A big concern for prospective Tesla owners is whether the battery will need replacing.
Tesla battery replacements can cost over $20,000, Tesla owners have reported. When one Canadian Tesla owner’s battery died in 2023, the company told him a replacement would cost $26,000. Another owner in Scotland received a bill equivalent to $21,000 USD to replace his Tesla’s battery after it got damaged by rain.
Batteries degrade at varying rates based on a number of factors, like how the EV was charged, what type of environment it was driven in, and more. Auto expert Sandy Munro previously told Business Insider that, the Tesla batteries are easily damaged and difficult to repair or even assess. Munro even said Tesla’s Model Y battery has “zero repairability” following a collision.
In 2019, Elon Musk said it would cost $5,000 to $7,000 to replace a Tesla battery module; however, Tesla owners who have been quoted or billed for battery replacements cite far higher costs.
How many years do Tesla batteries last?
In a 2021 Tesla impact report, it said that the company’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 US and roughly 150,000 miles in Europe,” the report said. According to Tesla’s 2022 impact report, the Tesla Model X and Model S batteries are only expected to lose about 12% of their capacity after the 200,000-mile threshold; the company did not include data for the Model 3.
Tesla’s batteries are covered by a warranty. Models have slightly different warranties, but they’re generally covered for eight years or between 100,000-150,000 miles, whichever comes first.
How have Tesla batteries improved?
In 2020, Tesla introduced a new kind of battery design known as the 4680 battery pack. The pack can store five times the energy of previous generations thanks to its more dense design and improved chemistry, Tesla says. They’re also much cheaper to produce, Musk has said.
As of 2023, the 4680 pack is produced in Fremont, California, and it is available in some Model Y cars built in Texas, where Tesla’s headquarters are located and where the company also plans to produce the packs. The batteries will also be produced in Nevada, Musk said in May 2023.
