Out-of-Warranty Tesla Battery Life: The TRUTH

Summary

The video script discusses the user's experience with their 2018 Tesla Model 3, which has surpassed 120,000 miles, saving them a significant amount on fuel and oil. However, their battery warranty has expired, raising concerns about potential replacement costs. Despite Tesla's 2022 impact report suggesting minimal battery degradation, the user conducts a battery health test, revealing a concerning 7% battery health. The video explores methods to assess battery health, including using the Recurate tool and performing an official test from the car's service menu. The user decides to continue using the vehicle, despite the low battery health score, based on their current range and charging habits.

Takeaways

• 🚗 The user's 2018 Tesla Model 3 has surpassed 120,000 miles, saving a significant amount on gas and oil expenses.
• 💸 With the battery warranty expired, there's a concern about potential high costs associated with battery replacement in the future.
• 🔋 Tesla's 2022 impact report suggests that battery degradation is minimal, with batteries losing only 12% of their capacity after 200,000 miles.
• 📉 The user's Tesla Model 3 has an estimated range of 280 miles, which is about 90% of its original range, indicating good battery health.
• 🔌 Lithium-ion batteries in EVs are designed differently from those in mobile devices, allowing for more cycles and longer life.
• 🌡️ Electric vehicles have thermal management systems that help maintain optimal conditions for battery performance.
• 🛠️ Tesla's battery warranty for Long Range Model 3 covers 8 years or 120,000 miles, ensuring at least 70% capacity retention.
• 🔄 Recurrent is a free software tool that provides battery performance reports and connects EV owners with specialist dealerships.
• 🧠 The battery health test result for the user's Model 3 showed 7% health, raising concerns despite the car's good estimated range.
• 💰 A complete battery replacement for a Model 3 can be expensive, with a 2020 invoice showing costs around $14,250 in parts and $2,300 in labor.
• 🚫 The user decides to continue using the car, despite the low battery health percentage, due to the still-impressive estimated range and personal preference.

Q & A

What is the total distance the user has driven on their 2018 Tesla Model 3?

The user has driven 120,000 miles on their 2018 Tesla Model 3.

What is the user's concern regarding the battery warranty of their Tesla Model 3?

The user is concerned that their battery warranty has expired, which could potentially lead to high costs if the battery needs to be replaced.

How does the user describe the fear of battery failure in electric vehicles?

The user compares the fear of battery failure to swimming in the ocean with the risk of a shark attack, signifying it as a low probability event but still a cause of concern.

What does Tesla's 2022 impact report suggest about battery degradation?

Tesla's 2022 impact report suggests that even after 200,000 miles, their batteries only lose an average of 12% of their capacity, indicating minimal degradation.

How does the user plan to test the battery health of their Tesla Model 3?

The user plans to use a software tool called Recurrent to generate battery performance reports and also perform an official battery health test from the car's service menu.

What is the significance of the battery in an electric vehicle?

The battery is the most important and most expensive component of an electric vehicle, comparable to Michael Jordan in an NBA team.

What is the user's estimated range on a full charge when they first got their Model 3?

The estimated range on a full charge when the user first got their Model 3 was 310 miles.

What is the user's current estimated range after driving 120,000 miles?

After driving 120,000 miles, the user's current estimated range is approximately 280 miles.

What does the battery health test result show for the user's Tesla Model 3?

The battery health test result shows a battery health of 7% for the user's Tesla Model 3.

What is the user's decision regarding their Tesla Model 3 with a battery health of 7%?

The user decides to keep driving the Model 3, despite the low battery health, as they still get an estimated range of around 280 miles.

What is the approximate cost for a battery replacement for a Tesla Model 3 based on a 2020 invoice?

Based on a 2020 invoice, a complete 75 kilowatt hour battery replacement for a Model 3 cost about $14,250 in parts and $2,300 in labor.

How does the user maintain their battery and what are their charging habits?

The user follows healthy charging habits by avoiding supercharging, charging mostly at home, charging only to 80% for daily driving, and rarely going below 20% state of charge.

Outlines

00:00

🚗 Tesla Model 3 Mileage and Battery Warranties

The speaker discusses having driven over 120,000 miles with their 2018 Tesla Model 3, saving a significant amount of money by not purchasing gas or oil. However, they note that their battery warranty has expired, which raises concerns similar to the fear of a shark attack while swimming in the ocean. They explain that the fear of battery failure is a common concern for those hesitant about electric vehicles (EVs). The speaker addresses a common criticism about the cost of battery replacement in EVs, citing Tesla's 2022 impact report which shows that batteries only lose an average of 12% of their capacity after 200,000 miles. They discuss the importance of the battery in an EV, comparing it to Michael Jordan in an NBA team, and mention Tesla's battery warranty for the Long Range Model 3, which covers eight years or 120,000 miles, ensuring at least 70% capacity retention.

05:02

🔋 Battery Health Assessment and Replacement Concerns

The speaker explores methods to assess battery health, including using the Recurrent software tool, which provides battery performance reports for EV owners. They discuss how battery health is not directly correlated with mileage and how the Recurrent app connects EV owners with specialist dealerships for valuation based on battery data. The speaker then conducts an official battery health test on their Tesla Model 3 by accessing the service menu and initiating a health test that takes 24 hours to complete. After the test, they find their battery health at 7%, which is lower than expected but still delivers an estimated range of around 280 miles. The speaker expresses uncertainty about whether to keep the car or sell it due to the low battery health percentage and the potential for costly battery replacement. They mention the cost of replacing a battery module and the possibility of the entire pack needing replacement. Despite the concerns, the speaker decides to keep the car, citing their excellent range score and expected range, and shares their plan to keep the car for at least 10 more years.

Keywords

💡Tesla Model 3

The Tesla Model 3 is an electric vehicle (EV) produced by Tesla, a well-known manufacturer of electric cars. In the video, the speaker discusses surpassing 120,000 miles in their 2018 Tesla Model 3, indicating the car's reliability and longevity. The Model 3 serves as the central subject of the video, particularly focusing on its battery health and associated warranty.

💡Battery Warranty

Battery warranty refers to the coverage provided by a manufacturer, guaranteeing the battery's performance over a specified period or mileage. In the context of the video, Tesla's battery warranty for the Model 3 covers eight years or 120,000 miles. The speaker's concern revolves around the expiration of this warranty and the potential costs of battery replacement.

💡Electric Vehicle (EV)

An Electric Vehicle (EV) is a vehicle powered by an electric motor rather than a traditional internal combustion engine. The video focuses on the Tesla Model 3, an example of an EV, discussing its battery life, maintenance costs, and the general public's perception of EVs.

💡Battery Health

Battery health refers to the condition and capacity of a battery to hold a charge over time. In the video, the speaker explores the battery health of their Tesla Model 3, noting concerns about potential degradation and how it impacts the vehicle's range and efficiency.

💡Battery Degradation

Battery degradation is the gradual decrease in the battery's ability to hold a charge over time and use. The video highlights this concern for EVs, particularly for the Tesla Model 3, where after 120,000 miles, the battery's capacity and health become critical considerations.

💡Battery Replacement Cost

Battery replacement cost refers to the expense incurred to replace a vehicle's battery once it degrades beyond usable condition. In the video, there is a mention of a potential $20,000 cost for replacing the Tesla Model 3's battery, a significant concern for EV owners.

💡Recurrent Software

Recurrent is a software tool mentioned in the video that generates battery performance reports for electric vehicles. It provides insights on range and charging by analyzing battery data, helping EV owners like the speaker monitor and understand their vehicle's battery health.

💡Charging Habits

Charging habits refer to the practices adopted by EV owners when recharging their vehicles. The video emphasizes healthy charging habits, like avoiding frequent supercharging and maintaining a charge between 20% and 80%, as a means to prolong the Tesla Model 3's battery life.

💡Supercharger Stations

Supercharger stations are Tesla's network of fast-charging stations designed for their EVs. The speaker mentions access to these stations as a benefit for Tesla owners, allowing quick and convenient charging of vehicles like the Model 3.

💡Service Menu Hacking

Service Menu Hacking in the video refers to accessing the hidden service menu in the Tesla Model 3 to perform an official battery health test. This action, though not recommended for general users, was undertaken by the speaker to get a precise assessment of the battery's condition.

Highlights

Surpassed 120,000 miles on a 2018 Tesla Model 3, saving thousands on gas and oil.

Tesla's battery warranty expires after 8 years or 120,000 miles, raising concerns about potential costly replacements.

Comparing driving an EV with an expired battery warranty to swimming in the ocean with sharks.

Tesla's 2022 impact report shows batteries lose only about 12% capacity after 200,000 miles.

Original Model 3's estimated range was 310 miles, exploring battery degradation over time.

EV batteries differ from mobile device batteries in chemistry and thermal management.

Tesla offers a comprehensive battery warranty, promising at least 70% capacity retention.

Using recurrent's software tool to monitor and compare battery health with other EVs.

Odometer mileage not directly correlated with battery health.

Recurrent connects EV owners to dealerships that value cars based on battery data.

Conducting an official Tesla battery health test revealing surprising results.

Battery health reported at 7%, sparking concerns despite good estimated range.

Considering whether to sell the car or continue driving until battery replacement is necessary.

Cost of a Tesla battery replacement detailed, with implications for long-term ownership.

Maintaining healthy charging habits to minimize battery degradation and maximize lifespan.

Transcripts

recently I surpassed 120 000 miles on my

2018 Tesla Model 3 that means the good

news is I've saved tens of thousands of

dollars by not buying gas or oil over

the last five years but if you're

familiar with Tesla's warranty then

you'll know that the bad news is my

battery warranty has expired yes driving

an electric vehicle with an expired

battery warranty is sort of like

swimming in the ocean statistically

you're probably going to be fine but

there's always that fear in the back of

your mind that a shark might rip your

leg off sorry I have a weird phobia of

sharks but you get my point and this

analogy the shark is the possibility of

the battery dying and needing replaced

which is probably the biggest fear of

people who are hesitant to buy an

electric vehicle in fact in my recent

video where I shared my total cost of

Tesla ownership after five years the

most popular comment I got from people

who are critical of EVS said something

like just wait until you have to pay

twenty thousand dollars to replace your

battery or why didn't you account for

the cost of battery replacement and I

totally understand why people would have

this fear but based on Tesla's 2022

impact report they think it's a

non-issue by showing that even after 200

000 miles their batteries only lose an

average of 12 of their capacity well

let's find out if this is actually a

legitimate concern by using my Tesla

Model 3 as a real life test and when I

first got my model 3 the estimated range

on a full charge was 310 miles but we

all know that batteries degrade over

time and hold less charge after a

certain amount of Cycles I'm sure you

have experienced this yourself with a

smartphone tablet or laptop but the

Lithium-ion batteries in electric

vehicles are not the same and are not

used the same as those in mobile devices

the chemistry is different allowing for

more cycles and longer life EVS also

have thermal management systems that

ensure stable operation in optimal

conditions and when it comes to electric

vehicles the battery is by far the most

important and most expensive component

of the car if an electric vehicle were

in NBA team the battery would be Michael

Jordan the bottom line is that you

definitely do not want something to go

wrong with the vehicle battery

fortunately for us owners Tesla has a

really good battery warranty which

covers the battery and drive unit on a

Long Range model 3 such as mine for a

period of eight years or 120 000 miles

whichever comes first and this assures

that the battery will have at least 70

percent retention of capacity over the

warranty period so if my Tesla battery

had below 70 retention when it hit 120

000 miles then it would be eligible to

be replaced under the warranty but how

do we determine the battery health other

than estimated range well today's

sponsor recurrent is a fantastic way to

do that recurrent is a free software

tool that generates battery performance

reports to give you confidence during EV

ownership it currently supports over 50

electric vehicles and all it takes is

two weeks of battery data to begin

providing a free monthly EV owner

insights report that analyzes daily

battery data and Compares it to

thousands of similar vehicles to give

helpful insights on the vehicle's range

and charging now my model 3 Falls almost

exactly on the average of expected range

for a used 2018 version but it ranks in

the 99th percentile in terms of odometer

this proves a very important point from

their research that odometer mileage is

not directly correlated with battery

health and range if I took my model 3 to

a normal dealership they devalue the car

for the high odometer but a convenient

benefit of recurrent is their cell

feature which connects EB owners to EV

specialist dealerships who make offers

based on the battery and range data that

is validated by recurrent it's an

amazing free resource so click the link

below to connect your EV or check buyer

offers in minutes so using an app like

that is one way to track battery health

another way is to do an actual real

world driving test by charging to 100

and then driving at a relatively slow

steady speed until the battery dies and

see how many kilowatt hours the car used

but there's also an even more official

battery health test from within the car

itself which I'm going to do right now

we are here in my Tesla Model 3 we're

going to do the official battery health

test by hacking into the service menu

let's see if we can get this thing to

work to enter the hidden service menu

we're going to tap the car icon go into

the service or I'm sorry the software

and then hold down the model 3

so in here we're going to type in

service as the service code it says

service mode should only be enabled by

service Personnel to service or repair

stationary vehicle are you sure you want

to enable service mode caution do not

enable service on public rows okay so at

your own risk I'm going to go ahead and

hit enable now we have the red service

around the screen here now we're just

going to tap on high voltage to go into

the high voltage battery and tap high

voltage system

and here we have the health test for our

battery so tap on that to authorize hold

fully up on turnstock plus break plus

key for 10 seconds

unlocking

and unlocked okay so now we do Health

test

so testimate take up to 24 hours so if

you can do this make sure you don't have

to go anywhere for 24 hours high voltage

battery will be discharged and then

charge the full heat will be generated

outside the vehicle during discharge

okay

and now the health test has begun and

we'll come back to this after it's done

to get an official Health test from the

Tesla Service menu okay it's been 24

hours now almost and the test is finally

complete do you have any guesses of what

the results are I was surprised by this

seven percent wow

that's what it says battery health seven

percent so that's way lower than I

expected but what does that exactly mean

like is it is the battery approaching

end of life you know because I'm still

getting estimated range of pretty good

of two around 280 miles which is around

you know 90 of the estimated range of

when I first got the car so the battery

capacity as far as estimated mileage is

is still relatively really good

but the battery health

seems pretty bad any Tesla technicians

out there should I be concerned battery

health seven percent that's really low

should I sell the car now or should I

keep it and risk it you know uh the

battery health is probably not going to

improve right so it can only go downhill

from here for my personal situation I

guess it comes down to should I just

keep the car and just drive it as long

as possible until maybe the battery

needs to replace or will the battery

ever need to be replaced you know can it

can it survive another 107 000 miles

with just a battery health of seven

percent okay what if I lose another 20

30 miles of estimated range and I'm down

to 250 miles of estimated range in

another five years well that's still

pretty good because there are new

electric vehicles coming out right now

in 2023 that have 250 miles or even less

than that just think a 10 year old model

3

has will have the same amount of

estimated range 250 miles plus access to

all the supercharger stations which will

definitely be a lot more five years from

now so I think it's worth it just to

keep the car that was my plan I want to

keep this car for at least 10 years I

think it'll last me that long but you

know doing this battery health test kind

of raised some red flags for me so my

best guess is that this seven percent

battery health is either a bug in this

particular version of the test or I

didn't perform it correctly or the

percentage has some other mini tied to

it if we assume the worst case scenario

that one or more of the battery modules

is indeed close to failing then that

means I should expect to have a pricey

battery replacement in my near future

the model 3 has four battery modules

that Elon said costs around five to

seven thousand dollars per module but he

said this back in 2019. however even if

Just One battery module goes bad Tesla

still replaces the entire pack because

they want to be sure that the battery

has 100 health and they can't really do

that when they mix and match modules at

the service centers instead they send

the old battery packs to their battery

plants to be refurbished now according

to a Tesla invoice from 2020 shared by

current Automotive a complete 75

kilowatt hour battery replacement for a

model 3 called 16 550 which came to be

about 2300 in labor and 14 250 in Parts

with the actual battery costing 13 500.

that's quite an expensive repair but

I've always been adamant that I probably

won't ever have to do a replacement on

my model 3 battery based on my estimated

range so far which has been quite

impressive I try to follow healthy

charging Habits by avoiding

supercharging and charging mostly at

home and only charging to 80 for daily

driving and also rarely going below 20

state of charge and recurrence says my

model 3 has an excellent range score of

93 and my expected range is around 280

miles which is only about 10 percent

degradation so far after 120 000 miles

I'm going to take the risk and keep

driving my model 3 but what would you do

in in this situation let me know in the

comments below thank you so much for

watching my name is Andy if you want

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be sure to subscribe give this video a

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