Tesla: Battery warranty expired - what now?

The battery is by far the most valuable component in a Tesla - so it will be correspondingly expensive if it breaks and careful charging habitsare correspondingly important. Fortunately, the Tesla battery warranty covers a generous period of use.

But what if this Tesla warranty also expires at some point?

Tesla battery warranty: these are the general conditions

Depending on the model, Tesla guarantees the functionality of the battery over different mileages. However, the following applies to all models: The Tesla warranty expires after eight years at the latest, regardless of the mileage at that time.

In addition, if the battery capacity falls below 70% of the original value at the time of purchase within the respective warranty period, Tesla will replace the battery with one that lasts at least this 70% until the end of the warranty period.

However, this promise should be treated with caution: If falling below the 70% capacity threshold is due to a software update, which Tesla can install at any time to protect the battery, the warranty does not apply.

Tesla Model 3 battery warranty: up to 192,000 kilometers

With the Tesla Model 3 battery warranty, the warranty period is measured according to the type of drive. For models with pure rear-wheel drive, the car manufacturer guarantees a healthy battery for a maximum of 160,000 kilometers, while all-wheel drive provides 192,000 kilometers of guaranteed mileage. Measured against the eight-year limit, this is relatively generous, as you would have to drive over 24,000 kilometers a year to reach the mileage limit before the time limit.

Tesla Model Y battery warranty

The Model Y is the same as its little brother, the Model 3. The standard model with rear-wheel drive comes with a 160,000-kilometer battery warranty, while the all-wheel drive "Maximum Range" and "Performance" models are covered for 192,000 kilometers.

Tesla battery warranty: Model S and X covered the longest

The batteries in the Model S and X have the longest service life: The battery is protected against failure for a full 240,000 kilometers, which corresponds to a mileage of 30,000 kilometers per year calculated over eight years. When you spend so much time in the car, some convenient accessoriesare definitely worth it.

Tesla warranty on battery expired

Luckily, Tesla's warranty period is relatively generous. But what happens if the protection does expire at some point? Well, nothing will happen for the time being. As long as the car is running and still has a reasonable range, there is no problem.

It is only when the battery significantly loses capacity or breaks down completely that it becomes expensive - often more than €20,000 for a new battery packincluding installation. But how likely is that to happen? As most Teslas in the world are not yet eight years old, there is not yet a large amount of data available. However, initial experience reports, for example on YouTube, show that the battery capacity only decreases by around 10% even after hundreds of thousands of kilometers.

The Tesla Health Check can be used to analyze how well your battery is doing. Simply go to the service mode (Settings menu -> Software -> hold down the vehicle name -> enter "Service") and select the health check under "High voltage". This can take up to 24 hours and the result indicates how much the capacity has already decreased. Alternatively, the battery can be fully charged and then run down. You can then calculate how much battery capacity is left from the consumption and the distance driven.

Have you had any experience with the Tesla warranty or is your Tesla old enough to no longer be covered? Tell us about it in the comments!

Source contribution image: Priscilla Du Preez