Million mile motor?

[Revver]

"Tesla says that the Model 3 drive system is designed and validated for over one million miles of range.

Today, the automaker released impressive pictures of Model 3 drive units after testing, which Elon Musk says “drove 1M miles”."
Tesla releases impressive pictures of Model 3 drive unit after test, Musk says they drove 1M miles - Electrek

 

[strykeroz]

FWIW I thought the million mile number was due to the launch for the Tesla semi, which uses motors similar to the 3's and has a million mile warranty

 

[SlyOne]

Anyone remember that claim? Seems some owners have had to replace motors under 100,000 miles due to drive train problems. Soo, what sort of problems? Bearing failure, spline wear, gear wear, pump failure, etc.?

If you have had to have a motor or drive train replaced, post about it below. Also, if you know the cause of failure, post that too.

Keep on revvin',
Bill

I had my front drive replaced about 2500 miles from oscillating noise/decel clunk. No idea what the failure was just replaced entire drive (line replaceable unit). I don’t think we’ll find much info about what the actual failure is, as they don’t replace individual pieces, just modular units (LRU).

 

[XLR82XS]

Lots of ICE engines will got 300k, but people get rid of the car when brake lines are rusting out and electronics stop working and the suspension is shot..........

Yes, but with how much $$$$ in maintenance to get to 300K.

 

[Revver]

For Tesla to go a million miles in a Model 3 probably required multiple drivers driving the same car in shifts. That is different from a car that is driven twice a day. While the car sits, oil drains to the lowest level and components reach ambient temperature. The drive train is then subject to heavy loads while components are still at ambient temps. The latter will produce more wear with less miles.

 

[SSedan]

Yes, but with how much $$$$ in maintenance to get to 300K.

Having owned a bought used Model S about 2.5 years I am going to tell you your ideas about the lack of repairs and maintenance on an EV are delusion not reality.

My wife has a 2014 Impala which is no longer crappy rental but lower end of the luxury market.
It is more reliable and cheaper to own than the S with more miles on it. Ignoring purchase and insurance costs even.
EVs have different things that still fail, chargers, MCU, battery heater on some etc. Plenty still goes wrong.

 

[jfinephilly]

Uh, surprised you never heard that:

https://electrek.co/2019/04/13/tesla-model-3-longevity-claims-elon-musk/

Can he be held to claims he makes like these? Legally speaking, that is.

 

[iamnid]

What's up with the people on this forum?? I literally copy and pasted what I posted from the Tesla.com home page at the time I posted that.

People like you just like to start arguments.

Model 3 | Tesla

Scroll down to blue Model 3, read and comprehend, and come back to us with your crazy explanation that you are still right and I am wrong (in your own mind).

I stand corrected. I now see on the model 3 page where it says what you quoted. The portion I pasted was from the model 3 configuration page. We all make mistakes, no need to get upset and/or question my motivation.

 

[cwerdna]

No actually I have not seen any S or X since on this forum 18 months. I know a while back S’s had lots of problems. I’ve seen at least 6 Model 3 motors or more. I didn’t keep track. But eyebrow raising. Quite a few were what appeared to be unrelated issues but the fix ends up being a new drive unit. Quite a few batteries too. I don’t know the exact stats on either. I know things lean toward complaints on forums. But I also know there are folks with new drive units and batteries that also never posted here.

Here were about 1.5 dozen Model 3's that needed their drive units replaced: Shoddy quality and poor QC and missing parts... I posted that in March 2019. In Nov 2019, I pointed to 3 more I found at 24 Months of Model 3 - How is Reliability?.

One of the folks I pointed to is in this thread.

 

[Uncle Paul]

First year production usually has more issues than later production.

Manufacturers learn from warranty claims, and make running changes to reduce those expenses in the future.

Believe the Million Mile vehicle is a not yet realized hope. Million mile vehicle may just mean that it is possible, but still may require cost effective replacements, repairs and maintenance along the way. No way the tires are going to last the million miles etc.

 

[SageBrush]

I posted

Fantastic numbers from a brand new motor, and pretty much rock solid now.

In related news, my 20 month old Model 3 has 315 miles of rated range, the same as new. Last week I drove 360 miles (some of it at 80 mph) and stopped once for a 16 minute charge

What an amazing car.

 

[Resist]

"Your car can drive on either motor, so you never need to worry about getting stuck on the road. If one motor stops working, you can safely continue to your destination with the second."

From what I have read, that's not even true as the whole car can be disabled by a failed drive unit

One of the reasons I got my AWD was because if one motor failed then the other could get me home, but you're saying that's not true? This is the first I've heard of it. Can you link some references?

 

[cwerdna]

One of the reasons I got my AWD was because if one motor failed then the other could get me home, but you're saying that's not true? This is the first I've heard of it. Can you link some references?

Myth: AWD able to drive if one motor fails?
Rear motor failure on road trip.
Rear drive unit fail

Hope someone else has better threads on this. There have been some before but I can't find them right now.

 

[Candleflame]

For Tesla to go a million miles in a Model 3 probably required multiple drivers driving the same car in shifts. That is different from a car that is driven twice a day. While the car sits, oil drains to the lowest level and components reach ambient temperature. The drive train is then subject to heavy loads while components are still at ambient temps. The latter will produce more wear with less miles.

This privatier Hansjoerg in Germany who drives 600km a day has over 1 million km on his model S. Though I do think he had his drive unit replaced at some point.

Afaik there were some people who did have a damaged rear motor and the car did let them drive on the front motor only.

 

[XLR82XS]

Having owned a bought used Model S about 2.5 years I am going to tell you your ideas about the lack of repairs and maintenance on an EV are delusion not reality.

My wife has a 2014 Impala which is no longer crappy rental but lower end of the luxury market.
It is more reliable and cheaper to own than the S with more miles on it. Ignoring purchase and insurance costs even.
EVs have different things that still fail, chargers, MCU, battery heater on some etc. Plenty still goes wrong.

What ideas are those? I never mentioned anything about my ideas of EV ownership.

 

[Phlier]

EVs have different things that still fail, chargers, MCU, battery heater on some etc. Plenty still goes wrong.

Unfortunately, that's true. For now. But as the technology matures and Tesla learns what the points of failure are, we'll see these items get drastically more reliable in the future.

 

[mswlogo]

One of the reasons I got my AWD was because if one motor failed then the other could get me home, but you're saying that's not true? This is the first I've heard of it. Can you link some references?

There have been several folks with AWD that lost everything when one drive unit went. I think if you lose the front your ok. But if you lose rear your done. Probably because car is rear biased.

 

[OCR1]

The average person drives around 12,000 miles per year. So it would take 83 years of driving your Model 3 to find out if Elon’s claim is true. I know I personally won’t be around to test his theory.

 

[mswlogo]

The average person drives around 12,000 miles per year. So it would take 83 years of driving your Model 3 to find out if Elon’s claim is true. I know I personally won’t be around to test his theory.

It’s claimed to be a million mile motor, not a million mile car.

 

[OCR1]

It’s claimed to be a million mile motor, not a million mile car.

His quote was drive train and body. So yes there are lots of other components, but the claim that the body would also last 1 million miles suggests he thinks the car can sustain itself for the entire million miles.

 

[XLR82XS]

The average person drives around 12,000 miles per year. So it would take 83 years of driving your Model 3 to find out if Elon’s claim is true. I know I personally won’t be around to test his theory.

I drive a lot and planning to roll the miles on as fast I can. Already over 6K miles in 2.5 months. I'll report here any major service issues and looking forward to years of trouble-free enjoyment. (fingers crossed)