How long does a Tesla battery last? My Tesla is losing range!

How Long Does A Tesla Battery Last? While I've been seeing a lot of rated range loss on my Tesla Model 3 battery pack, I'm not worried. I’ve partnered with the developer of Stats to take a look at some real world data. Tesla batteries will last a very long time, but there's more to this than you might think.

Special thanks to my user stand-ins at the beginning of the video: Sean Ferrell, Frank Nunez, and Jeff Somers.

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▻ Audio file(s) provided by Epidemic Sound

[jonny]

Its fine! Just move closer to work every year

[Seehart]

I've had my Model 3 for about 1 year. A software update increased the range some, which more than compensated for any degradation. Over that one year, the range increased from 310 miles to 315 miles. So I'm not worried.

Something to keep in mind: battery replacement is a thing that happens years in the future (else it is covered by warranty) and the future tends to be different than the present.

Battery tech is rapidly improving energy density (range), power density (acceleration and recharge rate), and cost. So even if I need to replace it in 5 years, at that time it will probably only cost about $2, 000, and that price would probably buy me an upgrade to a 400 mile battery that would never need to be replaced again.

Incidentally, I recently performed the annual maintenance all by myself. And me not even a mechanic! I'm very proud of myself. This consisted of adding windshield wiper fluid and topping off the tire pressure to 43psi.

[stevoH]

I have a second hand 2014 model S 85. And the battery is fine . I charger it no more then 78 % and I get 285 km or so Recharge between 60 and 80 km . as the man said just enjoy it.

[KJSvitko]

Charge it, drive it and enjoy.
"your mileage may vary"
It will last a long long time.

[gust]

Great video Matt. I been following you for several years & like your content. I just did a battery health check (winter months) on a 2018 M3PD & my battery life is now around 86 to 88%. Was getting 309 originally now at 289 to 291. Vehicle only has 33, 000 miles & mostly charge on level 2 Tesla home charger.

[kevinmundis]

I’ve switched over to percentage instead of miles and I haven’t looked back. I have faith the battery will do fine. I also don’t do a lot of long road trips where I need to worry about how many miles I can go. Appreciate the info and data.

[lifeaccordingtobri]

Great video Matt as always. I always enjoy your data first method and you don't hype it as others do. As a Tesla Model 3 owner and Nissan Leaf owner I find myself keeping an eye on the Leaf SOH% quite often but the Model 3 not at all. I'm in FL and the Leaf's don't do well when the packs are at 115F like it gets here during our 9-10 month summers. It's funny we really love the 2012 Leaf and know the end of the road is coming, sometime, because it's inevitable. But never think of the Tesla in that frame of mind. Keep up the good work!!

[Stokkelo]

I set my M3 to percentage instead of kilometres. Problem no longer visible....

[bbradner]

43, 000 miles AWD model 3 (OCT.15, 2018) Stats efficiency 101% better than 87% of users. I drive every day and plug in every night charging to 80-85% long trips 99% still handles like a brand new car no annoying squeaks even with listening to music at high levels all the time. It is a privilege to drive everyday. Still learning things and surprises in updates all the time. It’s crazy, most dependable car I have ever driven.

[aussietaipan]

Hi Matt, 2023, I recently purchased a very nice 2015 Model S 85 with only 35, 756 Km (23, 000 m). The car has always been AC charged to 85% with only 2 superchargers in its life. I drove to my holiday house 112 km away started with a charged range of 346km, drove to the H/house and still had 244km range. The car is in near perfect condition and I simply love it. The only problem it has is the max AC charge rate is 16 amps. I will have this rectified in 2 weeks to raise this to 32 amps.

[UndecidedMF]

More info to come, but wanted to let everyone know that I'm going to be at Fully Charged Live in Austin, TX this coming February.  If you want to go, use code UMF2019 to get 15% off your ticket.  Hope to see some of you there!

[superzero]

Our Model 3 | LR | AWD | Dual Motor | FSD was rated for 358 miles on a full charge. We often charged between 88-90% (320-325 miles) exclusively at superchargers during the first year. After eight months or so we noticed a drop in range to 310 miles at 90%. The second year, we began charging exclusively at home, and even at the beginning 8, 000 miles later, noticed we were getting 301 miles at 90%, and when we charged to 100% (rarely) it read 325 miles. Approaching into our third year, driving a bit more and closer to 20, 000 in total miles, charging to 90% reading just below 300 miles, fluctuating between that and 294 miles…

One of the main reasons we chose the Model 3 Long Range was due to the rated 358 miles estimated, knowing that elevation and consumption of the other features of the car would ultimately affect the battery drain. My only real concern for the future is, hoping that a battery replacement would cost significantly less, and the technology would also be considerably better when that time comes.

Our intention is to keep the vehicle for at least a decade or more. That way we have a better understanding of the real cost of ownership compared to previous experiences with ICE cars…

🤔

[mana]

How many of you unplugged your phone while watching this video 😂😂😂

[jnc]

I think what people forget is that I.c.e also go through this reduction in range, despite lubricants added to fuel. Many gas and Diesel engines see a similar percentage loss in range due to fouling, air filter clog, oil and any number of other items associate with a purely mechanical means of transportation. This also reduces power over time which e.vs have not been show to suffer from, yet. So it's worthwhile keeping perspective on matters. From a gas car owner.

[matthewconnor]

Would be interesting to see how the loss of battery capacity in EVs compares to the loss of fuel economy in ICE cars over time as their engines and transmission age.

[aceavian]

Hi, love the channel!! Just wanna tell my story...bought a 2019 Model X 100 kw on March 30, so I just missed the Raven battery upgrade (this will become relevant). November 19, this year, our cars main battery died...luckily near a Tesla Service Center. We are on our way to pick up Red 5 today (Model X Name) after driving a very cool Model 3 for a few weeks. They did replace the 100kw with a Refurbished Raven, and explained the warranty will continue just as if it was the original.
In my experience, dealing with the Sevice Center team has been amazing. They have kept us informed on time-lines and answered questions. Professionals at every level. I know of no other car dealers who will give "loaners" out the way they did...I am cautiously optimistic. But as you stated in the video, willing to sit back and enjoy our car! And your videos;)

[davesutherland]

I have been looking into a plug in hybrid. In my area in Canada the fast charging infrastructure is so thin that a round trip exceeding the range of an EV would require planning by chargers, not by where you wanted to go. That being said I looked a lot into batteries for EVs. I found basically everything that this video says. I also found that a typical Li Ion battery is good for about 400 cycles regardless of what it is used for. In some of Matt’s other videos he has talked about how far Tesla battery technology is ahead of the competition. But if you look at their warranties, they show no such confidence in their superiority. Taking the Canadian warranty for total km and the advertised range per charge, the Model X warranty is equivalent to 440 full charge cycles and a Model S to 380 full cycles. Basically the same as the 400 cycles typical for a cell phone battery. It all comes down to battery oversizing and charge management. There may well be some incremental improvement with respect to other battery design, but not stellar technology superiority. If fact, if someone drove a Rav4 prime exclusively on battery charge, they would need 3, 900 full charges. While that seems silly not to take advantage of the hybrid mode for longer trips, there are certainly YouTubers who claim they only use one or two tanks of gas a year. Not sure if this will be an issue for Toyota in a few years, but anyway you cut it, the Toyota battery seems to have a stronger warranty than a Tesla.

[dougwildemuth]

Thanks for the video. Didn’t know the degradation flattens out.

Range is a much bigger concern for those of us outside of California where most people who make these videos seems to live. My now 300 rated range is more like 200 in the winter.

This is problematic for long commuters. If my battery gets below 90% I’ll have to start doing full charges just to make it through the day.

[clankster]

Thanks Matt for another great video. My M3 range seems to fluctuate depending on software updates and how I've been driving it. My first electric car, a Nissan Leaf, it's range was all over the place. Just charge, drive and enjoy.

[oisiaa]

My LR RWD shows 309 at 25, 000 miles. That tracks with your graph. The car was sold to me with 310 rated, so I've only "lost" 1 mile. That disregards that my car was changed to show 325 miles back in February 2019 and has since decreased back to 309.