Elon Musk, owner and founder of Tesla Motors, recently announced in a blog post that the company would be extending the warranty on all of its 85 KwH Model S cars to 8 years and infinite miles. This extension includes both new and previously purchased cars, and is unaffected by resale of the car. Musk wrote on the reasoning behind this change “If we truly believe that electric motors are fundamentally more reliable than gasoline engines, with far fewer moving parts and no oily residue or combustion byproducts to gum up the works, then our warranty policy should reflect that.”
For those who are not familiar with him, Elon Musk is a multi-billionaire businessman who was an integral part of the early years of PayPal. He is also the founder of SpaceX, the company that NASA has hired to bring supplies to the ISS and SolarCity, the “number one provider of full service solar power” in the US. In short, Musk has always been on the cutting edge of technology and looking to shake things up in a major way.
This announcement, combined with the number of Tesla Superchargers springing up around the US and Europe bodes very well for the company’s future. Previously the warranty sat at 4 years and 50,000 miles. Having the guts to double the warranty’s length in years and ignore mileage shows how much the company believes in its ability to produce high quality cars that will run for years. Another reason that this is such a promising development is the impending release of Tesla’s Model X (slated for delivery in Fall of 2015), a minivan/SUV blend, which shows Tesla is looking to provide cars for all needs. Tesla also has plans to offer a third model, aptly named the Model 3 that will retail at around $30,000, beginning in 2017. The continued improvement of the offerings surrounding the Model S, and the fact that that these offerings outstrip anything from traditional car manufacturers means that Tesla could really turn the car industry on its head if the Model 3 truly is accessible to the masses. With the rapid advances in electric and self-driving cars, the world of travel could be very different just a few years from now.