Scottish couple facing $33k repair bill after driving Tesla in heavy rain

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Submitted ⁨⁨6⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩ by ⁨L4s@lemmy.world [bot]⁩ to ⁨technology@lemmy.world⁩

https://www.carexpert.com.au/car-news/scottish-couple-facing-33k-repair-bill-after-driving-tesla-in-heavy-rain

Scottish couple facing $33k repair bill after driving Tesla in heavy rain::undefined

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BrownianMotion@lemmy.world ⁨6⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
Water got into the battery. Well that sounds like it is squarely a fault of Tesla and its QC or R&D. Who tf builds a car, with a battery, doesn’t make sure that the battery and all other major components are IP68 rated for “full immersion up to a meter or more for 30 minutes” ?

Its a CAR. We have Fords to cross. And some RAIN fscked it up??!!

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- frshmt@lemmy.zip ⁨6⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  
  QC
  
  That’s implying they have one at all!
  
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  - Viking_Hippie@lemmy.world ⁨6⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    The official QC policy from Musk himself is “don’t”
    
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- elmicha@feddit.de ⁨6⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  The second car here is a Tesla, and it still runs at the other side of the ford (but we don’t know for how long). But I agree, driving through rain should not damage a car.
  
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    Here is an alternative Piped link(s):
    
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kescusay@lemmy.world ⁨6⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
Just in case anyone thinks this is a problem with all electric cars…

I own a Chevy Bolt. It lives in the driveway, as my house doesn’t have a garage. And I live in a city that gets Scotland levels of rainfall. It’s not uncommon for a heavy downpour to leave some low-lying streets with an inch or more of water on them in some places, and that’s perfectly normal here.

My Bolt does just fine in that. I never even considered the idea that I might need to take extra precautions with it because fucking rain might kill its battery.

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- killeronthecorner@lemmy.world ⁨6⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  This wasn’t everyday “Scotland levels of rainfalls” though, it was a specific storm that posed a risk to life in many areas.
  
  That said I still,l would expect my car to endure anything short of being submerged underwater.
  
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  - bandwidthcrisis@lemmy.world ⁨6⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    Southern California may be mostly dry, but has had several storms this year with inches of rain each. So even the"home" of Tesla needs to take that sort of weather into account.
    
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- bad_alloc@feddit.de ⁨6⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  I second this. Drove my Zoe through rain, snow and ice, never had any problem or even thought about with water ingress.
  
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- Mechanite@lemmy.world ⁨6⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  How do you like your bolt? I’ve been thinking about getting one or maybe an equinox when that comes out
  
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  - kescusay@lemmy.world ⁨6⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    Best car I’ve owned, without a doubt. I charge it overnight, and never have to even think about range (it’ll do 300 miles in good conditions if driven carefully). Keeping it charged costs a few dollars a month most of the time, unless I’m on a road trip and need to pay for charging on the way - which is still far, far cheaper than paying for gas.
    
    The only downside is that road trips require more planning, because you need to know where you’re going to stop for a charge beforehand, and you need to plan out the time it’ll take to get a decent charge. But that just means making sure you’re going to have lunch or take a break to stretch your legs and walk around where you’ll be charging. Long-distance trips are definitely doable, you just plan them around charging locations.
    
    And it’s impossible to beat the maintenance costs: Nearly $0. Very few moving parts and an electric motor means no oil changes, engine maintenance, and general wear-and-tear are much lower.
    
    It’s a great car.
    
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  - saigot@lemmy.ca ⁨6⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    I love my bolt euv, but they are hard to get, high demand and discontinued. For me the autopilot is a huge feature, makes moderately long trips way less fatiguing. It has great set of camera for maneuvering and isn’t too big (still I would prefer smaller). Range is fine for everything I do, 400km in summer, 275 in winter. That’s what the gauges say, but with good driving habits and practise you can get that significantly better. It charges slowly compared with some evs but I don’t find a 1hr to full charge on a fast charger particularly problematic. My wife did toronto to ottawa (about 500km) twice now and the stop for charging was shorter than the time it took her to grab lunch. Cooled front seats are very nice and the price was much more affordable than cars with similar ranges. Almost No maintaince is great, although chevvy will message you for an oil.change (lol!).
    
    On the downsides, the bose sound system is crap and there’s no front trunk like many evs.
    
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  - murderisbad@lemm.ee ⁨6⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    Unfortunately, you’ll probably have a hard time finding a new Bolt at this point. They’ve just stopped making them and dealerships haven’t really been able to keep any in stock for months in my neck of the woods. Apparently they will eventually come back but the timeline hasn’t been announced so probably several years.
    
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ZeroCool@feddit.ch ⁨6⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
Muskrats be like “Driver error. Why would anything think they can drive in the rain?”

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- indigobox@lemm.ee ⁨6⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  I don’t even believe the story happened.
  
  Got any more sources target than carexpert.com.au lmao
  
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  - ZeroCool@feddit.ch ⁨6⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    
    Got any more sources target than carexpert.com.au lmao
    
    If you had bothered to read the article you wouldn’t have needed me to link you to the original source as it’s mentioned in the first sentence of the second paragraph. But alas… You didn’t.
    
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  - Wooki@lemmy.world ⁨6⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    How’s the cult going?
    
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  - bandario@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨6⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    Are you well regarded in your community? Because you are certainly regarded here.
    
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Pat_Riot@lemmy.today ⁨6⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
This isn’t surprising at all. Have you ever looked at a Tesla up close? The fit and finish is bad. Like really bad. I have never understood how anyone could walk up to one, look at it and think “I’ll buy this”. Tesla has absolutely miserable quality control.

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- TheGrandNagus@lemmy.world ⁨6⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  I’ve been in a Model S, and don’t get me wrong the acceleration was absolutely phenomenal
  
  But my Skoda Fabia (which for the first owner probably cost £15k instead of £70k+) absolutely beat the shit out of it for how well-built it was.
  
  Everything is rigid and you’d need a sledgehammer to shift it. In the Tesla you could just grab random parts of the interior and wobble it about.
  
  The paint on my Fabia is flawless - it’s of equal thickness everywhere, whereas for the Model S some parts were clearly thinner than others.
  
  The panel gaps are a meme for a reason. On the Fabia, sure the panel gaps are wider than they are on a Porsche or something, but they’re exactly the same everywhere. On the Tesla you’d see it completely flush at the top of some panels, and a 6mm gap at the bottom! It was so inconsistent.
  
  And the rear passenger-side door’s rubber seal where the window comes up was peeling off. This car is only 3 years old ffs
  
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  - Blackmist@feddit.uk ⁨6⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    Skoda was the brand we’d take the piss out of in the early 90s.
    
    I wonder if 2030s kids will be laughing at their friends being driven to school in a clapped out Model S, with half the panels falling away, one door a slightly different colour to the rest, and a battery that goes maybe 40 miles, going “Ahhh, your mum drives a Tesla!”
    
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  - raptir@lemdro.id ⁨6⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    That’s funny because my Jetta felt like it was going to rattle itself apart.
    
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  - Rednax@lemmy.world ⁨6⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    I’m currently driving a Scoda Fabia myself. The globe box just broke, because something inside got stuck, and the 20 year old plastic handle just didn’t want to budge, and broke instead. Meanwhile, I just drove 1500km in it over the span of 3 days. It just keeps chugging along.
    
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- Toribor@corndog.social ⁨6⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  I rode in one for the first time a few months ago and it immediately broke any preconceived notions I had of it being a luxury product. The weather stripping on the doors was installed crooked and the material on the seats wasn’t lined up properly either. That’s just what I noticed in the first minute or two. It wasn’t even old, it was brand new since the owners first Tesla was totaled in an accident (in which all the recorded camera footage was lost on impact, you know the most important time you would want recordings to work).
  
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  - DoomBot5@lemmy.world ⁨6⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    That’s because the recordings are stored on a flash drive in the glovebox. Very easy to break with the right impact.
    
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- d3lta19@lemmy.ca ⁨6⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  That’s why they sell them online. So you can’t walk up to it in a dealership and see them up close.
  
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  - Pxtl@lemmy.ca ⁨6⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    Tesla has showrooms. It’s just they’re fully part of Tesla, instead of being little franchises with wingnut owners and weird regulatory capture.
    
    Musk is a jack-ass, but the showroom model makes sense.
    
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- yoz@aussie.zone ⁨6⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  I drive one and its the worst purchase I made to “save the environment”.
  
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- bighatchester@lemmy.world ⁨6⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  Apparently I’m going to Tesla dealer ship near my and from what I heard the cars aren’t actually there you just get to look at them on a screen . And there would be nowhere to get it serviced if something happened to it .
  
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  - DoomBot5@lemmy.world ⁨6⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    Weird, the Tesla showroom near me has plenty of vehicles to walk in for a test drive and a repair center outback.
    
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Gerula@lemmy.world ⁨6⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
“They said it’s not necessarily my fault but it’s not Tesla’s to pay under warranty.”

If it’s not a warranty case and not a misuse case that means it’s designed and it’s supposed to function like that. Imagine an “automotive” grade battery pack with a lower IP rating that the car itself :))))

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yoz@aussie.zone ⁨6⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
How to avoid such issues ?

STOP BUYING TESLA

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- uis@lemmy.world ⁨6⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  The problem is nowdays it’s not only Tesla.
  
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  - Reality_Suit@lemmy.one ⁨6⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    Yes, but he , as capitalists do, exploited EV for money. First step is to reduce, not make more. Chevy is working on an electric motor that will go in the differential. Reduce the existing cars by reusing the old. New cars can be made, we just need to make sure the old ones are gone. Me, I like the idea of retrofitting old cars. Yes, it can be expensive, but once again, if capitalists wouldn’t be constantly capitalizing, we all could have nice things.
    
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tony@lemmy.hoyle.me.uk ⁨6⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
I don’t get why the service centre isn’t covering it in warranty, given the car should be able to handle rain (or even driving through floodwater) just fine and many Teslas do just that, including the many currently in Scotland. Clearly there was a fault that allowed water ingress to the battery… eventually it would have failed anyway, just in normal weather.

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- hagelslager@feddit.nl ⁨6⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  Tesla customer service seems to be based on deflection, rather than responsibility.
  
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- skyspydude1@lemmy.world ⁨6⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  Because that costs money, and they absolutely hate that. Those insane margins have to come from somewhere.
  
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- cashews_best_nut@lemmy.world ⁨6⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  Maybe a force majeure clause stating they aren’t responsible for “acts of god” like freak storms.
  
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mirror_slap@lemmy.world ⁨6⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
I have no sympathy at this point for anyone buying one of these pieces of garbage from a company led by a person who quite obviously a flaming piece of garbage, producing products that are quite obviously flaming pieces of garbage.

I mean, there are so many alternatives now, you really have to ignore how horrible Musk is to buy one of these, and you have to have your head stuck in the ground for a couple of years now to not know that Tesla quality control is diaper poo.

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- dalingrin@lemm.ee ⁨6⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  There aren’t alternatives is my part of the USA due to lack of charging options. That is changing now that Tesla’s network is opening up but that hasn’t happened yet.
  
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  - mirror_slap@lemmy.world ⁨6⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    So buy a hybrid, charge at home, and done. Is the environmental impact different enough from a fully electric vehicle vs hybrid, when you take into account the pollution from lithium mining and refinement? Not dramatically better, no. It’s idiotic to buy a Tesla that is a flaming piece of garbage, just because it’s the only option in a particular area or country. The simple solution is to wait until viable, good quality products are available. It won’t be long.
    
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Toes@ani.social ⁨6⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
The number keeps going up every time I see someone post about it lol

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- SnapZinger@monyet.cc ⁨6⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  This article had more info than the last one I saw floating through the feed (The article I saw had been “enhanced” by AI writing and you could tell).
  
  In this article “A couple from Edinburgh was shocked after receiving a £17,374 (A$33,370) bill”
  
  The last article floating through the feed didn’t really cover any real ponts about what happened and seemed to be targeting Elon in a negative scope.
  
  This article had information about the issue they faced when attempting to leave and waiting 5~ hours for Tesla RSA. Then calling Tesla and talking to a manager that that was covering Tesla’s ass with warranty talk.
  
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- Angry_Maple@sh.itjust.works ⁨6⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  Were the currencies the same?
  
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  - Toes@ani.social ⁨6⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    All the posts keep using the $ symbol. But I bet that’s exactly what’s going wrong.
    
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Viking_Hippie@lemmy.world ⁨6⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
I mean, who would ever expect RAIN in SCOTLAND?? There’s no way that Tesla could have predicted that the car might be subjected to such a freak occurrence! 🤦😂

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Thorny_Insight@lemm.ee ⁨6⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
With that money I could just buy three more trucks like the one I already own and take a week long holiday to Europe.

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- joshhsoj1902@lemmy.ca ⁨6⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  Where on earth are finding decent vehicles for under 8k??
  
  Unless your current truck is 10-15 years old and has over 250k km on it…
  
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  - Thorny_Insight@lemm.ee ⁨6⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    My current truck is 15 years old and has 250k km on it.
    
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- LemmyIsFantastic@lemmy.world ⁨6⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  Yes pieces of shit old cars are cheaper than new nice ones. How terribly observant of you.
  
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  - ribboo@lemm.ee ⁨6⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    Yes working old cars are cheaper than piece of shit new ones. How terribly observant of you*
    
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  - Thorny_Insight@lemm.ee ⁨6⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    What makes it a piece of shit?
    
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Tolstoy@lemmy.world ⁨6⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
Didn’t they have already issues with water on the Model 3 bumper? Still remembering seeing my first Tesla Model S… Worst bodypanel gaps I’ve ever seen on a new car

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trash80@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨6⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
I maybe could understand if they had tried fording a stream or something, but the car was just sitting in the parking lot?

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- BrownianMotion@lemmy.world ⁨6⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  no excuse imo. its a car. Its even stupider that it failed from rain (even bad rain) in a car park. Cars can deal with 1m water easily (most batteries are that high, the air intake for the engine is easily that high (I will ignore Lambos and similar, built for different purposes).
  
  In the worst case for a ‘normal’ car (what is the TLA for them now?) a replacement battery would cost you a couple hundred bucks at most.
  
  Even if water got into the intake, the whole overhaul would not cost $20k or whatever it was.
  
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  - trash80@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨6⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    
    Its even stupider that it failed from rain (even bad rain) in a car park.
    
    Yeah, that is what I was trying to communicate.
    
    Cars can deal with 1m water easily
    
    Maybe some of them can, but that much water can wash a car off the road very easily.
    
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  - sizzler@lemmy.world ⁨6⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    If water gets into the intake the engine is a rightoff and often the car. You need to watch more bengreggors at the Ford matey.
    
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red@sopuli.xyz ⁨6⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
One of the most important things when buying a used EV is checking the base of the car for any punctures. One could happen due a plethora of reasons.

Combine a puncture with driving in heavy rain/puddles and water damage may occur.

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indigobox@lemm.ee ⁨6⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
Car expert what kind of trash source is this

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Smacks@lemmy.world ⁨6⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
I always hear bad things from Tesla owners after the honeymoon phase is over.

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- DavidGA@lemmy.world ⁨6⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  Am owner of 3-year-old model X. Can confirm. Build quality is shit, and service experience is worse. Will never buy another Tesla.
  
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PlexSheep@feddit.de ⁨6⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
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- Arthur_Leywin@lemmy.world ⁨6⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  Several trains the size of raindrops containing only water and falling from the sky.
  
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  - bamboo@lemmy.blahaj.zone ⁨6⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    Who could have predicted water… falling from… the sky???
    
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- kambusha@feddit.ch ⁨6⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  A heavy one filled with dihydrogen monoxide.
  
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- Tolstoy@lemmy.world ⁨6⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  Lesen soll gelernt sein…
  
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  - PlexSheep@feddit.de ⁨6⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    Da machste nichts, außer dich löschen
    
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Grant_M@lemmy.ca ⁨6⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
#BoycottMusk #BoycottTesla #BoycottTwitler

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White_Flight@lemmy.world ⁨6⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
do hybrids have a battery? I’m obviously not talking about the standard lead acid 12volt DC battery

the reason I’m asking, hybrids have been selling really good or so I’ve been told

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- BenadrylChunderHatch@lemmy.world ⁨6⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  Yes, that’s what hybrids are, a hybrid between an electric and combustion engine car, I.e. they have both.
  
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- Starkstruck@lemmy.world ⁨6⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  It wouldn’t be able to function as an electric car at all without a battery. Think of the battery as the EV version of the gas tank. It has to have somewhere to store its energy.
  
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Player2@sopuli.xyz ⁨6⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
The events of this story are bad yes, but I think it’s important to point out that the ‘$33k’ figure is using AUD, otherwise known as the weakest dollar. That’s a bit under US$21k. Still bad, but obviously not nearly as much.

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Destraight@lemm.ee ⁨6⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
This is why I will never buy a new car, or an electric car. My celica is the best car, and everyone should get one, like mines. Celicas are waaaaaay better than those pieces of shit electric cars. Oh what’s that? Your electric car roof is leaking even though it’s way newer than my car? Mines doesn’t leak tho. AND! And my car is used so it is less harmful to the environment than a new crummy plastic electric car

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- LordFarkWad7@lemmynsfw.com ⁨6⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  This sounds like confirmation bias. I’ve never heard of electric car roof leaking I don’t know what you’re talking about. I’ve had a 2018 Honda clarity for 5 years now and have had to spend virtually no money in maintenance. Best car I’ve ever owned for long drives especially.
  
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  - Destraight@lemm.ee ⁨6⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    You bought your car new, so you’re just as bad as the others. Why did you need a new car? Why couldn’t you buy a used car?
    
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Scottish couple facing $33k repair bill after driving Tesla in heavy rain

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STOP BUYING TESLA