What Maintenance is needed on Tesla Model 3 | Model Y ?

I’ve owned my tesla model 3 mid-range since December of 2018 and you may ask what routine maintenance have I done on this car since then. Now because tesla’s are again all-electric, there are very little moving parts unlike a traditional gas or ICE vehicle. In, fact according to Tesla, their drivetrain only has about 17 moving parts comparted to the 200 or so in a typical drivetrain of an internal combustion engine. With all of these extra moving parts comes the complexity of increased costs not just up front, but also over and over again when you need to spend money to maintain these complex machines. An EV can save you money short term on fuel, while making life more convenient over the longer term on maintenance costs. To start off, I pulled up the model 3 owner’s manual to fully understand what maintenance is needed or recommended by Tesla themselves. The manual first starts off by saying “Your vehicle should generally be serviced on an as-needed basis” and that it recommends the following service items and intervals to ensure continued reliability and efficiency of the model 3.

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Brake Fluid

The first item is brake fluid health check every 2 years and replace if necessary. In my opinion because all teslas have regenerative braking the need to even use your brakes is almost not needed unless in an emergency. If you do not understand what regenerative braking is, In a nut shell, It’s when you let off the accelerator and the vehicle immediately begins to slow. What slows down the tesla is the motor acting like a generator to convert much of the kinetic energy lost when decelerating back into stored energy in the model 3’s battery. The next time the car accelerates, it uses much of the energy previously stored from regenerative braking instead of tapping in further to its own energy reserves. As tesla continues to release software updates to the car, regenerative braking only gets more efficient. Currently regenerative braking is called “one-pedal driving” with Tesla. Over time you will get use to only using one pedal, as you slowing let off the pedal the car will slow and immediately enable a brake hold function without even having to touch the brake pedal. Back to brake fluid health, yes it should still be checked every two years depending on your driving habits and weather conditions. I’ve even heard reports that the brakes on a tesla should almost last the life of the vehicle when using regenerative braking properly.

AC Desiccant Bag

Onto the next service recommendation is the AC desiccant bag replacement every 6 years. This bag will help absorb water to help remove moisture inside the AC unit. Since I’ve had my car under 2 years I have yet to even think about this upcoming maintenance event. I did, however, have to replace my cabin filters and clean the AC coil within 6 months of buying the car. Which brings us to the next bullet point on the list. If you have seen any of my previous videos under my channel, I had this mildew mold smell come from the vents when I first got in the vehicle and then would slowly go away after a few minutes. Tesla would not cover this under the warranty unfortunately and told me it would be about a 150-200 dollar charge to replace the cabin filters and clean the evaporator coils. Me being the handy guy that I am figured out how to locate the cabin filters and coils and service it myself. I sprayed 2 cans of Kool-it onto the coils and then replaced the filters that I bought off amazon. My current set of filters I’m using are the HEPA filters by xtechnor and as of June 2020 I have not had any smell come back to the car. Tesla also released a software update to help deter the smell by running the fans longer after you exit the vehicle to prevent mildew from occurring inside the coils. So while the service manual recommends replacing the cabin filters every 2 years, I found myself having to do it the very first 6 months of ownership. Now with this new software update and the service I have personally done, I hope to be replacing them every 2 years.   

Clean Brake Calipers

The next item on the maintenance list is cleaning the brake calipers every year or at 12,500 miles if you reside in an area where roads are salted during the winter. Being in the north Carolina we do not have crazy winters and they rarely salt the roads. I did however have my brake calipers checked by tesla roadside service and no cleaning was recommended.

Tire Rotation | New Tires

Finally, it says you must rotate your tires every 10,000-12,000 miles depending on your driving habits. I personally rotate the tires myself after the 12,00 mile mark. New tires will cost about 800 dollars for a good set of Michelins or continentals. Depending on your driving habits you may end up going through tires quicker according to forums I have read from other tesla owners.

Windshield Washer Fluid / Wiper Blades

Regarding monthly checks you are going to want to check the windshield washer fluid reservoir and top it off if necessary, monitor the AC unit for correct cooling specs and replace your windshield wiper blades every few years which the service manual does not mention.  

These are all of the main service intervals you should consider when performing maintenance on a tesla model 3.  One common question I want to point out is regarding battery coolant. According to the manual,” Your battery coolant does not need to be replaced for the life of the vehicle under most circumstances. Any damaged caused by opening the battery coolant reservoir is excluded from the warranty.  

What About the Battery?

So, we have talked about the maintenance needed on a tesla but what about the battery itself, what do we do to service this? Should we service it? How long does it last? What does it cost to replace if need be?

All of the questions enter the minds of many new perspective tesla owners. Let’s talk about it.

The model 3 has one of the most sophisticated battery systems in the world. The most important way to preserve the battery ‘according to the manual’ is to leave your car plugged it when you are not using it. When plugged in, the model 3 wakes up when needed to automatically maintain a charge level that maximizes the lifetime of the battery. When left idle and unplugged the tesla will periodically use energy from the battery for system tests and recharging the 12v battery when necessary. There is no advantage to waiting until the battery level is low before charging. In fact, the battery performs best when charged regularly. The service manual goes on to say the battery has no parts that an owner or non-tesla authorized service technician can service. Under no circumstances should you open or tamper with the battery. It also states to never allow the battery to fall to 0%, you must plug it in. If you leave it unplugged for an extended period, it may not be possible to charge or use the model 3 without jump starting or replacing the 12v battery. Now the manual does not give an answer regarding the life of the battery, it does however come with an 8 year or 100,000 mile warranty period for repair or replacement if necessary. From what I have read from Elon Musk is that the Model 3 drive unit and body is designed like a commercial truck for a million-mile life. Current battery modules should last 300,000 to 500,000 miles which is about 1,500 cycles. Replacing the modules, not the pack, will only cost 5- 7,000 dollars. In reality, do I see myself driving this car over 300,000 yet alone 500,000 miles??! Probably not,.. as a tesla owner the battery is the least of my worries when it comes to maintenance.

These were the core maintenance services needed on a tesla model 3. As you can see there’s really not that much maintenance needed in comparison to a regular gasoline vehicle. Still to this day, I have not one regret from switching from gas to electric. I can still do road trips with teslas massive supercharger network and I never worry about running out of battery because I plug in a work or at home when I’m not driving. I look forward to what Elon has coming out in the future and could not be more excited about Tesla as they continue to not only dominate the car industry but also its path to a sustainable energy future.

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