How Many Miles Can An Electric Car Go? Durability Issues For EVs

Electric vehicles are the big trend of our epoch. These cars are presented as the eco-friendlier alternative to ICE cars and to hybrids. They are not as independent and flexible, but they don't emit any harmful elements into the air when you drive them. And this is the most important thing that everyone should know about these vehicles.

But is everything so cool as the adverts say to us? Can these cars last longer than traditional gasoline or diesel cars? Will they require a lot of money for regular maintenance? Today, we are talking about the longevity of electric vehicles and we want to show you the significant difference in approaches to traditional cars and modern EVs.

Here's what we will discuss today:

1. Electric vehicles' longevity - what should you know?
2. Why are EVs more durable than gasoline or diesel cars?
3. What can go wrong with an electric car?
4. Maintenance cost - average prices for EVs.

Let's get started!

How many miles can an average EV last?

When we are talking about some "average" mileage of EVs, we should take into account that a Tesla can last much more than a Chinese electric vehicle from an unknown brand. So, we'll mainly focus on American and European markets where only good and reliable electric vehicles are sold.

Also, we should understand that the term "longevity" may mean different things. For example, in poor countries, people will drive their cars until these vehicles finally drop. But in the US and Europe, people will opt to lease a new car when the old one starts taking too much money for maintenance and repair. Also, they don't want to drive a car if it keeps breaking all the time and takes their precious time.

Here's what we can say about the rational longevity of modern electric vehicles:

• electric motors in these cars can usually last 3 times longer than any internal combustion engines in traditional vehicles - their longevity can be close to a million miles;
• transmissions also last long - they are much less complicated than the traditional transmissions in ICE cars, so they can last 500 000 miles;
• batteries tend to lose their potential over time, but they will still last at least 200 000 miles in cheaper cars and up to 350 000 miles in more expensive ones;
• suspension, brakes, and many other parts don't differ much between EVs and ICE cars, they will fail at the same time, in most cases;
• the body protection of most EVs is not bad at all - these cars may really last long because mainly they belong to the elite class of vehicles.

When you look at these figures, you can consider that an average electric vehicle can last 300 000 miles without bad issues and expensive repairs. Some will last longer, but some will show worse reliability.

We aren't skeptical about the longevity of the EVs because we have seen Teslas and Nissans that had 300 000 miles plus on the clocks and they were still OK. Yes, you will probably need to repair or replace the battery when the vehicle reaches 200 000 to 300 000 miles. But all other important and expensive parts will still be absolutely OK.

Some examples of long-lasting EVs

We just went online to investigate what mileage the Teslas and other EVs have when they are sold at auctions and in dealers' shops. Dealers try to sell electric vehicles that have relatively low mileage. They will not buy or trade in a car that has 300 000 miles on its dashboard. But auctions don't care about the mileage.

So, the Copart salvage car auction offers 1 out of 10 Nissan Leaf cars with over 200 000 miles. Also, 2 out of 10 Tesla EVs have already reached 200 000 miles. We've found some Tesla models that have already reached 300 000 miles and they were still looking pretty good.

Also, we've spoken to people who still drive the first generations Nissan Leaf and Tesla Model S. Some of them agreed that these cars are very reliable and showed their mileage. And a lot of these people have already passed the 200 000-mile mark. We've only heard two or three opinions that at this mileage these vehicles are not reliable. Consider that we've talked to at least 30 people.

This poll shows that EVs can actually go a lot of miles with no problems at all. Now, we'll try to find the weakest links in electric vehicles and understand what can reduce your mileage and make you sell your EV sooner than you originally planned to do it.

What problems can reduce the mileage of your EV?

Of course, not every electric vehicle will last that long. We are now talking about the average mileage. It means that one Tesla can go 500 000 miles while the other Tesla can go only 100 000 miles till it drops. But on average, they will go 300 000 miles.

So, we decided to investigate the EVs in terms of the weakest points that can lead to a sharp deterioration of the expected mileage. Unfortunately, EVs have a lot of problems and some of them are completely new to a person who owned ICE cars before. We have to know what can happen with our EV to prevent or at least predict this.

Here are some popular problems of electric vehicles that can reduce the mileage of your car:

1. Battery failure. Some batteries will live longer while other ones will drop when they are still new. We know cases when Nissan Leaf batteries fail at 50 000 miles. Also, Renault batteries in European EVs fail much faster than expected.
2. Body problems. Electric vehicles have basically the same bodies as ICE cars. Cars rust if damaged, they can lose their protection and paint layers. If the body is damaged and rusty, the longevity of the car will not be very bright.
3. Electronics. EVs are very technological. If some control units fail, sometimes, it's very hard to repair the vehicle. Big problems can come after accidents when wiring and electronic units are damaged.
4. Wiring and connections. In some cars, even finding the problem with wiring is extremely hard. Given the number of different wires is too big, your mechanic will spend weeks locating the problem.
5. Battery damage. Batteries in EVs may fail when they are deeply discharged, physically damaged, disconnected, overheated, etc. A lot of factors can damage your battery and reduce its longevity significantly.

As you see, a lot of factors may lead to problems with your EV. Some of them are hard to locate and repair, some of the problems will cost you a fortune to deal with. For example, a complete battery replacement in a Tesla Model 3 (one of the cheapest versions) will cost you around $15,000 or more. Nissan Leaf is cheaper, in this case, it will cost around $5000 - $7000 to replace a 40-kWh battery with a new one.

We know many cases when a Tesla or a Chevy electric vehicle was sold to scrapyards after minor accidents. These cars are sometimes impossible or too expensive to repair. But we can say the same about some ICE cars on the market.

Are EVs more expensive than ICE cars to maintain?

First of all, you should understand that electric vehicles are cheaper to charge if you do it at home, not on a paid charging station. This will save you up some money which you then can spend on maintaining your EV.

And we should also say that the average yearly maintenance cost doesn't differ much for an electric vehicle and the same-class ICE car.

Here are two examples:

• A Tesla Model 3 will cost you about $150 a year in the first three years. Then, the insurance, price depreciation, and some other things will be quite the same as in a gasoline car. The charging will cost you about $500 a year if you charge your car at home.
• A Mazda 3 will cost you about $250 a year to maintain in the first three years. Also, you will spend at least $1500 a year on gasoline which is three times more expensive than charging a Tesla car.

Now you see that maintaining a new Tesla is three times cheaper than maintaining a new gasoline-powered Mazda 3, for example.

In some years, the situation will change and your Tesla will need as much money as the Mazda. But the Tesla will also show greater longevity, so financially the EV will be a more rational decision.

Final words

We know that an electric vehicle is a good choice. We see it in America - nearly 10% of all cars that are sold in the US yearly are now electric cars. And this percentage goes up every single year. In Norway, nearly all new cars are electric vehicles, even though Norway is the biggest oil-producing country in Europe. And we see that the evolution of passenger cars has turned to electric vehicles.