Louis Rossmann, who's a barely competent MacBook repair technician, made a video about the expensive Tesla battery replacement for an old Model S, out of warranty.
He goes on and on about how expensive battery replacements are, but fails to realize that first gen Model S cars were bought by early adopter for more than 100K USD and weren't expected to last far beyond the 8 year warranty, as early battery cells had a life expectancy of about 500-900 cycles. Many early Model S cars had their batteries replaced at least once, because the technology was very new and nobody had significant experience with them. The early Nissan Leafs had similar issues, 30% capacity loss just after a few years of use.
Since then all companies learned a lot about battery packs and cell management ... and cell manufacturers also significantly improved quality and life of their products, from 500-900 cycles to 4000-6000 cycles.
This is why most arguments about old battery technologies are pointless. Tesla (and probably the other car makers too) will launch their new battery technology this year, based on so-called fat cells, the 4680s', which will last for 2 million miles and cost 2x less ... somewhere between 50-60USD/kWh. This means that an average 100kWh battery pack from Tesla will cost around 10K USD, which is a perfectly good price.
So let's look at the comments on Louises video:
Eman 08 - 2 minutes ago
The biggest draw back with Tesla's is they will turn into massive money pits due to how expensive they are to fix out of warranty. Buying a used one out of warranty is like owning a used Mercedes. Tesla having 100% monopoly how they want their vehicles service doesn't help either. They won't sell you parts, No one knows how to work on them, so no independent shops, no after market parts. All that's left is salvage parts which you take a big gamble on.
MY ANSWER: Out of warranty means after 8 years, which means that the car already changed owners twice, probably for a lot less money than Retail price.
Tesla doesn't have a monopoly on repair. You can buy parts from Tesla or from eBAY and pay a monthly fee to access service manuals and part pairing software tools on Tesla.com.
There are plenty of independent shops, which work on Teslas.
Repairs at Tesla are expensive, because they are usually payed by insurance and can't do repairs with used parts. It's in the contract that the car has to be like new, when repaired.
sirfancypants Mcgee - 10 minutes ago
Then it's not worth buying a Tesla if replacing the battery is near a new car.
MY ANSWER: Such a poor person response. Battery replacement for Model 3/Y costs 15K USD and 22K USD for Model S/X. That is not the price of a new Tesla, not even half.
Jerome Cloutier - 31 minutes ago (edited)
Until a battery for a EV isn't worth >80% the cost of a brand new gas car, EV's are insane... Unless you have the $ to blow.. Last I checked no gas engine "In a car truck" cost 20+K to rebuild. Yeah we need to be greener and shit like that but our current battery/energy storage tech is way way shit. 50 years from now, probably some super battery that weighs nothing etc etc, then we can have nice things. We need to start somewhere yes, but more research needs to be done.
MY ANSWER: Another poor person response, who doesn't understand the economics of an electric car. "Doing more research" leads nowhere. You have to make a strong case for the technology, so you can sell it and continue developing it. Toyota is doing more research, instead of making EVs... and they are putting their new solid state batteries into Hybrids in 2025... so more gas cars and they'll make EVs by 2030.
2891 user - 1 hour ago
I think independent repair shop does not think from the manufacturer perspective, or does not understand manufacturer.
To provide schematics, support,.. to independent shop means spending extra money.. the manufacturer provide support to dealership so from they're perspective is Ok.
Changing couple of cells in old battery pack mean improvisation, why manufacturer should offer support for such a thing?
They are three types of manufacturers: manufacturer that block user to repair they're product, manufacturer that help user repair they're own product, and manufacturer that do not block and do not help, because just simple they have they're one dealership for this purpose (case of cars).
Making a product easy serviceable means increasing the cost of product, par example replacing welding with screws is more expensive, more logistic, more storage and working space,... And the consumer does not want to pay to much, this is why there is a big difference between consumer, industrial, military products.. you can't build consumer products thinking all consumers are engineers, and they will repair they're own products themselves...
MY ANSWER: Somebody finally gets it, at least partially. Tesla offers the service manual and pairing tools for a monthly fee on-line. So if you're really pissed off and want to repair your own Tesla, you can. BUT it's more economical if you're repairing multiple Teslas per month.
rezhul - 2 hours ago (edited)
Louis, you don't seem to understand that the world isn't ready for electric cars.
The people who are pushing for electric vehicles are stupid or evil because a lot of people in the world don't have the money to buy and maintain electric cars.
This is the elephant in the room that nobody seems to be addressing $20,000 is almost two years salary in the Netherlands, even it's the generous price of the replacement of the car batteries is at the end of the day your wallet decides.
MY ANSWER: This guy doesn't understand what he's talking about. If you buy a Model 3 or Y, a replacement battery costs 15K USD today, but will cost a lot less when the warranty will be over, in 8 years. First gen Model S battery pack was not 20K USD, it was more like 50K USD in 2012-2013.
If it is in fact two years salary in the Netherlands then you probably don't need a car, you're worthless.
PaulTheTexan - 5 hours ago
Electric cars run greener, sure, but the battery manufacturing process, and especially the battery recycling process, is not green at all. Sure, my ICE car belches out emissions, but so does the battery-making plant. And the rare-earth mining platforms, etc. You're just offsetting the emissions, not eliminating them. It may make you feel better as a person, but it is an illusory feeling.
MY ANSWER: It is well documented that in 2019 the production of an EV emitted 20% more CO2 than making a POS gas car. However a lot has changed since then, EV supply chains got A LOT greener and cannot be compared to what gas cars are made of and what they burn.