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[Richard230]

As you know, there has been more than one report regarding problems that Zero owners have had with their bikes.  So I was interested in an article in my newspaper, written by Jeremy C Owens, mecurynews.com, which notes that the Tesla Model S has been having issues too.  In particular, it mentioned that Consumer Reports comments that over the 15,743 miles that they have been using their test Model S, the car has developed many minor problems, including the retracting door handles failing to emerge, the center screen that controls most of the car's functions gong completely blank, the front trunk failing to open and an adapter for non-Tesla charging stations falling apart.

However, they did receive excellent warranty service from Tesla. All of these problems were repaired and the company sent a trailer for the car to take it in for service and delivered it back when done.  They also supplied a loaner car while their car was being repaired.

Perhaps of more concern was the comment by Edmunds, which purchased a Model S in February 2013 and had to have the car's "drivetrain" system replaced three times during the first 30K miles that they drove the car.  Motor Trend's test car also had its drivetrain replaced as well.

So it would appear that EV technology still has a way to go before it achieves the sort of reliability that we owners, expect.  But the difference between Tesla and Zero is the way the customer's problems are resolved when something goes wrong.

Tesla's stock price hit $259.96 a share earlier this week.

[BrianTRice@gmail.com]

Quality control is an extremely difficult problem in design and manufacturing, and multiplies as you develop more new systems. It amazes me that critics insist on every new manufacturer solving all the tech problems at once ("let's have the best chargers! and control systems! wait, why is my experimental vehicle in the shop all the time?") with custom solutions, when conservatism of reusing off the shelf parts and tested configurations is what keeps a company solvent.

[Richard230]

Apparently Tesla Motors is aware of these problems and has decided to address them.  An article in the financial section of my newspaper today, written by Alan Ohnsman, published by Bloomberg News, reports that Tesla is modifying the warranty for the Model S to offer unlimited mileage for the both the Model S drive unit and battery pack for a period of 8 years for new and existing customers, in order to ease any reliability concerns.  This increases the warranty period, which was previously 4 years and 50K miles, in response to reliability problems experienced by Consumer Reports and Edmunds. Also there will be no limit to the number of owners of a particular Model S that will be protected by the car's extended warranty. Elon Musk says that extending the Model S warranty will have a "moderately negative effect" on the company's earnings.