Do Car Lovers Want Teslas Despite Expensive Battery Replacements?
Tesla is the most popular electric vehicle brand in North America. It's also the most valuable car manufacturer in the world by market capitalization. In its Q3 report, Tesla delivered 343,830 electric vehicles to customers — with the Model 3 and Model Y as its best-selling vehicles. The company is also gearing up to deliver its first electric semi-trailer truck by December.
Things are going well for Tesla, and most people think it makes the most reliable electric vehicles — according to a SlashGear survey. However, as trust as Tesla is as a brand, you're likely to spend more money to repair a Tesla vehicle compared to other brands. Besides that, if you're replacing the battery without insurance or the warranty, it could cost you an arm and a leg, and you will probably be better off buying a new car. But does that affect most people's decision to buy a Tesla? We did a poll to find out.
Most people wouldn't buy a Tesla because of the expensive battery replacement
In a SlashGear poll, we asked 592 U.S. respondents whether they would buy a Tesla despite the expensive battery replacements 65.71% answered "No." This isn't a surprise considering you could spend over $15,000 to replace the battery on the cheapest Tesla vehicle — the Model 3. In fact, it's one of the reasons why Tesla's insurance is so expensive. Of course, if you're covered by insurance and your Tesla battery needs to be replaced after an accident, the cost will be paid by the insurance company. In addition to that, Tesla offers a warranty of 8 years or between 100,000 miles to 150,000 miles to cover any battery defects.
At the moment, the expected lifespan of a Tesla battery is between 300,000 to 500,000 miles. If you consider most Americans cover an average of at least 12,000 miles every year, it's possible to drive your Tesla for over a decade before you need to replace the battery. Battery technology is also improving, and in the next few years, we could have electric vehicles with batteries that can last up to 1 million miles before replacement.
On the other hand, 32.60% of the people we've surveyed said they wouldn't mind buying a Tesla — 1.69% of the poll respondents already own one. If you don't mind the expensive battery replacement, there are many reasons why you should buy a Tesla.