'Tesla maintenance a quarter more expensive than maintenance of petrol cars'

Although there is a good reason for it

We recently came across a Rivian R1T that apparently appeared to have little damage. Still, the owner had to pay 40,000 euros to the mechanics. Not much later we came across a copy of the previous story. This time the Rivian driver lost 38,000 euros. A study shows that your suspicions are correct: EVs are more expensive to repair than petrol cars. A Tesla is also more expensive in terms of maintenance.

The information comes from Mitchell. This is not a vague acquaintance who works in a garage in Montfoort, but an American company that checks the software of damaged cars and replaces it where necessary. One of the employees tells Automotive News about the average maintenance costs for Teslas, other EVs and gasoline cars in the third quarter of this year.

On average, Tesla customers spent $5,552 in the third quarter. This is approximately 5,200 euros. Gasoline drivers spent an average of $4,205 (3,900 euros) and owners of other electric cars spent $4,474 (4,200 euros). Mitchell's employee also explains why a Tesla and other EVs incur more maintenance costs than gasoline cars.

Why Tesla and other EVs are more expensive to maintain

“These [electric] vehicles are at the pinnacle of safety technology. The technology to make the car digitally connected comes into play when these cars are involved in a collision. You can have an impact on the left front that somehow sets off a sensor on the right rear,” the Mitchell employee said.

In addition, it is important to mention that the petrol cars in the study are on average older than the EVs. The average year of construction of electric cars in the study is 2022, while combustion engine cars were built on average in 2016. As you may know, newer cars often have newer technology. As you may also know, new things are often more expensive than older things.

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