only came with an air pump that had a sealant to patch holes in the tire.
- jstarfish 4y ago
  Was that standard, or an instance of the dealer stripping the accessories and marketing them as as add-ons? First I've heard of this. (Minivans often mount the spare in weird places around the undercarriage, not anywhere obvious...)
  - lotsofpulp 4y ago
    Could have been the dealer stripping the accessory, I do not buy cars often enough to know.
  - kube-system 4y ago
    Some caravans have the spare in a strange place under the middle of the van, and you might not find it unless you read the owners manual a couple times while scratching your head saying "wait, it's there?" Later vans had no spare at all from the factory. It's very common these days for vehicles to come without a spare. The fact that many people don't realize this is exactly why they do it.
- exhilaration 4y ago
  My 2016 Toyota Sienna came with run flat tires. No spare, no can of sealant.
Jeremy1026 4y ago
I haven't had a spare tire in my last 6 cars going back 16 years. Manufacturers cut the cost and no longer supply them. 3 of those cars have been EVs, 3 have been ICE.
jm4 4y ago
I had the same experience and I was livid. I was 4 hours from home and had to rent a car to get back. It was out in a less populated area without a lot of options and it was a holiday weekend. I had such a hard time finding a car. Some less than reputable place ended up letting me take a slightly crashed car. It was the only thing left that could drive. My car was towed to a Tesla service center and I had to pay like $400 for a new tire. Then I had to rent another car to go pick mine up a couple days later. I was ready to set the damn thing on fire by the end of it. The lack of a spare tire isn't exclusive to EV's though. Most don't include a spare anymore.
_ea1k 4y ago
The lack of spare tires is correlated with the increase in tire size, IMO. My first car was a 1987 Mazda with 14" tires. It was a two seat sports car, with a tiny spare mounted vertically. They could do that since it was 14". Modern sports cars are 18-20" and the spare tire is a big cargo compromise.
- bravetraveler 4y ago
  Makes me mad that my mustang has a spot for a spare... But no actual spare They give you a fix it kit and some good wishes edit: I suspect it's something to do with tire size as you say, but also brakes. Can't fit a donut with what's on the hub For > $40k I would've liked they throw in a real spare wheel/tire lol
  - _ea1k 4y ago
    I'm sure it depends on the car as to the reason. My RX-8 does not have a spare, but does have space for one. The kit would take up over half the trunk space, though!
  - kube-system 4y ago
    That’s actually a good thing, because you have a place to put one if you want to buy one.
  - creaturemachine 4y ago
    At that point it was a cost cut. They engineered for a spare but the accountants gave you a can of foam.
    - kube-system 4y ago
      The engineers may have pulled the spare to hit CAFE targets, but left the spare well as a cost cut to avoid retooling costs.
- ehnto 4y ago
  I wonder if another constraint is AWD and modern stability control systems not being able to handle a difference in circumference at one corner, so space saver tires are not an option.
kube-system 4y ago
That’s likely a road hazard issue, not a maintenance or reliability problem. But it’s fairly common for vehicles to not include spare tires these days. My last three vehicles have not had one. Spares are expensive, heavy, take up space, and nobody buys vehicles based on their inclusion. A vehicle without them gets better fuel mileage, has more space, and costs less.
tunap 4y ago
Replying to my post to reply to all replies... that's a recipe for disaster, IMO. I wouldn't travel outside a major metro, or on a weekend, without a spare; phone service gets sketchy when rural & the likelihood for monetary abuse by rando Roadside Service providers is likely to be very abusive, as I have experienced 1st hand. I always have a spare tire, jack, plug kit & air pump in my vehicles. I do travel much, 20-30k miles a year, so I likely experience more issues than average... was zip-tying my shift linkage after a rock bounced up and broke it a couple months back.
JshWright 4y ago
Is that unique to EVs? I'm pretty sure the lack of a spare is trend with new cars in general.
rrwo 4y ago
Most new non-EVs don't have spares anymore.

by tunap 4y ago

lotsofpulp 4y ago

Many new cars do not come with a spare either. I had a family friend I needed to help, and their Dodge caravan minivan, only came with an air pump that had a sealant to patch holes in the tire.

jstarfish 4y ago
Was that standard, or an instance of the dealer stripping the accessories and marketing them as as add-ons? First I've heard of this. (Minivans often mount the spare in weird places around the undercarriage, not anywhere obvious...)
- lotsofpulp 4y ago
  Could have been the dealer stripping the accessory, I do not buy cars often enough to know.
- kube-system 4y ago
  Some caravans have the spare in a strange place under the middle of the van, and you might not find it unless you read the owners manual a couple times while scratching your head saying "wait, it's there?" Later vans had no spare at all from the factory. It's very common these days for vehicles to come without a spare. The fact that many people don't realize this is exactly why they do it.
exhilaration 4y ago
My 2016 Toyota Sienna came with run flat tires. No spare, no can of sealant.

Jeremy1026 4y ago

I haven't had a spare tire in my last 6 cars going back 16 years. Manufacturers cut the cost and no longer supply them. 3 of those cars have been EVs, 3 have been ICE.

jm4 4y ago

I had the same experience and I was livid. I was 4 hours from home and had to rent a car to get back. It was out in a less populated area without a lot of options and it was a holiday weekend. I had such a hard time finding a car. Some less than reputable place ended up letting me take a slightly crashed car. It was the only thing left that could drive. My car was towed to a Tesla service center and I had to pay like $400 for a new tire. Then I had to rent another car to go pick mine up a couple days later. I was ready to set the damn thing on fire by the end of it. The lack of a spare tire isn't exclusive to EV's though. Most don't include a spare anymore.

_ea1k 4y ago

The lack of spare tires is correlated with the increase in tire size, IMO. My first car was a 1987 Mazda with 14" tires. It was a two seat sports car, with a tiny spare mounted vertically. They could do that since it was 14". Modern sports cars are 18-20" and the spare tire is a big cargo compromise.

bravetraveler 4y ago
Makes me mad that my mustang has a spot for a spare... But no actual spare They give you a fix it kit and some good wishes edit: I suspect it's something to do with tire size as you say, but also brakes. Can't fit a donut with what's on the hub For > $40k I would've liked they throw in a real spare wheel/tire lol
- _ea1k 4y ago
  I'm sure it depends on the car as to the reason. My RX-8 does not have a spare, but does have space for one. The kit would take up over half the trunk space, though!
- kube-system 4y ago
  That’s actually a good thing, because you have a place to put one if you want to buy one.
- creaturemachine 4y ago
  At that point it was a cost cut. They engineered for a spare but the accountants gave you a can of foam.
  - kube-system 4y ago
    The engineers may have pulled the spare to hit CAFE targets, but left the spare well as a cost cut to avoid retooling costs.
ehnto 4y ago
I wonder if another constraint is AWD and modern stability control systems not being able to handle a difference in circumference at one corner, so space saver tires are not an option.

kube-system 4y ago

That’s likely a road hazard issue, not a maintenance or reliability problem. But it’s fairly common for vehicles to not include spare tires these days. My last three vehicles have not had one. Spares are expensive, heavy, take up space, and nobody buys vehicles based on their inclusion. A vehicle without them gets better fuel mileage, has more space, and costs less.

tunap 4y ago

Replying to my post to reply to all replies... that's a recipe for disaster, IMO. I wouldn't travel outside a major metro, or on a weekend, without a spare; phone service gets sketchy when rural & the likelihood for monetary abuse by rando Roadside Service providers is likely to be very abusive, as I have experienced 1st hand. I always have a spare tire, jack, plug kit & air pump in my vehicles. I do travel much, 20-30k miles a year, so I likely experience more issues than average... was zip-tying my shift linkage after a rock bounced up and broke it a couple months back.

JshWright 4y ago

Is that unique to EVs? I'm pretty sure the lack of a spare is trend with new cars in general.

rrwo 4y ago

Most new non-EVs don't have spares anymore.