Just in case anyone thinks this is a problem with all electric cars…
I own a Chevy Bolt. It lives in the driveway, as my house doesn’t have a garage. And I live in a city that gets Scotland levels of rainfall. It’s not uncommon for a heavy downpour to leave some low-lying streets with an inch or more of water on them in some places, and that’s perfectly normal here.
My Bolt does just fine in that. I never even considered the idea that I might need to take extra precautions with it because fucking rain might kill its battery.
Southern California may be mostly dry, but has had several storms this year with inches of rain each. So even the"home" of Tesla needs to take that sort of weather into account.
Keep in mind we didn’t see articles like this coming out of California during all the flooding. I’d be willing to bet money this guy drove through a flooded street and killed the car. If this was a design flaw, we’d be hearing a lot more about it I’m sure. Tesla is like the #1 news topic.
Just in case anyone thinks this is a problem with Teslas, I have driven mine through several dozen heavy rainstorms and even a hurricane and my Tesla does just fine in that.
And as everyone knows, science is comprised of my personal experience.
I don’t think anyone thinks this is a universal problem with Teslas. It’s just a possible case of quality control failure. That said, quality control has been a problem lately.
Quality control is a problem with every product. Once you reach a certain point it just makes more financial sense to fix any issues when they’re discovered and reported by the consumer rather than going over it with a microscope. Most consumers don’t care about panel gaps.
Until someone completes and publishes a scientific study on the matter, and compares them to other OEMs, I’ll continue to assume that these are just anecdotes from click-hungry publications that know anything to do with Tesla or Elon drives clicks, because everyone I know and every Tesla I’ve seen (with the exception of S/X) is totally fine.
Best car I’ve owned, without a doubt. I charge it overnight, and never have to even think about range (it’ll do 300 miles in good conditions if driven carefully). Keeping it charged costs a few dollars a month most of the time, unless I’m on a road trip and need to pay for charging on the way - which is still far, far cheaper than paying for gas.
The only downside is that road trips require more planning, because you need to know where you’re going to stop for a charge beforehand, and you need to plan out the time it’ll take to get a decent charge. But that just means making sure you’re going to have lunch or take a break to stretch your legs and walk around where you’ll be charging. Long-distance trips are definitely doable, you just plan them around charging locations.
And it’s impossible to beat the maintenance costs: Nearly $0. Very few moving parts and an electric motor means no oil changes, engine maintenance, and general wear-and-tear are much lower.
Unfortunately, you’ll probably have a hard time finding a new Bolt at this point. They’ve just stopped making them and dealerships haven’t really been able to keep any in stock for months in my neck of the woods. Apparently they will eventually come back but the timeline hasn’t been announced so probably several years.
Just in case anyone thinks this is a problem with all electric cars…
I own a Chevy Bolt. It lives in the driveway, as my house doesn’t have a garage. And I live in a city that gets Scotland levels of rainfall. It’s not uncommon for a heavy downpour to leave some low-lying streets with an inch or more of water on them in some places, and that’s perfectly normal here.
My Bolt does just fine in that. I never even considered the idea that I might need to take extra precautions with it because fucking rain might kill its battery.
This wasn’t everyday “Scotland levels of rainfalls” though, it was a specific storm that posed a risk to life in many areas.
That said I still,l would expect my car to endure anything short of being submerged underwater.
Southern California may be mostly dry, but has had several storms this year with inches of rain each. So even the"home" of Tesla needs to take that sort of weather into account.
Keep in mind we didn’t see articles like this coming out of California during all the flooding. I’d be willing to bet money this guy drove through a flooded street and killed the car. If this was a design flaw, we’d be hearing a lot more about it I’m sure. Tesla is like the #1 news topic.
I second this. Drove my Zoe through rain, snow and ice, never had any problem or even thought about with water ingress.
Just in case anyone thinks this is a problem with Teslas, I have driven mine through several dozen heavy rainstorms and even a hurricane and my Tesla does just fine in that.
And as everyone knows, science is comprised of my personal experience.
I don’t think anyone thinks this is a universal problem with Teslas. It’s just a possible case of quality control failure. That said, quality control has been a problem lately.
I’ve been hearing of quality control when it comes to everything Tesla for years. This hardly seems like a recent thing.
Quality control is a problem with every product. Once you reach a certain point it just makes more financial sense to fix any issues when they’re discovered and reported by the consumer rather than going over it with a microscope. Most consumers don’t care about panel gaps.
Until someone completes and publishes a scientific study on the matter, and compares them to other OEMs, I’ll continue to assume that these are just anecdotes from click-hungry publications that know anything to do with Tesla or Elon drives clicks, because everyone I know and every Tesla I’ve seen (with the exception of S/X) is totally fine.
The problem is, Tesla’s “ignore it till people complain” baseline is lower than most other mfgs.
How many references would you like? https://www.cnbc.com/2020/06/24/tesla-lags-auto-industry-in-quality-finds-new-jd-power-study.html https://www.greencarreports.com/news/1128625_tesla-ranks-last-in-initial-quality-build-issues https://www.cnn.com/2021/02/03/business/elon-musk-tesla-quality-problems/index.html
How do you like your bolt? I’ve been thinking about getting one or maybe an equinox when that comes out
Best car I’ve owned, without a doubt. I charge it overnight, and never have to even think about range (it’ll do 300 miles in good conditions if driven carefully). Keeping it charged costs a few dollars a month most of the time, unless I’m on a road trip and need to pay for charging on the way - which is still far, far cheaper than paying for gas.
The only downside is that road trips require more planning, because you need to know where you’re going to stop for a charge beforehand, and you need to plan out the time it’ll take to get a decent charge. But that just means making sure you’re going to have lunch or take a break to stretch your legs and walk around where you’ll be charging. Long-distance trips are definitely doable, you just plan them around charging locations.
And it’s impossible to beat the maintenance costs: Nearly $0. Very few moving parts and an electric motor means no oil changes, engine maintenance, and general wear-and-tear are much lower.
It’s a great car.
Unfortunately, you’ll probably have a hard time finding a new Bolt at this point. They’ve just stopped making them and dealerships haven’t really been able to keep any in stock for months in my neck of the woods. Apparently they will eventually come back but the timeline hasn’t been announced so probably several years.