Tesla Advice

How long does a Tesla battery last? According to official Tesla-sourced data, Tesla batteries lose between 12 and 15 per cent of their capacity, on average, after approximately 321,868km (200,000 miles in American speak) of usage. If this data is correct, the average Australian driver won’t need to consider replacing their Tesla battery until 26 years into ownership, because the national average driver travels a touch over 12,000km a year. I’m going to go out on a limb and suggest people who buy Teslas, or electric vehicles in general, travel fewer kilometres than the average driver. Tesla battery lifespan is the kind of thing EV shoppers consider carefully, because they’ve all owned Apple iPhones, or Microsoft laptops, and noticed that battery life seems definitively finite. It’s important to realise, of course, that the batteries in an EV are vastly bigger. Elon Musk is aware, of course, that Tesla battery life is something buyers worry about, and it provides an eight-year/192,000km warranty with the purchase of all Australian-delivered vehicles, except the rear-wheel-drive Model 3 and Model Y vehicles, which come with a similar eight-year/160,000km warranty. The terms of these warranties are as follows; if the Tesla battery drops below 70 per cent capacity in less than the aforementioned time period or distance, Tesla covers the cost of a replacement battery. Replacement batteries for a Tesla can cost anywhere from $15,000 up to $20,000 across all models. A study in April 2024 by British motoring insurance company NimbleFins - which examined nine years of Tesla battery lifetime data - found the batteries should deteriorate by around one per cent of their range per year. In terms of how you can look after your battery, there are multiple factors that affect Tesla battery lifespan. For any electric vehicle, you want to avoid fully charging the battery to 100 pre cent regularly, to preserve maximum battery capacity. Canadian lithium-ion battery researcher Jeff Dahn claims that, treated properly and kept in the right “voltage window”, a Tesla battery can stay fully operational for 100 years, or 1.6 million kilometres. Dr Adam Best (just call him Dr Best), Principal Battery Researcher at our own CSIRO, claims that, if owners employ the appropriate maintenance techniques to prolong battery health, Tesla batteries can achieve a “pretty impressive life cycle”. But what are these maintenance techniques? Dr Best suggests you try to keep the charge level always between 20 per cent and 80 per cent, as opposed to running the battery from zero to 100 and back again, which will “help to extend the life of your EV”, regardless of battery chemistry and composition. Teslas predominantly run on lithium iron phosphate (LFP) or nickel cobalt aluminium (NCA) chemically composed batteries, while other brands like Polestar use nickel manganese cobalt (NMC). Both NCA and NMC batteries thrive in conditions where they aren’t being charged to maximum capacity and drained to empty. So if you are a responsible and battery-conscious EV driver, who can you know if your EV is responding well to your gentle treatment? What are the signs that your battery is dying, or that it’s functioning properly? Other than the most obvious indicator of declining battery capacity - getting less mileage out of each charge - other signs that your EV’s battery might be suffering are slower charging times, a change in the driving sensation (sluggishness, lack of responsiveness), strange smells or noises while charging or driving, and, of course, the Tesla multimedia system telling you that your battery may be in decline. In terms of real-world results, it’s also worth pointing to a test conducted by a Tesla Model S 70D owner, Branden Flasch. Branden's vehicle had reportedly travelled 234,964km when he put his Tesla battery to the test, and the results were very impressive. The Model S in question was purchased in 2015, and its owner charged it to 99 per cent before the test, and then drove it until the batteries were completely depleted, measuring its kWh usage to check the battery's depletion. The reported results have the Model S using 58.5kWh, roughly 83 per cent of their original 70kWh capacity.

Trying to pin down the cost of a Tesla in Australia is a bit like swatting a fly - just when you think you’ve got it locked in it suddenly changes.

Tesla has been making headlines recently with a decline in sales, both internationally and around the world. While there are a variety of reasons for this, at least part of that can be put down to the relative lack of choice, with only the mid-size Model 3 sedan and Model Y SUV available to local buyers. There is no larger sedan, no smaller sedan, no Roadster, no Cybertruck and, most relevant for Australia, no seven-seat SUV. Australians have demonstrated a love of family friendly SUVs, with record sales for the Ford Everest and Isuzu MU-X in 2024 and big sales expected for the new Toyota Prado in 2025. In this article we’ll tell you everything you need to know about Tesla’s seven-seater plans. No, at least not in Australia. Tesla dropped its 7 seater electric car, the Model X from its Australian line-up in 2023 along with the Model S sedan. Its current local range consists of the five-seat-only Model Y SUV and Model 3 sedan. Maybe. Tesla has no current public plans to bring back the Model X, as it no longer builds it in right-hand drive. But it does have a potential new 7 seater Tesla, in the form of the three-row Model Y that’s available in the US market.  The seven-seat Model Y has been available in the USA in the Long Range AWD variant since 2020. It features the same seat arrangement for the first two rows (two in the first row and three across the middle), with two extra seats where the boot would be.  Tesla traditionally reveals very little details about upcoming models, which makes it incredibly difficult to predict when, or even if, Tesla will launch its new models in Australia. However, a report from Reuters in late 2024 suggested the three-row Model Y will soon be produced in China for potential right-hand-drive markets. It’s too early to know any details on price, as the three-row Model Y isn’t confirmed for the Australian market. Tesla is also known to adjust its pricing to try and drive sales, so it’s impossible to predict the brand with accuracy. However, what we can say is it’s likely to carry a small premium over the five-seat Model Y to account for the extra seats. You may have noticed we have referred to it as the ‘three-row Model Y’ as opposed to a seven-seater. That’s because the expectation is the Chinese-built variants will feature six-seats, spread across three rows of two. There is a seven-seater version of the Model Y built in Germany for European markets, but that may not be an option for Tesla in Australia due to the logistics, production complexities and costs. The biggest difference between the Tesla Model Y 7 seater Australia could see in the next few years, compared to the previous Model X will be size. The Model X was a large SUV while the Model Y is mid-sized. The Model X also famously had the so-called ‘Falcon wing’ double-hinged doors that allowed for easier access to the third row. In contrast, the Model Y three-row has the conventional doors. If the Tesla Model 7 three-row variant comes to Australia, besides only having six seats instead of seven, it will differ from key rivals in size. Instead of competing against the likes of the Ford Everest, Hyundai Santa Fe and Kia Sorento, it will be a much smaller SUV and be more directly rivalling the Nissan X-Trail and Mitsubishi Outlander. The problem with the three-row Model Y is the extra seats appear to be both limited for space but also take up much of the luggage space. If anything changes, we’ll let you know, so keep reading CarsGuide to stay up to date with everything happening in the motoring industry.

Public charging and electric vehicles go together like the chicken and the egg - you can’t have one without the other.

How long does it take to charge a Tesla? Well, it can take anywhere from 15 minutes to 30 hours, or more, depending on what kind of charging equipment you’re using, which model Tesla you’re charging and how you define 'charge'.

Let’s talk sleepers. In fact, what is a sleeper car? In the motoring world, a sleeper is a vehicle that hides its performance potential from the world, only revealing its true potential when the driver nails the throttle.

What is the most popular car in Australia?

Q: What are the most reliable car brands you can buy in Australia? A: It’s a heck of a question – but a popular barbecue discussion point - and there’s no definitive answer, mainly because there are so many variables (not to mention the sheer number of available car makes and models).

Self-driving cars have become one of the most hot-button topics in the car industry in the past decade. Everyone from General Motors to Google is involved in trying to remove the human being from the driving process.

Like most other elements of the Tesla experience, the EV-only brand does servicing somewhat differently to its competitors. For example, scheduling a service appointment needs to be done via the companion phone app, and Tesla offers either a mobile service or a service centre appointment option for each visit. If the car is dropped at a service centre, Tesla will notify the owner via the app when the car is ready to be picked up. Visits are also not defined by kilometre or time-based intervals, the car’s computer will inform owners when servicing is required on a condition-based interval. The service manual for a Model 3 and Model Y stipulates that, at very least, the brake fluid and cabin air filter needs to be checked and replaced if necessary every 24 months, the air conditioning desiccant bag needs to be replaced every six years, and tyres need to be rotated every 10,000km. Tesla’s new-car warranty is behind the pace compared to most mainstream automakers, limited to just four years and 80,000km. However, a separate high-voltage component warranty for the drive motors and battery pack covers eight-years and 192,000km. Seventy per cent of the car’s original battery capacity is guaranteed at that time. In summary: Condition-based servicing seems to make sense for an EV, and there should be significantly fewer parts and, subsequently, costs involved. However, Tesla is hardly transparent about the costs or intervals involved and its new-car warranty is behind the pace. 6/10 If you want to find out more about a specific manufacturer's capped price servicing, please see below: