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Cost of battery replacement

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What is the cost of battery or motor replacement?

(1) If I buy a used Model S, the warranty is for eight years or an unlimited amount of miles

(2) The new Model S is capped at 150k miles

I drive 50k/yr on average with my 2017 Prius Prime. I used to drive a 2007 Prius, which we still have, that has close to 500k miles. I plan on keeping the Prime, but I would like to drive a Model S instead.

Any idea how much a battery or replacement would be on a 90D or even on the new long range? Getting in touch with someone at Tesla is nearly impossible and I can't find this info online.

Thanks!
 
I've read numbers here in the range of $22k for replacing a 85 pack. I'm not sure what the warranty is on the new replacement packs that are apparently a modified 100 pack missing a couple of modules to make it a "90" (and also to keep it in the correct weight range).

If you're really driving to the moon every 3-4 years, I'd recommend getting an S with a 100 battery; I think some ravens and all "100D" have the lifetime 8 year warranty. I'd get the newest one of those you can afford like this one. (it's a 2017 100 long range with 50200 miles so it only has the 2 year warranty, or for this OP, the 1 year warranty if he really pounds on 50k miles a year). It's less than a 3 or y at $58k

As far as if tesla ever will reduce the price of the replacement packs to the point where it makes sense to put one on a 500k mile tesla; the answer is total speculation. I personally put it at over 80% that they will make a somewhat modular replacement pack architecture out of the model 3/Y battery cells, and they'll price it at between $8 and $15k for a 90 size pack. Why? To burnish the brand -- they want to demonstrate that they'll be able to support the older cars forever otherwise they'll lose brand equity (buy a tesla? meh - they wear as well as an italian car!). Also, the whole premise of tesla is to scale up building a megacrapton of batteries and develop markets to consume those batteries; starting with the most profitable battery markets first (battery wrapping a luxury car) but eventually they want to be able to build terawatts of battery capacity and "replacement packs for older cars" will be more profitable than "packs to sit next to a house". If they want to dominate the EV market they'll need lots more repair capacity than what they have, and I'm guessing that 1/3rd of the bankrupted BMW dealerships will become tesla service centers by 2025. Lastly, the worn out batteries won't necessarily actually be dead, they'll just be really really slow to charge and have limited range -- having a bunch of those clogging up the supercharger network will ruin their thanksgiving surge capacity; it's worth while to incentivize repairing these older cars to avoid the clogged supercharger network and negative brand equity of "oh man that's an S -- I wonder if it's able to go 100 miles or not" like what you have with 2013 leafs.

There's another scenario -- teslas, once they hit 10-15 years old all suffer catastrophic battery failure and replacement batteries are $25-35k installed, IE way too expensive to be worth it for most older teslas. In that case, the residual value of any older tesla will fall through the floor and jalopnik will write articles like this one about the first generation tesla Ss. And clearly the brand equity of Audi hasn't actually taken a catastrophic hit, so maybe tesla will never offer a reasonable replacement battery.
 
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I've read numbers here in the range of $22k for replacing a 85 pack. I'm not sure what the warranty is on the new replacement packs that are apparently a modified 100 pack missing a couple of modules to make it a "90" (and also to keep it in the correct weight range).

If you're really driving to the moon every 3-4 years, I'd recommend getting an S with a 100 battery; I think some ravens and all "100D" have the lifetime 8 year warranty. I'd get the newest one of those you can afford like this one. (it's a 2017 100 long range with 50200 miles so it only has the 2 year warranty, or for this OP, the 1 year warranty if he really pounds on 50k miles a year). It's less than a 3 or y at $58k

As far as if tesla ever will reduce the price of the replacement packs to the point where it makes sense to put one on a 500k mile tesla; the answer is total speculation. I personally put it at over 80% that they will make a somewhat modular replacement pack architecture out of the model 3/Y battery cells, and they'll price it at between $8 and $15k for a 90 size pack. Why? To burnish the brand -- they want to demonstrate that they'll be able to support the older cars forever otherwise they'll lose brand equity (buy a tesla? meh - they wear as well as an italian car!). Also, the whole premise of tesla is to scale up building a megacrapton of batteries and develop markets to consume those batteries; starting with the most profitable battery markets first (battery wrapping a luxury car) but eventually they want to be able to build terawatts of battery capacity and "replacement packs for older cars" will be more profitable than "packs to sit next to a house". If they want to dominate the EV market they'll need lots more repair capacity than what they have, and I'm guessing that 1/3rd of the bankrupted BMW dealerships will become tesla service centers by 2025. Lastly, the worn out batteries won't necessarily actually be dead, they'll just be really really slow to charge and have limited range -- having a bunch of those clogging up the supercharger network will ruin their thanksgiving surge capacity; it's worth while to incentivize repairing these older cars to avoid the clogged supercharger network and negative brand equity of "oh man that's an S -- I wonder if it's able to go 100 miles or not" like what you have with 2013 leafs.
Great info and I would agree.
I think we may see more aftermarket options available. At one time I remember seeing Jason Hughes offering full pack swaps, but can't remember pricing. Didn't see anything on this web site today. You also have EV tuning in the New England area. I'm sure EV west would offer Tesla Battery swaps, for that's what's mostly in their EV conversions.

Great price on that 2017 too being a 100 battery.
 
If I buy the 2016 I'm looking at, that would be four years to see if the motor or battery needs to be replaced. I have been avoiding luxury cars based on the incredibly high cost of repairs. My Jaguar required 10k in repairs in four years and it only got to 60k miles before it became worth less than it would have cost to repair. I don't know if buying a model S would be like buying a Mercedes in that respect, i.e. exorbitant repair bills.
 
I don't know if buying a model S would be like buying a Mercedes in that respect, i.e. exorbitant repair bills.

some have better luck than others. My late 2016 car has 110,000 miles on it and has been quite reliable and economical to maintain. There are some failures that can cost a lot out of pocket:

Door handles ~$800 ea (though I hear this has come down)

MCU (17” touchscreen) used to be $1600-2500 but they’ve very recently started repairing them with $500 daughter cards instead of replacing the whole thing

DC-DC converter ~$3,000 - though the actual failure is usually a $5 fuse that you can replace yourself if you’re brave and handy

Charge port ~$1200

Onboard charger ~$3,000

I wouldn’t call any of these “common” but they happen enough to be discussed here semi-regularly.
 
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If I buy the 2016 I'm looking at, that would be four years to see if the motor or battery needs to be replaced. I have been avoiding luxury cars based on the incredibly high cost of repairs. My Jaguar required 10k in repairs in four years and it only got to 60k miles before it became worth less than it would have cost to repair. I don't know if buying a model S would be like buying a Mercedes in that respect, i.e. exorbitant repair bills.
People love to tout the “maintenance free” aspect of EV’s.

While it is true to say there is little “maintenance” to be done, no one ever makes mention of “repairs” which can easily outweigh both maintenance+repair cost of similar luxury vehicles.

Don’t let anyone tell you different. The first out-of-warranty repair for any major component will be significant and potentially not worth keeping the vehicle to address. Tesla should have had these prices under control by now but the constant change over of batteries and drivetrains isn’t helping.
 
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If I buy the 2016 I'm looking at, that would be four years to see if the motor or battery needs to be replaced. I have been avoiding luxury cars based on the incredibly high cost of repairs. My Jaguar required 10k in repairs in four years and it only got to 60k miles before it became worth less than it would have cost to repair. I don't know if buying a model S would be like buying a Mercedes in that respect, i.e. exorbitant repair bills.

I'd suggest creating a sinking car fund where you regularly (monthly or weekly) put the money in that you would spend on gas, oil changes and maintenance of an ICE car. You'd be amazed to do the math on how much you would have spent on that stuff once the 4-years remaining of the battery/motor warranty expires. This isn't repairs which admittedly are higher on newer model lines or newer manufacturers which Tesla still is compared to the competition. They're still figuring out some durability and wear items that other manufacturers have managed better over the 100 years or so they've been doing it. But even those are getting better with Tesla as time goes on. I digress.

As an example of how you can save for potential repairs, my wife and I save over $4k per year on gas and oil changes alone compared to our ICE cars. We're average mileage drivers and the ICE cars we had were of average fuel efficiency so adjust these numbers accordingly for your application. I've got a friend that saves nearly that a year on just one vehicle since he's an above average mileage driver of a car that was slightly below average fuel economy. So, in our case, we'd have about $16k in said fund and that doesn't include any interest or additional money added for other maintenance items we'd have to account for in the ICE cars. That's just money we would have FOR SURE spent owning the ICE car over the same period. Don't forget that battery technology is advancing quite rapidly and therefore a $20k battery today will likely be much much less expensive, better or both 4-5 years from now.

$10k at a minimum can fix a lot of things outside of warranty on a Tesla and you will likely have more money than that if you follow this suggestion and try to account for things like plug changes, timing belts, accessories and belts, etc. which are also unavoidable on ICE cars. For me, I'd use this saved money to upgrade to a slightly newer car with more features but the choice is yours. If you prepare properly (like we all should be doing) you'll not be empty handed and blind-sided by a potentially large repair bill.
 
some have better luck than others. My late 2016 car has 110,000 miles on it and has been quite reliable and economical to maintain. There are some failures that can cost a lot out of pocket:

Door handles ~$800 ea (though I hear this has come down)

MCU (17” touchscreen) used to be $1600-2500 but they’ve very recently stated repairing them with $500 daughter cards instead of replacing the whole thing

DC-DC converter ~$3,000 - though the actual failure is usually a $5 fuse that you can replace yourself if you’re brave and handy

Charge port ~$1200

Onboard charger ~$3,000

I wouldn’t call any of these “common” but they happen enough to be discussed here semi-regularly.

I'd agree with most of those other than the handles. This is one area that Tesla has made drastic and noticeable improvements over the years in terms of both cost and reliability. The newest complete revision (3rd I think?) of these now has no micro switches (previous version used 3), far less parts being mostly self-contained and is not only far more reliable as a result but the cost is more like $200 +/-$50 depending on what reports you read. They all but eliminated the parts that were most prone to failure over the different iterations. This is a great example where things are getting better even for these older Model S cars as time goes on in terms of repair costs and options.

Also, let's not forget to mention that one with an MCU1 can now choose to upgrade to MCU2 for less than $2,500 directly from Tesla which previously wasn't even an option. While I personally feel that's still too much to pay for the benefits the older AP1 cars receive at least it's still an option and many are super stoked since that was one of the big selling points on the newer cars according to many. The older cars are no longer locked in time so to speak in terms of hardware on one of the more important aspects and I'm sure others could follow in time.
 
I'd agree with most of those other than the handles. This is one area that Tesla has made drastic and noticeable improvements over the years in terms of both cost and reliability. The newest complete revision (3rd I think?) of these now has no micro switches (previous version used 3), far less parts being mostly self-contained and is not only far more reliable as a result but the cost is more like $200 +/-$50 depending on what reports you read. They all but eliminated the parts that were most prone to failure over the different iterations. This is a great example where things are getting better even for these older Model S cars as time goes on in terms of repair costs and options.
Agree, and it's worth noting my 2016 hasn't had a single door handle failure. The later revisions are much more reliable. Glad to hear the repair cost has come down.
 
I'd agree with most of those other than the handles. This is one area that Tesla has made drastic and noticeable improvements over the years in terms of both cost and reliability. The newest complete revision (3rd I think?) of these now has no micro switches (previous version used 3), far less parts being mostly self-contained and is not only far more reliable as a result but the cost is more like $200 +/-$50 depending on what reports you read. They all but eliminated the parts that were most prone to failure over the different iterations. This is a great example where things are getting better even for these older Model S cars as time goes on in terms of repair costs and options.

Also, let's not forget to mention that one with an MCU1 can now choose to upgrade to MCU2 for less than $2,500 directly from Tesla which previously wasn't even an option. While I personally feel that's still too much to pay for the benefits the older AP1 cars receive at least it's still an option and many are super stoked since that was one of the big selling points on the newer cars according to many. The older cars are no longer locked in time so to speak in terms of hardware on one of the more important aspects and I'm sure others could follow in time.

MCU1 EMMC failure costs have plummeted to $140 recently. There are receipts posted in the EMMC thread.
 
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I'm curious if there's a list of third-party vendors that can refurbish Tesla batteries and/or perform battery replacements. I've seen a smattering of YouTube videos where folks have been able to swap out modules or even entire batteries. If the cost can come down to under $10k, it would make it more palatable option as opposed to the current $20k and above that we've seen posted before.
 
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Thank you so much for sharing that data point!

Was that on a 60 battery with the limited mileage warranty?

Did they offer a new instead of a re-manufactured part and how long did it take for them to get the part delivered to the SC? At a local service center they had an old style roadster with a dead battery and they had it on the lot for several weeks while I assume Dr Battery was building a new pack.
 
Maybe someone who knows better can confirm but I believe that part number is a refurb but "newer" version 85kWh pack that seems to have more range and quicker Supercharging than most people's outgoing battery packs had.

If I pay for a replacement pack I wouldn't care if tesla put magic beans and hot sauce in it as long as it gets me roughly the performance of when I bought the car (supercharge speed being most important feature, range a close second as long as it gets me to the next supercharger).

Also, the warranty is super important -- 4 years / all the miles is a good starting place for the warranty, unless the replacement is less than $6000.
 
If I pay for a replacement pack I wouldn't care if tesla put magic beans and hot sauce in it as long as it gets me roughly the performance of when I bought the car (supercharge speed being most important feature, range a close second as long as it gets me to the next supercharger).

Also, the warranty is super important -- 4 years / all the miles is a good starting place for the warranty, unless the replacement is less than $6000.
The reports I saw were of people getting that battery pack as a warranty replacement and they all stated a higher range & Supercharge speed than before the issues began, some were even better than new I believe. I think that most of these people had smaller packs to begin with in the 60-75kWh range so of course a software limited 85kWh pack is going to offer better performance. But yeah, I agree, if you're paying out of pocket it better better at least as good as new. Again, this was all from memory of reading about a topic that only partially applied to me so I really didn't commit all of the specifics to memory more than a general idea for future reference in case I needed it so I could be off.