Replies

“But can he get the electric motor to last over 100,000 miles?”

Are you serous? Electric motors are MUCH more reliable.

My pool pump is exposed to the elements and is going on 16 years for about 6 hours a day.

Tesla. has done one million mile tests on the entire drive train with no significant wear.

I know all about electric motors, I have sold them for over 20 years with very few problems. Early Tesla’s on the other hand....

early Tesla Model S cars suggests that as many as two-thirds of those early Model S drivetrains will need to be replaced within 60,000 miles.

https://www.greencarreports.com/news/1101153_two-thirds-of-earliest-tesla-drive-trains-to-fail-in-60000-miles-owner-data-suggests

And

https://teslamotorsclub.com/tmc/threadloom/search

My friend Jim loves his 2014 Mercedes-Benz B-Class Electric. It only has 87 miles of range, but Jim estimates that about 70% of his family’s annual vehicle miles are on the B-Class Electric. That’s why it was so disappointing when last year the motor started whining so severely that the car was nearly undrivable. To add insult to injury, the local Mercedes-Benz dealership quoted $18,000 to get it fixed by replacing the entire powertrain.

After scouring the internet, Jim discovered that a surprising number of the few thousand cars with early Tesla powertrains were experiencing similar problems. The three problematic models are first-gen Roadsters, Toyota RAV4 EVs, and Mercedes-Benz Electrics. Jim sent me these two links:

http://www.mybclasselectricdrive.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=644

http://www.myrav4ev.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=251&start=510

I replied with the names of Bay Area EV-loving mechanics to get a second opinion. And he discovered in one of the forums that QC Charge in San Marcos, California (about 30 miles north of San Diego) does repairs on those three early EVs that all use nearly identical versions of Tesla’s powertrain.

This is an issue with industrial electric motors when used on a VFD, bearing pitting. There are solutions such as shaft grounding brushes and insulated bearings.

https://electrek.co/2020/06/12/when-an-out-of-warranty-ev-fails-who-you-gonna-call/