Hacker News new | ask | show | jobs
by TheSpiceIsLife 3247 days ago
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.

http://www.greencarreports.com/news/1100561_tesla-model-s-to...

2 comments

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."

Only time will tell.

1. https://www.productsafety.gov.au/news/takata-airbag-recalls-...

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.