Your Tesla Is Twice As Likely To Hit 250,000 Miles As A Subaru: Study

Think electric cars don't last? Very few companies beat Tesla in this study of the longest lasting car brands.

Photo by: Tesla

Rob Stumpf

By: Rob Stumpf

Jun 8, at 5:29pm ET

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Tesla ranks in the top one-fifth of automakers with cars most likely to hit 250,000 or more miles.
The brand ties with GMC just under the industry average of 4.8%, making them the highest-ranking domestic brands on the list.
This bodes well for the idea of EV longevity, potentially helping to dispel concerns over long-term reliability and roadworthiness.

The pitch for electric cars has always been a cleaner, cheaper way to travel. It just so happens to be a bit more fun to stomp the accelerator pedal thanks to instant torque. EVs also have another advantage in that they may have a better shot at lasting over 250,000 miles than many gas vehicles, a new study shows.

iSeeCars analyzed more than 174 million passenger vehicles for its latest Longest-Lasting Car Brands study. It plotted out the likelihood of a brand hitting a quarter-million miles on the odometer, and one EV-only brand—Tesla—stood out.

Photo by: Andrei Nedelea

According to the data, a Tesla-branded vehicle has a 4.6% chance of making it all the way to 250,000 miles. That's slightly below the industry average of 4.8%, but only because some larger Japanese players have some serious reliability that raises the bar.

Tesla ranks sixth, tied with GMC. It lands behind behind Acura (with a 7.2% likelihood), Honda (10.8%), and Lexus (12.8%). Toyota leads with a 17.8% chance of its vehicles hitting 250,000 or more miles.

Still, Elon Musk's carmaker beats out 26 other brands. While some brands (Chevrolet and Cadillac) are close, the chance of hitting 250,000 miles quickly begins to fall the farther you get down the list.

A table shows the results of a study on which brands' vehicles are most likely to reach 250,000 miles.

Tesla beat out most car brands in iSeeCars' study of the brands most likely to hit 250,000 miles.

Photo by: InsideEVs

Luxury brands—with the exception of Lexus and Acura—consistently rank below the industry average. iSeeCars says that this is less about the build quality and more about owners tending to not drive them as much.

“It should be noted that the reduced likelihood of a luxury car hitting 250,000 miles is more a reflection on how their owners use them, which is less aggressively than mainstream vehicles, versus being a reflection on how well they are, or aren’t, built,” said iSeeCars Executive Analyst Karl Brauer.

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One-off anecdotes and a growing body of research both indicate that electric cars generally hold up well over many years and hundreds of thousands of miles. And this study provides yet another useful data point.

Of course, GM, Cadillac, Hyundai, BMW, VW, and others on the list build EVs of their own. But Tesla is in a uniquely telling position since it exclusively builds electric cars. Its ranking in the top 20% of all brands should help put to rest the common misconception that EVs don't last.