[kkwtflz]

I don't know about the US, but in the EU almost all other brands have some kind of mandatory maintenance (and may void warranty if not performed on time) that may catch certain issues before the periodic inspection. Tesla is famous for not having a maintenance plan.

For EVs in particular, you almost never have to use the brakes, and if you don't burnish your brakes from time to time, the rotors may end up rusting or worse, especially in northern counties that use road salt in winter.

Some other well known issues with Model 3s and Ys are poor headlight height calibration and upper/lower lateral links that fail way too early.

The thing with all of these issues is that most Tesla owners are told that they don't need to perform any maintenance, and while that may be the case, you should at least inspect your car from time to time to detect these issues. You can even do most of this on your own (brake burnishing each year, headlight calibration, and more).

[beAbU]

It's actually madness that they don't spec a maintenance plan. My 2019 Kona EV comes with a maintenance plan, but everything is "inspect" and then maybe a "replace" on some of the fluids every 100k km or so.

In essence there is zero maintenance, but Hyundai makes it clear that annual inspection of everything is still important, and they will absolutely void your warranty if you skip such a "service" (inspection).

[torginus]

This might have some political aspect, as the service and dealership networks have pushed back on the manufacturer on having 'zero-maintenance' vehicles.

Which begs the question of what are you actually saving on with an EV - the expensive part of servicing a car is what you pay for labor and facilities - I'd argue more often than not, the actual parts and consumables are less than half the price you end up paying.

[tzs]

I think that they main thing is supposed to be that even though you will still have to go in for regular inspections and maintenance for various things that ICE owners also have to (tire rotations, fluids, air filter, HVAC, windshield wipers, etc) which should cost about the same, the ICE will also need maintenance on the transmission, clutch, and the engine itself. Those will add costs to the routine maintenance and if they ever need repairs can be expensive.

The EV does have the battery, and if they only lasted the length of the warranty (typically somewhere in the 100-150k mile range or 8 years, whichever comes first) then the cost of a battery replacement would swamp the savings from not having maintenance for things like clutches, transmissions, and engines.

But the data seems to be showing the EV batteries should last much longer, possibly longer than the rest of the car.

Personally though I think the mail attraction of EVs is not the possible savings on maintenance. It is the savings in energy cost per mile.

An EV would cost me about $0.025/mile when charged at home. Gas here is around $3.75/gallon so if I were driving one of the most efficient gas powered cars on the market, a Prius non-PHEV model, it would cost $0.067/mile. If I were driving a Honda Civic on the highway it would $0.094/mile, and in the city $0.117/mile. The Civic in the city is about what a Honda CR-V would be on the highway, and a CR-V in the city would be around $0.134/mile. A Ford F-150 on the highway is about 16% more than a CR-V in the city, and an F-150 in the city would be around $0.221/mile.

[Retric]

Even just 2 oil changes a year which doesn’t apply to EV’s already gets you to the cost of a reasonable inspection.

These days ICE cars can last ~100k miles with only a few minor maintenance items, but then you start hitting bigger ticket items like belts which again EV’s don’t have.

[IshKebab]

Why doesn't it just automatically use the brakes every now and then if that is required to keep them working? Seems like a trivial software fix.

[ap-hyperbole]

Some EVs do this. Audi E-tron uses brakes on the first application of the drive. Not sure about Teslas.

[mhandley]

I think my Polestar 2 does this too. If I haven't driven it recently, I can hear the brakes cleaning the rust off the disks the first time I brake. After that, I think it's using regen most of the time.

[alkonaut]

Wait there is no service schedule? Surely there's at least a recommended schedule, but not following it won't void the warranty?

I mean recurring things like changing (passenger) air filters or brake fluid work about the same for a Tesla as it does for any other car?

(I don't worry so much about the warranty as I do about the resale value when I follow the schedule to the day for my car - I wouldn't want to buy a new-ish car that didn't go to the brand shop on the mandated intervals. Third party service or missed service visit is a huge red flag).

[bryanlarsen]

Yes, there is a service schedule:

    Brake fluid health check every 4 years (replace if necessary)*.
    Cabin air filter replacement every 2 years.
    Clean and lubricate brake calipers every year or 12,500 miles (20,000 km) if in an area where roads are salted during winter.
    Rotate tires every 6,250 miles (10,000 km) or if tread depth difference is 2/32 in (1.5 mm) or greater, whichever comes first.