Tesla has changed its warranty policy and is now offering an 8-year, “infinite mile” warranty. The statement came in a Tesla blog post by CEO Elon Musk on Friday.
Until the announcement, Tesla Model S cars have had a warranty of four years or 50,000 miles. The battery pack was an exception, and was covered for eight years. The new warranty simply increases the period of drive unit coverage up to match that of the battery pack, and retroactively covers all Model S cars built to date, even those already on the road.
During those eight years, the “infinite mile” component means there is no cap to the number of miles driven. There’s also no limit to the number of owners the car might have.
The new policy comes on the heels of reports by Edmunds and Consumer Reports, whose long-term Model S sedans had experienced a number of mishaps. “In hindsight, this should have been our policy from the beginning of the Model S program,” said Musk in his blog post. “If we truly believe that electric motors are fundamentally more reliable than gasoline engines, with far fewer moving parts and no oily residue or combustion byproducts to gum up the works, then our warranty policy should reflect that.”
Musk also noted that the implementation of the policy might have a negative effect on Tesla’s short-term earnings. “However,” said Musk, “By doing the right thing for Tesla vehicle owners at this early stage of our company, I am confident that it will work out well in the long term.”
Offering a 10-year, 100,000-mile warranty famously turned Hyundai’s fortunes around in the US market.
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