[Finnucane]

After 20 years, I'd expect it to be different. We have a '99 Honda CRV, and a significant chunk of the money we've paid for maintenance in the 12 yrs we've had it has been for the exhaust system. Over time, on any car, brakes will eventually need replacing, electrical bits will fail and need replacing, bits of your suspension will need replacing, and so on.

[randcraw]

You expect owning an electric car to be different, yet Teslas also have the very systems you mention will wear out -- brakes, electric bits, etc -- making them comparably consumable to any ICE or hybrid, especially after 20 years of daily driving (like your CRV).

I would imagine any car heavily dependent on advanced sensors and electronics to cost more to maintain than traditional cars, especially after the first few years. And those parts will likely cost more than a muffler.

[693471]

Tesla brakes are rarely used because the majority of your braking is regenerative. They're rated to about 150k miles before needing service for the Model 3.

[Finnucane]

Yeah, but these days, _every_ car is coming along with complex electronic systems that will be expensive to maintain. Which is one of the reasons we keep our old Honda running.

The real question is: how are we going to maintain the geopolitical/industrial system necessary to keep gas flowing ? And why should we?

[dsfyu404ed]

After 10-15yr the Tesla (or any EV) will probably need a battery. After 20yr it is basically a certainty.

[geggam]

yet my 2001 tahoe ICE gas guzzler has required only oil changes, brakes and tires.

260k miles and it still goes strong, diesels easily get to 500k miles

An interesting twist would be using a hydrogen fuel in an ICE.

[dsfyu404ed]

The 4l60 in that Tahoe is on borrowed time. That's on the same order of cost magnitude as a battery.

For people who have to pay other people to do maintenance (i.e. most people) whether or not you buy a POS that eats suspension wear items for breakfast and how anal you are about getting every little scratch fixed will dominate long term cost. A couple grand for a battery or transmission spread out over more than a decade really isn't that much. Shelling out a grand every time your vehicle gets humped by a shopping cart will add up quick.

[geggam]

You can get a new tesla battery for 1400 ? granted most folks cant replace one but I can. I cant work on or replace a tesla battery. I have also rebuilt transmissions and that gets you a fraction of the cost because the clutch packs are typically the only wear out part... that and seals.

https://www.transdepot.net/Stage-1-4L60E-98-05_p_215.html

[dsfyu404ed]

Look at Prius batteries. You can get cells for $25 a pop and rebuilt batteries for a grand.

Tesla will probably never reach that price point because they're a bigger battery and more on the luxury end of things (indeed a reman engine for a German car will hit your wallet harder than a crate SBC) but there's no reason to believe that the industry will all be hard/expensive to service like Tesla and other luxury brands. Also Tesla is particularly terrible about parts supply chain and locking everything down so you'll probably never see aftermarket batteries apply downward price pressure there.

[geggam]

I can essentially haul a Prius around on/behind my Tahoe with 6 people plus the driver. Not sure we are apples to apples here

[mikestew]

diesels easily get to 500k miles

They also cost on the order of five figures extra over gas engines.

[geggam]

I see usually 4 figures over and the standard saying goes it takes 5 years to see the cost equalized. Owning a diesel will save you money but buying or leasing wont.