In the early part of this modern age of electric carMany thought that the batteries were the main weak point of this type of vehicle. Some manufacturers even offered battery rental systems to improve customer confidence. But now we have seen how the performance of the batteries, with some exceptions, is exceeding expectations and, as an example, the data from the owner with the Tesla with the most miles registered so far.
This is the German Hansjörg von Gemmingen-Hornberg, who has been driving his Model S P85+ for the last 9 years without a break. A time where his unit has traveled in total more than 1.7 million kilometers. A time where the unforeseen events and failures of its first generation unit have not been lacking, despite which it has continued to use it up to now.
During this time this model has suffered different breakdowns. The battery has had to be changed twice, the first after traveling 668,000 kilometers and the second 550,000 km later. Now you need to change it again because an error limits its output power, which makes charging times a very long process. But it could have continued circulating with the current one.
This change will allow you replace the current battery with the 100 kWh pack. Something that will translate into faster charging and also more autonomy. In addition, it will turn this unit into a true unicorn since it will be the only, or one of the few, units of the Model S Performance with rear-wheel drive and a large battery.
The big question besides whether this new pack will manage to exceed the useful life of the first packs, is the cost. According to the client, the first two batteries have been changed within the vehicle’s warranty, 8 years and unlimited kilometers. But the third will have to be paid out of pocket.
In total Tesla has budgeted the change in €20,492. An investment that has been reconsidered several times, but that he has finally decided to face for various reasons.
One is because if I changed cars, lost the privilege of free refills at Superchargers. Something that due to its intensive use of the vehicle supposes a few thousand euros each year. On the other hand, if the car is not repaired, it would have to acquire a new one, and the investment would be even greater.
The problem here once the decision is made, is the wait to receive the new battery. And it is that the request to the technical service was made last January, and the client is still waiting for the arrival of his 100 kWh battery.
Tesla’s problem, the engines
But since batteries, even first-generation ones, aren’t much of a problem, we wonder which component has given Tesla technicians the most work. And curiously it has been one of the most reliable in electric cars. Your engine.
In this case, the Model S has not been especially effective in this section, and the Performance’s powerful rear unit has had to be replaced up to 11 times. Normally due to a problem that is limited to a strange noise, not affecting the performance and operation of the car itself.
A section that unlike the battery, the customer can go once the warranty has ended to an external repairer who reconditions the engine or replaces it with one from a unit removed from the road, since this will not affect the free access to the guarantee, and also the waiting period will be foreseeably shorter.
Advice from an expert to increase the durability of our electric car
Although newer generations of batteries and drive systems should offer better performance, Hansjörg has shared some tips to make them suffer less.
For example, it indicates that the power of the engines invites the fun with accelerations. But remember that this stresses the components so you have to try to avoid them as much as possible.
It also remembers some keys to keep the battery in the best possible state, and for example, in addition to limiting the use of fast charges and discharges, it recommends do not charge too slowly on larger capacity batteries. For example, using a conventional plug suchko can stress this type of larger packs, so it recommends charging between 8 and 22 kW to achieve better performance.
