Tesla's reason for not adding spare tires, doesn't make sense.

[SalisburySam]

I get the manufacturers’ desires to forego spares and I do think it is all about the costs. However, it would be nice if there were storage options built into the cars should owners wish to carry a spare. Cars were designed with this for a century so cannot be that hard or expensive. And if the owner opts out the space is still there for other uses.

 

[Iron]

Anyone know if it's true that tires come with a foam lining and you can't just take it anywhere if a flat develops? I have the 19" continentals

Model Y Run Flat Tires [What You Need to Know] - That Tesla Channel

A flat tire is one of the worst situations for a driver. The flat changes the performance of your vehicle, reducing your control over it. Most car manufacturers tackle the

www.thatteslachannel.com

Tesla Tires Are Expensive​

Because of the TPMS and their proprietary foam lining, Tesla tires are quite expensive to repair. If your Model Y gets a flat tire, you can expect the repair cost to start at $230 plus labor for each tire.

And....

The Tesla Model Y Tire Pressure Monitoring Sensors​

Instead of spares and run-flat tires, Tesla included a tire pressure monitoring sensor (TPMS) system as a standard feature on their newer models including the Model Y. The TPMS constantly tracks the pressure in your car’s tires. It then warns you when the pressure drops below a threshold, giving you time to reach a tire repair shop before the tires go flat.

The Model Y uses a wireless TPMS system. Its sensors are embedded into the insides of the tires where they transmit the tire conditions to the main unit under the hood. As a flat tire prevention tool, this system is cheap and reliable. Some drivers may not like dealing with driver-assist features such as TPMS, but the system keeps the costs of Tesla cars low.


The system also reduces the load weight on your car. Run-flat tires are heavy, and spare tires take up extra space. By replacing them with foam-filled, TPMS-equipped tires give your Model Y a small performance and range boost that it would not otherwise have.

 

[joeinNFLA]

I really wished Tesla put spare tires on their vehicles. My Mercedes has a very compact space saving and light spare. The spare tires are vacuumed and the side walls collapse and fold inwards, the outside tires then compressed straight into the wheels taking very little space. It is also light. Mercedes even provides white gloves, which goes with the tires. You just pump the spare with the provided pump before installing. Light space saving tires exist, Tesla could add this type of light and space saving tires, vs customers having to cut areas of the trunk to add bulky spares.

I get that only a small percentage of people get flat tires and it is supposedly heavy, therefore Tesla omits it, but it is so much quicker to replace a flat, 15 min, vs waiting for hours for the service van to fix your flat or drag you to the nearest service center. It’s like saying a small percentage of our vehicles get into accidents so we just omit airbags. If you ever get a flat, you want a spare and light space saving spares now exist and I’m sure with Tesla’s smart engineering team they can design an even more compact and lighter spare.

Any idea how many people with spares even know how to change? And what happens on the interstate ? Very unsafe. And, Tesla isn’t the only vehicles with out spares. Industry trend for years.

 

[shoemakj]

The OEM tires on my MYLR have a foam liner glued to the interior circumference of the tire to help reduce road noise. It's not a puncture sealant. It has not interfered with me plugging the tire. It does have to be removed/replaced when patching the tire, but places like Discount Tire have done it for free. I might expect other tire shops to charge a little more labor to do it, but $230 is criminal. That's pretty much the cost of a new tire. I've had 3 punctures in ~31,000 miles, the most for any car I can remember. None has technically left me stranded because 2 were discovered in my garage where I have the tools I need and for the third (just last month on literally a brand new tire installed the previous day) I was able to add air and drive to Discount Tire.

I carry a plug kit and a tiny compressor but no jack. I'm seriously considering buying the modern spare kit for road trips.

My '02 (BMW) M3 has no spare, just a mini-compressor and puncture sealant. My '04 BMW 330i had a full size spare and wheel. Those are basically the same cars, dimensionally, but BMW removed the spare for weight savings and used the space to route the sport exhaust so you couldn't put your own spare in.

 

[cmaster]

A spare battery probably couldn't support the weight of the car anyway. Might as well just call roadside assistance to borrow a tire.

Actually, tbh, on all my cars even ICE cars I owned, I never needed to use the spare tires anyway. A lot of the flats that happen can be fixed through AAA roadside assistance as well. The other thing is that the spare tires are usually underrated for the load of the car. I rather have AAA fix the tire on the spot and drive that same tire back home.

 

[tashtibet]

when one Cry Baby starts wailing the rest follow-human emotive vomit in action.

 

[gflar]

I have only gotten two flats in the last 10 years, but at the most inconvenient time. One was on my way to Disneyworld with my girlfriend. It was a sudden flat, tire went from full inflation to full flat in less than 10 min. Just enough time to get off the freeway. My vehicle(Ford) at that time had a spare tire, so it was just a matter of switching to spare tires, maybe 15 min total, and off we went vs waiting in the side of the road for hours for a service van.

2nd time it happened, didn’t see the pothole due to the heavy rain. Tire went from fully inflated to flat in less than a minute. My vehicle had a spare, it was just a matter of waiting for that window of no rain and off we went.

In both cases tpms warned me of a flat, yes, quite useful but useless at the same time. Like telling you, you will run out of gas in 1 mile, good info to know but also useless. A friend of mine doesn’t know how to change tires. He got a flat tire at 10pm on his way to Miami, Service van arrived 4 hrs later at 2 am to fix his flat. If he had known how to replace a tire, he would have been back driving in 15 – 20 min vs waiting 4 hrs.

Anyway, to me a spare is still a better option, but I guess many are ok relying on a Service van to replace tires for them. With many Tesla owners preferring low profile tires, a flat is gonna happen. Just a matter of time, and it's usually at the most inconvenient time, like on your way to the airport or to a wedding, etc... Never happens on your way to the gym or groceries where time isn't an issue.

 

[Pianewman]

These endless discussion/debates about spare tires come down to one basic data point:

Location, location, location

 

[gflar]

These endless discussion/debates about spare tires come down to one basic data point:

Location, location, location

Very true, if you get a flat within 5 miles of a service center and during service hours you are probably ok.

 

[Iron]

The OEM tires on my MYLR have a foam liner glued to the interior circumference of the tire to help reduce road noise. It's not a puncture sealant. It has not interfered with me plugging the tire. It does have to be removed/replaced when patching the tire, but places like Discount Tire have done it for free. I might expect other tire shops to charge a little more labor to do it, but $230 is criminal. That's pretty much the cost of a new tire. I've had 3 punctures in ~31,000 miles, the most for any car I can remember. None has technically left me stranded because 2 were discovered in my garage where I have the tools I need and for the third (just last month on literally a brand new tire installed the previous day) I was able to add air and drive to Discount Tire.

I carry a plug kit and a tiny compressor but no jack. I'm seriously considering buying the modern spare kit for road trips.

My '02 (BMW) M3 has no spare, just a mini-compressor and puncture sealant. My '04 BMW 330i had a full size spare and wheel. Those are basically the same cars, dimensionally, but BMW removed the spare for weight savings and used the space to route the sport exhaust so you couldn't put your own spare in.

Thanks for the confirmation. I learned something from this thread. Didn't know there were foam liners in these bad boys. So If switching to another brand of tires, or not going the Tesla route, are you guys just leaving out the foam and dealing with the extra road noise or peeling and transferring the foam?

Yeah, my wife's BMW f30 has no spare either. One nice thing about tire plugs is that you really don't need to jack it up or take off the wheel. If you have it pinpointed, you can roll the car enough to expose the area and plug it then and there, even if you might have to lay on the ground. Done it before, although on a higher vehicle. Wouldn't it be nice if these Teslas came with a built in air compressor?

 

[zoomer0056]

Many new vehicles do not have a spare tire

According to AAA, 30 percent of new cars don’t come with a spare.

www.newscentermaine.com

Aha, I did not know that. The article unnecessarily contradicts itself. It says 30% of cars don't have spare tires. That means 70% do, then it says it is not the norm to have a spare. Strange to say that. Anyway, good to know.

 

[HankLloydRight]

Last time I had a car equipped with a spare tire was 2002

LOL! My 2002 BMW M5 had no spare… so my last car with an actual spare was my 1995 325i.

The M5 did have a compressor and a can of tire goo.

 

[Yelobird]

Wouldn't it be nice if these Teslas came with a built in air compressor?

They do offer one complete with fix a flat in a small convenience case on their accessories store. Rather low cost for those that want one.

 

[Tha_Ape]

I just carry around fix-a-flat and a plug kit.

Whenever I go on a long trip, I do bring a full size spare (from winter or summer set), as well as a lightweight hydraulic jack. I only really care about a spare when I'm away from civilization. Like in the mountains with no cell service.

 

[cwerdna]

Few US-market BEVs include a spare tire. For ages, I couldn't think of any that included it.

As data points, no US-market Leafs or Bolts ever included them. My '22 Niro EV doesn't have any either. In 2012, we were surprised to learn that Australian Leafs include a spare under the back (like in minivans): Spare tire down under! - My Nissan Leaf Forum. It's not even an option on US-market Leafs.

US-market Bolts don't even include a compressor and can of goop (they're part of an extra cost option) that Nissan included w/US-market Leafs.

 

[SO16]

I have only gotten two flats in the last 10 years, but at the most inconvenient time. One was on my way to Disneyworld with my girlfriend. It was a sudden flat, tire went from full inflation to full flat in less than 10 min. Just enough time to get off the freeway. My vehicle(Ford) at that time had a spare tire, so it was just a matter of switching to spare tires, maybe 15 min total, and off we went vs waiting in the side of the road for hours for a service van.

2nd time it happened, didn’t see the pothole due to the heavy rain. Tire went from fully inflated to flat in less than a minute. My vehicle had a spare, it was just a matter of waiting for that window of no rain and off we went.

In both cases tpms warned me of a flat, yes, quite useful but useless at the same time. Like telling you, you will run out of gas in 1 mile, good info to know but also useless. A friend of mine doesn’t know how to change tires. He got a flat tire at 10pm on his way to Miami, Service van arrived 4 hrs later at 2 am to fix his flat. If he had known how to replace a tire, he would have been back driving in 15 – 20 min vs waiting 4 hrs.

Anyway, to me a spare is still a better option, but I guess many are ok relying on a Service van to replace tires for them. With many Tesla owners preferring low profile tires, a flat is gonna happen. Just a matter of time, and it's usually at the most inconvenient time, like on your way to the airport or to a wedding, etc... Never happens on your way to the gym or groceries where time isn't an issue.

in either (or both) of those cases, would a tire plug and compressor worked for you or was the tire completely destroyed?

 

[SO16]

Aha, I did not know that. The article unnecessarily contradicts itself. It says 30% of cars don't have spare tires. That means 70% do, then it says it is not the norm to have a spare. Strange to say that. Anyway, good to know.

Yes but regardless, the 30% is increasing.

 

[zoomer0056]

expect the repair cost to start at $230 plus labor for each tire.

Only if you go to a rip off tire store. It should cost less than fifty bucks.

(TPMS) system as a standard feature

TPMS is standard on many cars and has nothing to do with tire repair.

 

[ucmndd]

Only if you go to a rip off tire store. It should cost less than fifty bucks.

Totally. $230 to patch a tire? Not sure where the knob that wrote that article is getting their data but the foam in the tires is a complete non-issue for patching. It’s like 5 minutes extra work.

And that TPMS nonsense is even worse.

 

[Gauss Guzzler]

Modern tires have a dramatically lower occurrence of blowouts.
TPMS helps to prevent the "Ford Explorer" type blowouts as intended, while also helping us to deal with slow leaks.
Cell phones largely eliminate the risk of "getting stranded".
Simple $10 accessories like 12V inflators, Fix-a-flat, and plug kits are widely available for the adventuresome.
Tesla's complimentary roadside assistance is available for those less adventurous.
And AAA is still common.

So really, it's a very small percentage of the population who would even bother to use a spare if they had one, nevermind that we only get flats every 5-10 years these days. Yeah, it sucks when you actually do lose a tire and have your whole day messed up with towing, tire ordering, and Ubering, but like AM/Satellite radio, Tesla made the right choice here by not burdening everyone with legacy costs that very few people actually benefit from.

And FWIW, I just got a flat 3 weeks ago and absolutely would have thrown on the spare in a heartbeat if I had one. But instead I used a friend's AAA to tow the car, got an Uber, left my car overnight at the shop (they told me it'd "probably be safe since it doesn't have a catalytic converter"), and then had my wife give me a ride back the next day. It sucked. But the last time that happened was 10 years ago. And 10 years before that. And the last time I actually had a car which included a spare that I tried to use was about 30 years ago and it was all dried out and flat anyway.