Is an OLD Tesla Model S Worth It?

I own a 2013 Model S P85+ with 181k miles. I still get 232 miles of range on a full charge, 208 at 90%. Still original battery. I will continue to see how it does. Doing good so far.

Before I bought my Tesla my worst fear was battery degradation but after having owned and driven it every day for three years I am happy to say that there's no significant degradation so far.

I have a 2013 Model S 85 187,000 miles and still have 87% original battery capacity. Rear brakes also original. No issues with long trips.

Yes, it is worth it. Our 2014 Model S85 just had its ninth annual service today, consisting of wiper blades, fob batteries and tire inflation. Spent about $3,000 on maintenance since new. Robust and wonderful vehicle that we took on a 5,350 mile break in run a month after we got it. San Diego to Banff and Lake Louise, Canada. It started at 265 miles of range, now 256. We charge low and slow in our garage, 15 amps, 240V.

Superchargers are often paired: One charger powers 2 plugs. If the paired plug is already connected, you'll get a lower charge rate until the other car's charge rate starts to taper off as it fills. For best performance, use a plug where its pair is not in use. Supercharger plugs are numbered usually 1A, 1B, etc, so you can see how they're paired. Some of the latest Superchargers are not paired, delivering full power to a single plug, but with an older Model S, you typically won't see higher than 150 kw of peak charging anyway. (We've owned a 2013 Model S P85 for 8 years and 90% of our driving is long distance.)

8:53 I’ve only charged to 100% once in our P85+, just to see what the car’s estimated max range would show after 145k miles. 238 miles out of the original 265.. only 10% less than when factory fresh. The last 3% took a while. From 97 to 98%, it took 5:51 min, from 98-99, it took 8:34 min, and from 99-100, it took a whopping 21:38 min! I saw the 100% drop to 99% after just a little over a mile driving on the freeway, and then I was able to travel 4.1 miles from 99-98%, so it tracked as expected as far as Wh/mi goes. But aside from this, the mist I’ve ever charged it before then was 96%, and that was road tripping through the wilderness on our way up to Canada. We ended up arriving at the next station with ample charge, but we were giving ourselves the peace of mind as we were traveling through sparsely populated areas for that leg. Tesla has since added Superchargers in between those points, so charging that much for that journey again wouldn’t be necessary. In any case, the vast majority of our charges are done up to 60-80%, and we usually don’t recharge until in the 20’s or 30’s. Makes for shorter stops and more than enough to top off at home. Exceptions would be when road tripping across the desert 🏜️ we’ll charge up to 80-90% on some of those desolate legs just to have more than needed. Never know when you might encounter strong head winds, need to take a detour, unexpectedly take the scenic route, etc

Good vid as always from Ca Dream Drives. Well crafted and fun, and as a benefit shows the variation of So Cal landscape from the beach to 118F Palm Springs. Henrik clearly discusses the current perceived limitations of electric cars. How much is perception, how much reality. This 10 y/o Tesla gets very high marks and is 'proof of concept' for ev's. For us deciding on our next car, this information is significant, especially from an experienced 'driver's driver.' Looking forward to the next vid in the series. (I'm a subscriber.)

Your Model S looks amazing. I have a 2015 original shape and the look doesn’t tire on me. I still get looks and compliments from people.

Took my 2015 s 90d on a road trip from Florida to new York in January, and it worked great. And on my wife's 2014 base 60 we upgraded the computer ($2500) and it feels like a much newer car.

What a breath of fresh air to watch a calmly delivered, useful, real-world scenario of what an old EV can do and how it's a great thing to own and live with. Thank you so much. Buying an old S is something I've often wondered about as they appear to be absolute bargains, they are far more handsome than the other Teslas, and I see them as a modern classic. Also, unlike all other cars, all Teslas are continually updated with new features, plus some of the old ones come with free charging for life. What's not to like?! Some things I would have loved you to cover are the costs for servicing of an old Tesla, including what the car you used had experienced in its service history, some evidence from many old Model S's that have covered lots of miles, the potential for depreciation or indeed appreciation, and anything else we need to consider with an old S. The slow charger problem you experienced shows viewers, incorrectly I expect?, that charging is problematic. If, in yours and others experience, charging is normally quick and seamless then it would have been advantageous to have this clarity. The particular car you used here was one of the most attractive Teslas I've seen; what colour grey was that, and are those wheels a normal option - it looked fantastic?! Thanks again and I'd really love to see you make more videos about what it's like to live with an old S, or indeed any other secondhand EVs, and how that could be perfect for many people's use cases. Keep up the good work man!

I love to see my "old" Model S is still looking and running great! Cool video, brought back some great memories!

This is an excellent video for anyone considering buying an older Tesla. And the commentors who also own an older Tesla back that up.

I've driven a couple older Model S vehicles and I own a 2018 Model 3 and one of the most notable differences between them is charging speed at superchargers. Tesla has made huge improvements to increase charging speed since the Model 3 came out. My Model 3 will sometimes hit 250-300kW during charging making charging go super quick. I just recently drove a 2017 Model S P100D as a loaner and all of my supercharging sessions were below 100kW (probably 50-60kW average).

I’m thrilled with my MY … I hope it’s as good as your S when it’s completed 110k miles. Super video, well presented and not verbose !

Thank you for taking time to explain the charging stations and why the fans are running etc. We are going to be purchasing a Tesla soon and your videos have been the most helpful of all we have seen for more reasons than what I mentioned above. Kudos.

A windmill is used to mill grains into flour, drive machines, or move water. A wind turbine converts wind energy into electricity by turning a turbine.

Sort of a non-event. I have a 7 year old Tesla with 129k miles. Routinely drive 360 mile round trips once a week. Have seen essentially no degradation between 70k miles and 129k miles on clock. As for charging speeds. As a 2013, you have a Gen 1 pack, known for slowest charging. Additionally, the charging station you selected appears to be a 'urban' charger, which has a max charge rate of 75kwh if I remember correctly. On a 2015 S90D, using the latest supercharger, I routinely see 110-115kwh up to about 45% soc, and then then normal taper down of the charging curve. I agree, the last '10 minutes' it takes longer time wise what the dash says to charge. However, I think a better test for your video would've been a Gen 3 Supercharger. As for pre-conditioning. On a cold day, I would say the car is doing that. Since you just completed a highway drive, at almost 100F, I doubt any preconditioning was used by the car. As the a/c cools the battery in hot weather, it was probably at the optimum temperature for charging when you got to the supercharger All in all a good video to show that EVs are not 'throw aways' and that batteries can still be useful 10 years after the purchase.

Thank you for this. Very helpful indeed!

Great video. Very informative. Thanks

I love road trips in my 2013 P85. My only issues have been related to my car being lowered on 22 inch wheels. Absolutely love it