The Tesla Germany Paradox: Do They Last 130,488 Miles or 1 Million Miles?

I have already written about his experience and how Tesla did not help him that much to reach that amazing milestone. Von Gemmingen had to replace the electric motor in his Model S “11 or 12 times” the last time I spoke to him, in August 2022. One of them lasted only 30,000 km (18,641 mi), while the best one resisted 778,000 km (483,427 mi). On average, he had to replace them every 130,000 km (80,778 mi). That is less than what Tesla’s attorneys have been saying that the electric cars should last in German courts.

Von Gemmingen wasn’t very lucky with the battery pack, either. Elon Musk said they lasted 300,000 mi (482,800 km), perhaps 500,000 mi (804,600 km). The German Tesla customer would have needed two to reach 1 million miles. In the end, he used three, all of them under warranty – thanks to old terms that only mentioned time (eight years), not mileage.

The first one lasted 290,000 km (slightly less than 180,200 mi). The second one was a loan until Tesla had a definitive battery pack to put in his car. As the EV maker took a year and a half to do so, Von Gemmingen used it for more than 150,000 km (a bit more than 93,200 mi). As far as we know, the last one is still working, which means it has delivered more than 726,600 miles. At least one of these components fulfilled Musk’s lifespan promises.

I suspect this has to do with something Jason Hughes said a while ago. According to the Tesla Hacker, battery packs made before Q2 2014 “are pretty universally at risk of about six different types of pack failures.” Those between Q2 2014 and Q2 2015 can fail for “only a couple of less common ones.” Anything built after that is “super solid.” The latest battery pack on Von Gemmingen’s 1-million-mile Model S should be among the more recent ones.

Considering the oldest car involved in the German lawsuits is a 2017 Model X, it is even more strange that the EV maker’s lawyers state its vehicles will last only 130,488 mi. Would that be due to the frail electric motor? Theoretically, their battery packs could last as much as Musk said they would. Shouldn’t this be the message Tesla would like its customers to hear about its EVs, especially considering “the mission” of electrifying the world?

A brief Tesla owner told me he thought buying a 2013 Tesla Model S was the best environmental solution he could make. ST (John) just did not expect he would own his car for only 50 km (31 mi). That’s how much it took for him to drive it to a Tesla Service Center to get a safety certificate. The EV maker replaced its MCUv1 in a recall – stating it was “goodwill” – and told him the BMS_u029 error emerged.

That code was the death sentence for his Model S’s battery pack. His only choice was to sell the EV shortly after that. It did not make financial sense to replace the component. Curiously, his car had 207,000 km (128,624 mi) on the clock. Again, it was only 3,000 km short of how much Tesla’s attorneys said its EVs were supposed to live.

Tesla may have found a clever way to take these early vehicles away from the streets. It is offering $5,000 in the U.S. and CAD7,000 in Canada for those willing to trade in these early cars for a new Model S or Model X. By limiting the offer to its flagships, Tesla makes it seem that it is trying to push their sale. However, if that were really the case, the EV maker would not limit the offer to vehicles with Supercharging for life – the very first ones the company sold. Tesla is also willing to dodge that commitment with this new promotion.

This is not Tesla’s first attempt to get rid of these early vehicles. In 2019, the company released the over-the-air (OTA) software updates 2019.16.1 or 2019.16.2 for the Model S and X. The cars that had this update ended up with voltage caps that did not allow them to fully charge their battery packs and also charged slower than expected.

Instead of forcing the affected owners to sell their cars, Tesla got sued while their battery packs were still under warranty. In July 2021, when some no longer were, Tesla proposed to settle, paying each of the 1,743 affected owners $625. Soon after that, BMS_u029 codes started condemning their battery packs.

Newer vehicles are not involved with this. Despite that, Tesla’s German attorneys are still saying they will last less than combustion-engined cars. The limit these lawyers claim for Tesla vehicles is lower than current Model S and Model X battery pack warranties. The company commits to replace them if they do not last 150,000 miles (more than 240,000 km) or eight years with a minimum of 70% of their original capacities. Why would these cars survive for only 130,488 mi (210,000 km)?

What is the advantage the company gets for legally establishing such a low lifespan? The only answer for that is obtaining higher compensation for use in purchase withdrawals. Does that pay the reputation damage such allegations cause? As paradoxical as this story is, Tesla fans, advocates, and investors should prefer what Von Gemmingen demonstrated over what the company’s lawyers want everyone to believe.

Ironically, Von Gemmingen got tired of Tesla and recently bought a Lucid Air, probably to impose high mileage on the new electric sedan. It will be interesting to see how Lucid will deal with compensation for use if some of its customers decide to get rid of their cars for defects and flaws. Unfortunately, Lucid also has its fair share of these issues.