car rolls through thousands of miles over years of driving. As prices continue to climb, the desire to own a Tesla has to be weighed against its long-term value. While every type of car has ongoing maintenance costs, the battery in an electric vehicle is among the most expensive parts to replace, making its lifespan critically important.
Tesla is not only an electric car designer and manufacturer. It engineers the large battery packs that power the vehicles. Every year, new advances are made, and research is ongoing. The goals always are to find ways to improve cost and efficiency without sacrificing durability. The availability of materials to increase battery production is also becoming an important consideration. It has led to Tesla's adoption of a new iron-based battery formulation to reduce the need for cobalt, which is in high demand as the shift to EVs accelerates.
Tesla recently published its 2021 Impact might not even be relevant when estimating long-term value. In a Tweet, Tesla made the point even more emphatically, suggesting the battery is made to outlast the car.
Tesla Battery In Finer Detail
Tesla included a chart showing Tesla Model S and X battery capacity retention over distance traveled. It showed a quick drop by a few percent in maximum charge level within the first few thousand miles before settling into a gradual, almost linear decline as thousands of miles rolled by. At the 200,000-mile mark, the chart reveals only about 10 percent battery capacity loss, which is quite impressive. In addition, Tesla notes that vehicles get scrapped after about 200,000 miles of use in the U.S., making the claim of the battery outlasting the car very believable with this criteria.
The lower-cost Model 3 and Model Y are not shown on the chart. In the fine print of Tesla's 2021 Impact Report, it's noted that age also affects battery life, and a car that is driven more frequently and for longer will be most likely to match these projections. A vehicle that sees little use might degrade with fewer miles driven, simply from battery age. Tesla also notes that these figures apply only to the older battery formulation. Newer chemistries, such as iron-based battery packs, will need more data before degradation can be accurately assessed. Telsa provides a new vehicle warranty of at least eight years or 100,000 miles, with a minimum 70 percent battery capacity, so newer battery types are still covered, even though the complete data isn't available yet.
Source: Tesla, Tesla/Twitter