Maintenance Costs

[Triggerhappy007]

I've had bad luck with 12V batteries, mainly because I live in Texas. For my ICE cars, they last about 3 years. On my 15 Focus EV, it lasted 2 years and replaced under warranty. On my 19 Leaf, it lasted 1 year and replaced under warranty.

As far as tires, my wife drove the Focus EV and the OEM Energy Saver tires only lasted 20,000 miles. The same OEM tires on my Leaf lasted 40,000 miles.

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[Tom L]

My experience differs from others. Hybrid 2010, PHEV 2018.

Tires wear the same as ICE vehicles, but usually the OEM tires aren't long wearing, just like with ICE vehicles. Putting on Michelin Defenders as the next set solves that, and has a very minimal impact on mpg.

No replacement of suspension in up to close to 80,000 miles, except when potholes destroyed it - and insurance covered it as "collision with road".

Replaced rear brakes on 2010 Fusion Hybrid due to rusting out. Poor design on that and other ICE models.

Replaced 12 volt battery on 2010 around year 6 or 7 as I recall. Never replaced a car battery in 3 years. Keeping it plugged in keeps the 12v charged.

After 3 years and 53,000 miles on my heavy Honda Clarity PHEV with 80% of the miles under HVB power, my brakes have 40% wear, crappy OEM tires replaced at 27,000 miles (replacement Bridgestones wearing much better), and LVB battery replaced at 36,000 miles. The battery fail was gradual and I was never stranded. My initial interest in EVs was sparked by comment from a popular TV weather personality here who said the only maintenance he had in 5 years with his EV (Tesla?) was a set of tires and one windshield wiper.

 

[RickMachE]

I've had bad luck with 12V batteries, mainly because I live in Texas. For my ICE cars, they last about 3 years. On my 15 Focus EV, it lasted 2 years and replaced under warranty. On my 19 Leaf, it lasted 1 year and replaced under warranty.

As far as tires, my wife drove the Focus EV and the OEM Energy Saver tires only lasted 20,000 miles. The same OEM tires on my Leaf lasted 40,000 miles.

How much of tire wear is your wife's driving vs. yours?

20,000 miles is ridiculous. Were the tires rotated and balanced every 7,500 at least? Were tire pressures kept to the door jamb pressure?

 

[Triggerhappy007]

How much of tire wear is your wife's driving vs. yours?

20,000 miles is ridiculous. Were the tires rotated and balanced every 7,500 at least? Were tire pressures kept to the door jamb pressure?

It's probably due to her commute vs mine. She was driving in city traffic with a lot of stop and go. Mine is almost all highway. Tires were rotated every 7500 miles. Pressure was about 2 psi over recommended and it had even wear. I keep my psi about 4 over on my Leaf and it had even wear too.

 

[RickMachE]

It's probably due to her commute vs mine. She was driving in city traffic with a lot of stop and go. Mine is almost all highway. Tires were rotated every 7500 miles. Pressure was about 2 psi over recommended and it had even wear. I keep my psi about 4 over on my Leaf and it had even wear too.

Yeah, city traffic, especially with lots of turns, will do that. My mother drives her car in a large private community, slow speeds, lots of turns daily. Chews through tires.

 

[kindofblue]

How much of tire wear is your wife's driving vs. yours?

20,000 miles is ridiculous. Were the tires rotated and balanced every 7,500 at least? Were tire pressures kept to the door jamb pressure?

We had to replace the OEM tires on my wife's 2017 Volt after 27k and she's a smooth driver. The Continentals we replaced them with are lasting much longer.

 

[RickMachE]

We had to replace the OEM tires on my wife's 2017 Volt after 27k and she's a smooth driver. The Continentals we replaced them with are lasting much longer.

We've found that Michelin Defenders, while not an "EV" tire, last great. Of course they aren't likely suited for the Mach-E, we'll see in a lot of years.

 

[Mirak]

I think the tires are gonna be the most expensive maintenance item. By which I mean spending $1,000 every 3-4 years as opposed to spending $600 every 4-5 years. Knock on wood.

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