The long-term ownership experiences of EVs in general, are not all that easily available.
I came across a video online where the owner of a Tesla Model S was being interviewed regarding an achievement of having completed 666,666 km (~414,250 miles) on a single battery. Now, that is something you don’t hear every day. EVs are notorious for carrying a rather negative perception when it comes to battery health after a few years of experience.
We know that EV batteries mostly come with an 8-year / 150,000 miles (~241,000 km) warranty. In fact, that is an industry standard with almost all major carmakers offering about the same. But that doesn’t necessarily mean that the battery will be severely damaged post that. This case is a prime example to disprove that norm.
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Tesla Model S With 666,666 km On Single Battery
The details of this case stem from a video by the Fully Charged Show channel on YouTube. The host of the show interacts with the owner of this 2018 Tesla Model S, a certain Nigel Raynard. Note that he has been driving around Australia for over 6 years now. He shockingly informs that the first battery swap he did was when his Model S did a jaw-dropping 666,666 km (~414,250 miles), that too because the health of the battery was starting to degrade. It was not like the battery had stopped working altogether.
Currently, he has done over 707,000 km (~439,300 miles) in total. He mentions that the car feels like a new one after the battery swap. It’s like the EV got a new lease of life. The man has a running of around 500-600 km (310-372 miles) every day. What is even more interesting is the fact that he replaced the brake discs and pads at 460,000 km (~285,800 miles). Again, they were not giving him any trouble. Just to be on the safer side, he replaced them. That is also counter-intuitive to the theory that EVs eat up through brakes more rapidly than ICE cars.
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Charging Patterns
One intriguing aspect of this ownership experience is the fact that he clarifies that he never followed any particular charging pattern. We know there is voluminous content on the internet regarding the best charging practices to elongate the life span of an EV battery. Fortunately or unfortunately, Nigel managed to stay away from all such content. Instead, he created his own charging cycles which suited his needs.
He also has a couple of Model Ys at home. The place where he lives offers free charging from 10 AM to 3 PM. Therefore, he always utilizes these hours to keep at least one EV plugged in. Remember this is DC fast charging. So, he takes out an EV for the day and keeps the other at the charging station. If he needs it, he then takes the other EV out and puts the previous one on charge. He states that he mostly does fast charging multiple times a day.
Furthermore, we know that it is recommended that Lithium-ion batteries should be charged up to 90% and used until 10% to maximize battery life. However, Nigel always charges his EVs to 100% and uses them until they are almost dead. Therefore, he never followed any conventional practices with his Model S or other Tesla cars in his garage. Still, he was able to extract such great mileage from the EV. That is an indication that long-term ownership of EVs might not be as concerning as most EV-haters make it out to be.
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Learn Electric Cars Says
I feel there should be more such ownership reviews and experiences on the internet. I understand that most EVs are still relatively new. Hence, the owners can’t offer their perspective on the ultra-long-term experience of living with an EV. But such interactions will be more prevalent in the coming years once the existing EVs start to age to that point. On the other end of the spectrum, I also understand that it won’t be prudent to jump to any conclusions based on isolated incidents.
There can always be something more to such stories than meets the eye. Regardless of that, we are coming across more such cases where people have driven their Teslas over 1 million kilometres in many parts of the world. Note that we are talking about Tesla cars specifically because they are the only ones that have been around for that long. Going forward, we will get to know about EVs from other legacy carmakers as well. Tesla has been selling EVs for over a decade. Hence, only these can offer a detailed ownership experience for the time being.