200 Wh/mile to use heater?

[StealthP3D]

The MYTH that EVs have no maintenance or service costs is going to bite a LOT of you in the rear. It is a baldfaced lie but most of those repeating it are lying to themself too and believe it.

What myth? I have never heard anyone claim that EV's have no maintanence or service costs! If there is a lie going on it's that this myth actually exists in the real world. It's a fake "myth" made up by people who want to try to disparage EV's. EV's have reduced maintenance and service costs, and that is absolutely true (in the aggregate). Any one case may or may not reflect the typical case because there is considerable variability in how much might go wrong with either. The good thing is that extra service costs are often inversely proportional to the intellegence of the owner. The people who have the highest expenses and complain the loudest, more often than not, bring it own through their own actions (or lack thereof).

An electric motor may require less maintenance than an ICE but the rest of the car is still a car, and a heavy one with lots of power at that so it will be rough on suspension, tires, brakes if you use them.

Typically, an electric motor doesn't need less maintenance than an ICE, it needs zero maintenance. As to the other items, it's important to compare cars of similar performance. You don't compare a limited production twin turbo eight cylinder to a mass-market naturally aspirated six cyl. and you shouldn't do the same with EV's vs. gas. Most EV's need a lot less brake replacement than an ICE car with equal performance. A lot less.

MS S has just a few thousand miles less miles on it than my wife's 2014 Impala and in one year has had FAR more repair and maintenance costs than her crappy old ICE has had in the 3 years we have owned it.

Somehow, this is not an apples/apples comparison. Which car is more fun to drive? Which one was made in limited numbers and which was mass produced? Which one is slower than a stink bug in November and which one is fast enough to show up many exotics costing 2-4 times as much? And probably the most relevant problem with your comparison is that neither car has enough miles (under 100,000)for the advantages of the EV drivetrain to make itself known.

Also, a big factor here is every new Tesla model that is released is better than the last. The jump from the original Roadster to the Model S was huge. The jump to the Model X was evolutionary, not revolutionary. The jump to the Model 3 was revolutionary. You cannot extrapolate the the cost of repairs for a typical Model 3 from the history of the Model S without accounting for the revolutionary improvements incorporated in the Model 3. You also shouldn't draw conclusions from a sample size of one EV and one ICE car (even assuming they were comparable cars).

My reading on suspension rattles leads me to believe the air suspension cars are prone to rattle $$$$$$.

That's true. Anytime you add complexity and adjustments it's going to add potential points of failure. A steel spring and hydraulic damper is simple. This is not unique to Tesla at all.

Don't get me wrong, love the S I just am rational, reasonable and have experience with a car that isn't brand new anymore.

All I can wonder is where you heard it would need no maintenance or repairs? Because I've never heard anyone make that claim. An EV powertrain is inherently more reliable but any large, high-end, high performance, early production, limited production, luxury car loaded with features like adjustable air suspension and new technology is going to require some maintenance. The cost of your repairs don't seem excessive for such a car. Do you know how much oil, filters, valves costs for some Ferrari's with less performance than a P85? One tune-up can set you back more than every penny you've spent maintaning your P85. And that's just taking normal care of it and assuming nothing breaks.

I not trying to come down on you or be harsh but perhaps you were not comparing apples to apples going into this thing? Live and learn, right?