Brake fluid needs to replaced eventually, same as in ICE cars. But that's only once in several years. No oil, no transmission fluid. And yeah, you need to refill windshield washer fluid every once in a while too :)
Other than that, since there are much fewer moving parts, there is much less regular maintenance necessary. Brake pads and discs survive much longer thanks to regenerative braking.
It has regen, which is basically energy capture via electric brakes. But it also has regular breaks, most drivers don't use them much so they last a really long time.
Yes and no. The low use of the brakes can be bad in non optimal weather, and can lead to the brakes getting stuck, uneven etc. There has been some problems with this in Denmark and Norway. So you still need to service the brakes.
Brake wear depends a lot on your driving style and circumstances. My very much ICE-only compact car develops a sideways brake bias because I never use the brakes very hard in normal driving, but you can alleviate that (and indeed, eventually must, to pass the annual inspection) by a couple of sharp hard brakings to clean whatever muck off the pads and rotors, or whatever that is causing it.
But I wouldn't call a once-in-a-decade service a hassle in maintaining a car. Without any luck you might have to service your suspension and track angles as often (due to potholes and whatnots) to keep your tyre wear in control.
How does it work? Does it use regen exclusively if you press the brake pedal lightly, and then the mechanical brakes are only engaged when you stomp on the pedal, or?
It depends on settings, state of charge and temperature of the batterypack. On normal it stars a slow regen as soon as you let go of the "gas". And brakes are only deployed if you hit the brakes. However if you already have a full battery (very rare) or the battery is cold (very often in cold winter) the battery cant absorb the charge, so regen is disabled. This means the car brakes very differently, with or without regen, but this is also indicates on the dash.
I have a Gen 3 Prius and it works the same. The only think I'll add is the Prius uses the brake pads at low speed (<10mph) and when you come to a full stop as well.
Left <-> right interchange doesn't really happen anymore since radial tires have become standard on most vehicles.
Radial tires are unidirectional, so if you go left -> right your tires will be rotating backwards, and then they won't be able to channel water out from the treads.
Change the wheel a given tire is attached to. This is to have a regular "wear" on your tires. Incidentally, you can also regularly rotate your mattress to have a better sleep.
I don't think I've ever had this done when getting my tires rotated. They just move the wheels and tires from front to back and sometimes from left to right.
From what I've heard Telsa vehicles rare in for warranty repairs at a higher rate than most other new vehicles.
"The main problem areas involved the drivetrain, power equipment, charging equipment, giant iPad-like center console, and body and sunroof squeaks, rattles, and leaks."
The most common problems involve replacement of the electric motors, warped brake rotors, door handles that fail to slide out as a driver approaches, and numerous squeaks and rattles, which may be more apparent given the very quiet nature of electric propulsion.
Other problem areas cited by Tesla owners are leaking cooling pumps for the battery pack, dead windshield wipers, persistent alignment issues with the wheels, and misaligned latches for the front trunklid and the rear liftgate.
Thus far, all such problems have been handled under Tesla's four-year/50,000-mile warranty (it's eight years and unlimited mileage on the powertrain)--and owners appear to be pleased with the level of attentiveness and customer service they have received.
But Consumer Reports notes that once the car is out of warranty, such problems could become expensive for owners of older Teslas to fix.
Electric motors are one of the most rugged pieces of equipment in the world.
Coming from a state run engineering enterprise, where every motor is purchased from the lowest bidder, even the worst quality motors run for decades before even showing signs of any trouble, including mechanical.
For a car like the Tesla, it's hard to believe that the motor will give any sort of trouble.
Also, most electric motors, even those driven by variable frequency drives, are extremely simple in construction and are extremely resilient to shocks and prolonged use.
Almost all modern motors have efficiencies upwards of 97.5%, so you have very less heating losses and mechanical losses even in the most demanding conditions.
It may be hard to believe, but read the forums (especially of other cars with Tesla drivetrains, like the Mercedes-Benz EV or the Toyota RAV 4 EV) and you'll see many tales of woe regarding the motors. Tesla makes their motors in-house, so it's not surprising they've been working out the kinks for years, given their sales volume (until recently).
If I think about it, there must be 20 - 30 electric motors within a 40 meter radius of my desk at work. Probably 60 within 100 meter radius. Most of them are bolted to hydraulic pumps, cranes, or CNC machine drive mechanisms. Can't say I've ever seen an electric motor fail in the 20 years I've been working in metal fabrication.
But I didn't write any of that comment, it's quoted directly from an industry observer.
Just recently we've learned of faulty airbags in vehicles going back ~17 years, occasionally killing the driver.[1]
We can't point at a thing and say "well, it's full of parts that ought to be reliable, so it'll be reliable."
Seems to fit their long term goal of just renting out cars. If you make it prohibitive to own outside the warranty the default eventually becomes leasing.
Funnily enough, there is no key fob on a Model 3. You are supposed to use your phone to unlock your car (using Bluetooth) or a key car (using NFC) in case your phone is dead or you do not wish to couple your phone with the vehicle.
I personally like the idea because I hate carrying my keys with me and a credit card sized car would be much better for me. But I think Tesla should offer to sell normal key fobs for people who which to use those instead.
With a mass-market car, I hope that Haynes or Chilton put out a repair manual if Tesla doesn't make their shop manual available to the public at low cost.
Other than that, since there are much fewer moving parts, there is much less regular maintenance necessary. Brake pads and discs survive much longer thanks to regenerative braking.