Tesla Adds Used Models To Its Inventory, For Online Purchase

Jalopnik reports that Tesla Motors Inc. has very quietly started to sell used cars online, following in the footsteps of larger car companies. Its new certified vehicle program brings down the staggering costs of one of their electric cars while still ensuring manufacturer maintenance and repairs. Most of the cars that are on Tesla’s website were previously owned by people who have since traded up to the AWD Model S. Soon, this stockpile will also include leased Teslas. Engadget adds You're limited to shopping in a handful of cities in the U.S. and Canada, but the cars come with a 4-year, 50,000-mile warranty to assuage fears that you've bought a lemon. No, the move doesn't make the company's luxury EVs much more attainable -- the best offer we've seen so far is for a $59,000 'entry' model.

Comments

Far too expensive for a used car

[YrWrstNtmr]

If I could afford $70k for a used one, I could afford a new one.

Washington, used P85, 19,000 miles, $79,000.
New P85D, $87,500.
Why would I bother with the used one?

Re:Far too expensive for a used car

[BasilBrush]

The used Tesla prices will respond to demand. If there's not enough demand at those prices, they lower the prices. If there's a glut of used cars to sell (like the ex-leased ones that will come along before long), then the price will be lowered. The initial high prices probably reflect the fact that there aren't many used Teslas as yet.

Re:Far too expensive for a used car

[compro01]

Actually, they are about the same type. Tesla's packs use a modified (PTC fuse and CID removed) version of the bog standard 18650 Li-ion cell, which is commonly used in laptop batteries.

It's the battery management system and the cooling system that would make the difference in longevity.

Re:Far too expensive for a used car

[Smidge204]

From owner's estimations, ~90% of the battery's stated capacity is actually available for use. The 10% is not so much "fail-over" capacity as it is a buffer to keep the battery away from the extremes of charge/discharge states, where most of the degradation occurs.

Your cell phone battery has no problems charging to 100%, since you want to get as much energy (and therefore use time) in there as possible for the weight. However, charging to 100% harms the chemistry, and after a few years the battery no longer lasts as long. That's fine for a cell phone - part of it is planned obsolescence, part of it is the reality that a lot of people won't keep their phone more than a few years.

In an EV you have the luxury of maintaining a charge buffer, since the added weight and cost is fairly minimal and people have a much higher expectation of long-term performance.

So usage pattern + design (thermal management) + energy management which does prevent the user from destroying it = significantly different performance degradation profile.
=Smidge=

Re:Far too expensive for a used car

[Notabadguy]

No, you do not.

If you look at the federal tax credits at fueleconony.gov, the tax credit only applies to the first owner of the vehicle, only for new vehicles, and only in certain years.

If you lease a new EV, the dealership keeps the federal tax credit as well. If you look at the forms at fueleconomy.gov, it's pretty specific.

Nice, missing new features, limited filtering

[crow]

Thanks to the person who posted the link:

http://www.teslamotors.com/mod...

Some of these cars are great deals.

You won't find the dual-motor versions, so they're all rear-wheel drive.

I don't think you'll find the autopilot feature on any of them.

And the real frustrating part of the experience is that the filters are very limited. You can't filter on particular features, such as panoramic roof, subzero package, or rear-facing seats.

I expect they'll improve the filtering when they have more than 20 cars to look at.

$59k isn't bad

[damn_registrars]

Yeah, it isn't a whole lot less than the cost of one new, but it really isn't a bad deal. If you compare it to a BMW 5 series - most of which start above $50k new - and consider that the BMW will be much more costly to maintain, the Tesla becomes a good deal pretty quickly.