Featured Model 3 has 310 mile range

Then we need to add another $1000 to the price of the car and subtract some numbers from their storage claims. All I am saying is this trend of not including a spare tire is terrible and only benefits the car manufacturer/dealer at the expense of the consumer.

 

exactly. mine is on the hatch floor.

 

You're lucky the spare didn't fail due to age. For many, that spare likely would have been flat since they never check it.

Talk of spares always remind me of a news report I heard on a radio. Multiple cars were disabled because a pothole was taking out both tires on the side.

Then I was a child in the earlier '80s for the one and only blow out I've experienced. All the other flats I've dealt with were, or could have been, fixed with a plug kit.

If you want a spare, you can get one. I think the majority are happy with the extra cargo space the lack of a spare provides.

 

'majority are happy' is a question i'd like to see more data on.

for that matter, i wonder how many even know.

 

If they don't know if they have a spare or not, what are the odds they know how to use it?

 

Well, that was on a 1998 Volvo S70 and the tire was never used until 2015 and it was just fine. I guess it is possible to design a spare tire to do that. Just because other manufacturers don't does not mean it's impossible. There are also airless spares and other ways of making sure that the tire serves its purpose when needed. Kind of like your seat belts and air bags. If all goes well you'll never need them, but they are still designed to work even after 18 years of doing nothing.

That sucks and is fairly uncommon. I would say that if a (single) spare tire solves 80% of cases and that's good enough for me.

I carry a plug kit, but I am kind of a "car guy" who's been fixing his own cars since 1981. I am not sure most people who are fully capable of changing a tire can properly use a plug kit. It's just way more involved and messy. Of course there are plenty of people who can't or won't change their own tire. But if the tire is there someone else (a good Samaritan or a AAA guy/gal) can do it for them. If the spare is not present the choices become much more limited.

Well, you can buy a Hummer and turn it into an EV, but that's not exactly the best of choices. If one bought a car and likes all the things in it including the storage capacity and then finds out that one needs to a) spend more money on a spare and b) eat up some of that delicious storage capacity with a spare, one may not be so happy. I prefer a car that has a designed spot out of the way of most daily needs for a spare and an actual spare in that space that is designed for its purpose (meaning it won't deflate or deteriorate from disuse). It is not a very complicated technological feat. This, I believe is just another way car manufacturers are cutting another corner and gaining a marginal economic benefit at the expense of a consumer.

 

If you know of tires immune to UV, heat, and oxygen, please share. The tires on the wife's car usually need to be replaced every six years or so because of dry 'rot', not tread wear. Then the damage from the tire aging can be internal and unseen, but lead to tread separation

"Carmakers such as Nissan and Mercedes-Benz tell consumers to replace tires six years after their production date, regardless of tread life. Tire manufacturers such as Continental and Michelin say a tire can last up to 10 years, provided you get annual tire inspections after the fifth year.
...Most often, the spare never sees the light of day. But if the tire has been inflated and mounted on a wheel, it is technically "in service," even if it's never been used," - How Old - and Dangerous - Are Your Tires?

I have heard elsewhere that the spare tire should be replaced every ten years, but I do admit to not doing so myself.

But how often is that 80%? Carrying spares of other parts, like belts and spark plugs, used to be common, and even needed. The only such is needed now, is a fuel filter while switching an older diesel over to biodiesel.

Considering what some shops torque lug nuts too, I found the plug kit easier to do.

There is no place to store the spare on the car where it will be protected. Under a truck, it is exposed to the elements. Inside, it gets baked with the summer heat.

There are hitch mounts for spares available.

Of the models I look at, the lack of spare appears to fall into to three groups.

1. Plug ins ditch them to have space for the battery. The increase in battery size likely costs the company more than the spare, but the longer EV range is more important for marketing and customers.
2. The base trim won't have it in order to get as low of an MSRP possible for marketing.
3. The weight reduction helps for official economy figures.

In all three, there is a benefit to the manufacturer, but also some to the customer.

 

You forgot
4. The Prime has the space and left it unused but blocked by the battery.

See I found the missing 4" (vertical) in the trunk. It is below the battery. | PriusChat

 

No, that falls under 1. range for EV.

As I said in that thread, Toyota had designed for a smaller battery pack, but had to increase the EV range late in the game. Either way, the Prime was never going to have a spare, because even if the space was not blocked off, it would have held the battery.

 

i admit to never having checked for a spare when purchasing a new car, but i do know how to change one.
if you've always had a spare, it is easy to assume.

 

I assume CD players are standard, but the 2017 Malibus I sat in didn't have one.

 

And people assume all USB data ports can be used for charging. Because they do not RTFM!
What do they think that stack of books is for? Free fire starter?

 

Yes, for when they get stranded without a spare.

 

Too funny .....
Manuals? Prodigy might not realize it but - (just like the OT stuff about flats tires, or OT's about public EVSE's) many new cars don't include 'em. Our latest car is a PDF that you read on the car's multifunction display. I 'spoze you could find' em on line ... but the car's version gets OTA updates - & a search function fyi.

 

It's not a good analogy. 99.99% of cars sold in US before recently had spare tires. CD players, not so much. I remember the big stink consumers raised when manufacturers went to a doughnut for a spare. That was something to listen to! These days they don't get a tire at all and all is well. What a difference 20 years make!

 

Know what else would be terrible? Killing someone's child with an old spare tire.

Regarding fifteen-year-old spare? Manufacturers say "don't do it"
.

 

Yes, I talked to some of the tesla staff 10 days ago before the grand prix at the race track, and was informed that yes they had delivered 5 in Austin, 4 to employees and 1 to an early model S owner. Its not many though. Quarterly report came out this afternoon and was not good. It appears that 5000/week is delayed about 3 months from December to end of Q1 2018. Details about the problems are partially explained, mainly related to the gigafactory and suppliers to the pack, but we should know more in the next day as people get to look closely.

Tesla gives update on Model 3 production problems, delays ramp up by 3 months | Electrek

That probably means 2000-5000 will be produced in November. And somewhere between 2000 and 12,000 in December depending on how well they resolve the problems. Tesla is going to be tight lipped about things until January.

 

Most cars sold today still have a spare.
Plug ins aside, there are few models in which the spare is deleted across all the trims.
Like the lack of the CD, there are options if you want a spare tire if the car didn't come with one.

 

The value of "most" is decreasing pretty rapidly.

My wife's 2009 Mazda Miata doesn't have a spare, neither did my Spark EV or my current Prius.

Some of the reason may be financial but I think significant aspects are to allow more flexible vehicle packaging and to help fuel efficiency by reducing weight.

According to this article 28% of cars sold do not have a spare - there must be a lot of conventional vehicles in that 28% so it is not just plugins.

Automakers ditch the spare tire in new cars

kevin

 

yea, stats show 1/3 of new cars have no spare (model years 2015 - 1017). Many of the remaining 2/3 are either cars with the paltry doughnut spare tires, or a gas burning car you might not want anyway. But hey ... at least they got a spare.

.