Tesla Extends Cap On Warranty To 8 Years Unlimited Mileage

Tesla Motors has a way with words. From Superchargers to 'auto pilot,' Tesla likes to set itself apart by calling things other things. What, fast charging and autonomous drive not good enough for ya? The same thing just happened with the announcement of a new 'infinite mile warranty' for the drive unit. That's infinite, not unlimited, but whatever it's called, the new policy lifts the warranty mileage cap on the 85-kWh version of the Model S that had previously been set at four years and 50,000 miles.

The new rules say that the drive unit will have the same 'limits' as the battery pack, which means as many miles as you can put on the car in eight years. Tesla will also honor the warranty no matter how many people have owned the car and is applying the warranty retroactively, so feel safe buying that used 2012 Model S until 2019 if you still want some warranty coverage.
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TheSteve - 8/18/2014 12:06:30 PM

+7 Boost

That sounds like a great warranty, providing Tesla is still around in 8 years to honor it.

scenicbyway12 - 8/18/2014 12:52:34 PM

+5 Boost

To what I've read so far sound like they need it. Wonder how this is going to effect stock price let alone profits.

mre30 - 8/18/2014 5:00:29 PM

+4 Boost

Big Question -
When will Tesla run out of money and when will it be scooped up by GM or Mercedes for pennies?

As of 6/30/14 - Tesla has $2.7B in cash, $2.3B in other assets; $4.0B in liabilities and about $1.0B in equity. As "manufacturing" companies go, this is not a strong balance sheet. They should generate about $3B in gross revenues this year and (judging from the 6 months of 2014 so far) will probably run a loss this year.

At some point, they will have to pay for the promises they make in cold hard cash. I wish them well, but the hype around Tesla is something.

As "TheSteve" says, that sounds like a great warranty, providing Tesla is still around in 8 years to honor it.

MattDarringer - 8/18/2014 7:45:54 PM

0 Boost

When your cars are garbage you extend warranties again and again and again. When your cars are good your offer a bulletproof warranty up front.

Tesla will die within 2 years at this rate.

TheSteve - 8/19/2014 2:49:28 PM

+1 Boost

Gotta agree with BobM. People riding the stock on the way up will make (have made) a killing, but when the reality check happens, the house of cards will collapse, and it'll remind us of the former Fisker auto maker.

BTW, we're seeing something similar with Blackberry. They have less than 1% market share (they round off to 0%), they're losing customers, laid off most of their workforce, cut back on all expenditures big-time, including research and development. They're bleeding money, but they recently turned a tiny quarterly profit, only as a result of cost-cutting outstripping revenue declines. And yet, there are people who believe this is a turn-around, and they're buying Blackberry stock as a long-term investment.