Tesla Owner Blows Up His Model S

[Longhorngirl]

This video is not in English, but I don’t think we need to understand what they are saying. This 2013 Model S owner decided to blow up his car when he found out that the cost to repair it was $22k. If I had to spend $22k to repair my R1S after 8 years, I would not be a happy camper. Of course, repairs costs are only one of the many unknowns for us first adopters.

https://people.com/human-interest/tesla-owner-blows-up-his-car-when-faced-with-22000-repair-bill/

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[kanundrum]

Weird Flex of the OP's video, if you bought a 80k vehicle and the motor and drivetrain blew 22k is a pretty standard cost. Not sure of details beyond the video on if it was a premature failure or what but yea probably could have donated it or something rather than blowing it up and being useless and spewing chemicals (Battery and drive train were removed but everything else?) everywhere.

 

[Max]

Weird Flex of the OP's video, if you bought a 80k vehicle and the motor and drivetrain blew 22k is a pretty standard cost. Not sure of details beyond the video on if it was a premature failure or what but yea probably could have donated it or something rather than blowing it up and being useless and spewing chemicals (Battery and drive train were removed but everything else?) everywhere.

Logically what you are saying makes perfect sense but attention this has been getting online brings up an important question:

Are BEVs disposable?

My 18 year old ICE truck has it’s original tank with it’s original capacity and there is not any repair I can think of that makes it cost prohibitive to put it back on the road. I could probably run it for another 20 years with minimal cost. Battery degradation on current EVs are expected and cell failure is not unheard of. If the car is considered totaled soon after your warranty is over due to battery issues, the lower cost of operation gets wiped out easily.

I still think BEV is the way to go because it will forces the research money to flow into producing safer, long lasting, power dense batteries. But today’s tech is far behind where it needs to be and this video serves it’s purpose to shed light on that.

 

[fotoflux]

Well, if Rivian actually cares about preserving the environment, they're going to have to figure out how to keep their vehicles on the road longer than the usable battery life of 7 years. But hey, they have 7 years to figure out how to make a cheaper replacement battery, haha.

 

[emoore]

Logically what you are saying makes perfect sense but attention this has been getting online brings up an important question:

Are BEVs disposable?

My 18 year old ICE truck has it’s original tank with it’s original capacity and there is not any repair I can think of that makes it cost prohibitive to put it back on the road. I could probably run it for another 20 years with minimal cost. Battery degradation on current EVs are expected and cell failure is not unheard of. If the car is considered totaled soon after your warranty is over due to battery issues, the lower cost of operation gets wiped out easily.

I still think BEV is the way to go because it will forces the research money to flow into producing safer, long lasting, power dense batteries. But today’s tech is far behind where it needs to be and this video serves it’s purpose to shed light on that.

I would say that an EV drivetrain is more reliable and less prone to failure than an ICE drive train. A rebuilt engine and transmission can easily run $15k.

 

[Max]

I would say that an EV drivetrain is more reliable and less prone to failure than an ICE drive train. A rebuilt engine and transmission can easily run $15k.

I have heard the reliability claim and although logically it makes sense for it to be true, I would love to see a study that shows that is statistically the case. Considering the battery as a part of EV powertrain and considering bolts and leafs as EVs I wonder what actual numbers would be. It is hard to compare long term cost of ownership since EV tech is changing fast and they are not too many old ones on the road. I think people ultimately buy what they like and what they can afford. Both Tesla and Rivian were right in making their cars desirable first. We are all here despite knowing this is a risky choice.

I am a bit out of touch with today’s repair rates so I take your word for it. I have never had serious engine problems and last time I had to have work done on my transmission was over 30 years ago which was much much cheaper than $15K. Keep in mind $15K is still less than the $24K that guy was quoted for his battery replacement.

p.s. I am on waitlist for several EVs. I am just playing devils advocate here. I think people should be buying EVs because it is a clear choice on all accounts. We are almost there but not quite yet.

But hey, they have 7 years to figure out how to make a cheaper replacement battery, haha.

I agree. Keep in mind, Tesla has figured out how to make cheaper EVs but that has only translated to higher margin for Tesla and more expensive cars to buy and repair for customers. These are businesses that have a lot of stock holders. Rivian can be nice until the money runs out, after that, they have to go with numbers. Lets hope by then, market is competitive enough that long term life of the cars become a more significant factor in choices people make.

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