Electric cars have long warranties for their batteries, which is good news. However, if you keep your EV long enough, the warranty will eventually expire. Should you be concerned with your Tesla Model 3's battery after five years and 120,000 miles?
Our friend Andy Slye owns a Tesla Model 3 and is clearly a seasoned Tesla owner. It's a 2018 model and he just passed 120,000 miles. If he had to replace the battery right now, it might cost him over $16,000. However, Slye reminds us that over the course of the last several years, he's saved a lot of money by not paying for gas or oil, not to mention other fluids or typical maintenance that would have been required of a gas car.
As we previously reported, based on Tesla's 2022 Impact Report, the company suggests that having a Tesla battery out of warranty isn't really an issue in most cases. Even after 200,000 miles, the batteries typically only lost about 12% of their total capacity, on average.
Slye decided that rather than take his chances or trust Tesla's data, it was time to check his EV battery's real-world life. When he first took delivery of the Model 3, it had 310 miles of EPA-estimated driving range on a full charge. No matter what, the battery will degrade over time, but hopefully not as much as some people think, especially if they take good care of it.
The warranty on Syle's Tesla Model 3 Long Range runs for eight years or 120,000 miles, whichever comes first. According to the warranty, once the car hits the milestone that brings the warranty to an end, it will still have at least 70% of its original capacity.
Slye says you can use an app like Recurrent or run actual real-world driving range and/or charging tests to help determine your EV battery's capacity. The car itself also offers a battery health test. He's relying on Recurrent, which says his Model 3 still has an excellent range score of 93 out of 100. It also says his estimated range is about 280 miles, which suggests only 10% degradation.
Keep in mind, Andy does his homework and takes very good care of his car. He tries to avoid Supercharging whenever possible. Most of his charging is done at home, and he only charges the car to 80%. If you Supercharge or charge to 100% often, there's a chance your EV's battery will show greater degradation than his. Leave us your thoughts in the comment section below.
