Your Tesla is beautiful, fast and a pleasure to drive. Your car’s battery is engineered to meet your needs. The battery is guaranteed, most batteries will never need to be replaced, and if they do they are 100% recycled.
Tesla says in the 2021 Impact Report,
“Our batteries are designed to function for the entire life of the vehicle. Tesla’s battery packs are designed to outlast the vehicle. We estimate that a vehicle gets scrapped after approximately 200,000 miles of usage in the U.S. and roughly 150,000 miles in Europe. Creating a battery that could last for 1,000,000 miles (4,000 charging cycles) would dramatically reduce the emissions per mile driven for high-mileage vehicles such as taxis, delivery vans, or trucks.”
Your Tesla Battery is Guaranteed
Your Tesla battery comes with a warranty. Here are the details, from the Tesla website,
Credit above: Tesla new vehicle limited warranty page. 11/12/22
FACT: The existing warranty on any Tesla is transferred to the new owner if you purchase the vehicle from Tesla.
The Average EV will never need a battery replacement
It is a myth to assume that the average EV needs a battery replacement at some point in its life,
According to Tesla,
“Extending the life of a battery pack is a superior option to recycling for both environmental and business reasons. For those reasons, before decommissioning a consumer battery pack and sending it for recycling, Tesla does everything it can to extend the useful life of each battery pack.
Any battery that is no longer meeting a customer’s needs can be serviced by Tesla at one of our service centers around the world. None of our scrapped lithium-ion batteries go to landfill, and 100% are recycled.”
Tesla Batteries are Recycled
Tesla says in their 2021 Impact Report,
“Every battery used in R&D or returned from the field that cannot be remanufactured is recycled. Tesla batteries, including the battery packs in our vehicles and our energy storage products, are made to last many years, and therefore, we have received a limited number of them back from the field. Most batteries that Tesla recycles today are pre-consumer, coming to us through R&D and quality control. None of our scrapped lithium-ion batteries go to landfills and 100% are recycled. Furthermore, Tesla has an established internal ecosystem to re-manufacture batteries coming from the field to our Service Centers. We actively implement circular economy principles and consider all other options before opting for battery recycling. - page 96
Battery materials are refined at Tesla and put into a cell and will remain in the cell at the end of their life when they can be recycled to recover valuable materials for reuse, repeatedly, pg 95-96 Tesla Impact Report 2021
My Thoughts, Enjoy your Tesla, Do Not Worry
I am very happy with my Tesla, I own a 2020 Model 3 Rear-Wheel Drive that was bought with a range of 250 miles on the battery. I just hit 69,420 miles. My battery currently retains 86% of its original range of 216 miles. I expect my Model 3 will retain a range of over 175 miles by the time I reach 100,000 miles.
I was inspired to write this article by Sofian Fravel who recently had his Model 3’s battery replaced under Tesla’s warranty, “Although it’s not new info, it’s often forgotten about or overlooked over time. I just got a pack replacement for my 3 under warranty and cost me $0. It actually bumped my range up by 11 miles and the car charges quicker. Super happy about it.” Sofian advises, “Tesla owners needn’t worry about battery packs, and should fully enjoy their Teslas!”
Article by Gail Alfar for “What’s Up Tesla” with special thanks to Sofian Fravel. Read the full article, “Tesla Battery Life” here.
