EVwire brief: Tesla has finished ahead of Subaru and Volvo, two brands with hard-earned reputations for going the distance, in a major durability study ranking which carmakers are most likely to build a vehicle that reaches 250,000 miles (402,000 km). Tesla placed sixth of 32 brands, also clearing Mercedes, Porsche and BMW.
The iSeeCars study, drawn from more than 174 million vehicles, gives Tesla a 4.6% predicted chance of hitting a quarter-million miles. At the very top of the table are Toyota, Lexus, Honda, and Acura. Tesla and GMC sit just behind the four Japanese brands.
Here’s how the carmakers ranked in iSeeCars' study, by predicted chance of reaching 250,000 miles. Tesla lands sixth overall and third among luxury brands.
Overall, top 10 of 32 brands (industry average 4.8%):
Rank | Brand | Chance of 250,000+ miles |
|---|---|---|
1 | Toyota | 17.8% |
2 | Lexus | 12.8% |
3 | Honda | 10.8% |
4 | Acura | 7.2% |
5 | GMC | 4.6% |
6 | Tesla | 4.6% |
7 | Chevrolet | 4.5% |
8 | Cadillac | 4.5% |
9 | Mazda | 3.6% |
10 | Ram | 3.5% |
Tesla's 4.6% also clears a long list of brands with sterling reputations. It is twice as likely as Subaru (2.3%) to reach 250,000 miles, and well ahead of Volvo (2.2%), Mercedes-Benz (1.7%), Porsche (0.5%), BMW (0.4%), and Audi (0.3%). At the very bottom, Land Rover (0.1%) and a band of others, including Jaguar and Maserati (both effectively 0%), close out the 32-brand table.
Tesla’s mainstream vehicles have only been around for less than a decade
Luxury brands, top 10 (luxury average 3.2%):
Rank | Brand | Chance of 250,000+ miles |
|---|---|---|
1 | Lexus | 12.8% |
2 | Acura | 7.2% |
3 | Tesla | 4.6% |
4 | Cadillac | 4.5% |
5 | Lincoln | 3.4% |
6 | Volvo | 2.2% |
7 | Infiniti | 2.1% |
8 | Mercedes-Benz | 1.7% |
9 | Buick | 0.6% |
10 | Porsche | 0.5% |
Among luxury brands specifically, Tesla ranks third, behind only Lexus and Acura and ahead of Cadillac and Lincoln. That may be the more striking placement, since Teslas tend to rack up serious mileage compared to traditional luxury cars, which are usually driven less and less hard, which then flatters their numbers.
Teslas tend to accumulate more mileage and are driven harder than typical luxury vehicles
Context:
The result is less of a shock than it first looks. An EV does without a whole category of parts that wear out combustion cars: no engine, no oil changes, no timing chains, no fuel injectors, and far fewer moving parts to fail.
Battery degradation is the obvious counterweight, but Tesla's results in iSeeCars’ study is a data point against the idea that EVs fall apart at high mileage.
With no engine, oil changes or timing chains, a Tesla skips many of the parts that send combustion cars to the scrapyard.
It should also be noted that Tesla's mainstream models, the Model 3 and Model Y, make up the bulk of its fleet, and those have only been on the road for under a decade. This means hard data on Tesla’s very-long-term durability is still thin for now. That said, this early read is promising all the same.
DIG DEEPER into Teslawire for more Tesla news, and join 14,000+ EV geeks reading EVwire.
