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Tesla Model S Drive Unit Replacement by the Numbers
During my early days of researching the Tesla Model S, I had concerns about a number of things that were emerging in the press. Fires, Model S drive unit issues, and handling in the snow. Tesla quickly addressed the “firegate” issue by retrofitting the Model S with a titanium shield. My concerns around winter driving, in particular handling in the snow, also became a non-issue after watching several winter driving videos put together by Bjørn Nyland.
Within no time, I became a new Model S owner and quickly learned that driving in the winter could actually be quite fun with a good set of winter tires. Tesla later introduced the all-wheel drive “D” models putting to rest any remaining doubt that the Model S could be the best and safest handling car in the world.
But one question still remains for me, Has Tesla dealt with the Drive Unit issues?
Model S Drive Unit Replacement by the Numbers
There is a group of Model S owners across the forums, but also validated by major publications such as Edmunds, that have had one or more drive unit replacements.
Early reports of drive unit issues ranged from total failures that left the Model S inoperable, to more recent complaints of clunking and milling noises. Elon has said in the past that many of these pre-emptive drive unit replacements were unnecessary and a simple $0.50 shim was all that was really needed, yet Tesla Service centers have been proactively replacing drive units.
The following polls from TMC show that a majority of Model S owners have had their drive units replaced.
While the poll only represents a small sample of Model S owners, one might draw significance in the numbers as the density circles around owners needing a drive unit replacement at relatively low mileage, and without any harsh driving prior to failure.
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The polls also give insight to the motive behind each drive unit replacement.
Though it appears the issues mainly center around earlier versions of the Model S, there’s been reports of newer Model S with Autopilot hardware hearing milling noises coming from the drive unit. One viewer described the sound as “sawing wood”.
Tesla’s Response to Drive Unit Issues
In typical Tesla fashion, the company acted fast to address the issues, and curb concerns by offering an unlimited mile/8 year warranty on the drive unit. I think this was a great response by Tesla which put to rest any concerns about the quality and long term durability of their drive units.
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Elon is now talking about building a power train that will last a million miles and I believe Tesla continues to put significant energy into improving the drive units. Tesla continues to honor the warranty and is proactively replacing drive units that show early signs of problems.
My Experience
After 12 months of Model S ownership and 30k miles drive, I started hearing a humming noise from the rear of my Model S during highway cruising. The noise was unusual as I had gotten used to hearing only the noise of the tires and wind, but there was a new noise only noticeable when cruising or decelerating with regeneration at 65 MPH and over. The noise continued to become more audible over the next few months, but I learned to live with it and did not contact Tesla. My personal rule of thumb on noise related issues is to wait for passengers to comment on it first. It’s my self crazy check.
Two months after the original drive unit humming noises began, a higher pitched milling type noise started occuring when traveling at speeds of 20 MPH or less. The sound varied depending on how much power was being used. That’s when I reached out to Tesla.
Tesla service record
Tesla service had me come in for a test drive which they can do on demand without you needing to wait. We drove about a block before the Tesla service technician said the drive unit needed to be replaced.
The explanation was that tolerances inside the drive unit have led to metal particles getting into the fluid around the drive unit, and as the concentration of particles increased, it caused the noise from the drive unit to become louder when under load. The new drive units evidently have better tolerances and are less prone to having metal particles being shaved off.
At that time, Tesla service has been very backed up here in Massachusetts so my appointment for the drive unit replacement was scheduled six weeks out. I put on another 4,000 miles during that wait time, with an increasingly louder drive unit, before it was finally replaced.
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When Tesla replaces a drive unit, they replace both the drive unit and inverter as you can see from a copy of the parts list. The last letter in the drive unit part number (“M” in my case) seems to indicate the generation of the drive unit. The later the letter the better, with the “Q”s seeming to have the best longevity according to the forums.
I’m happy to say that I’ve logged 8,000 miles of happy and noise-free driving after my drive unit replacement. The replacement was done recently so my guess is that I have a newer unit, and thus hope this will be my only replacement.
Thankfully for all of us, Tesla has a first class warranty and level of service. While it goes without saying that inconveniences such as this may happen, rest assured that Tesla has you covered and will always strive to make things right.
Tesla has revealed plans through permit submissions for a massive Robotaxi charging hub in Austin, Texas.
Tesla plans to build the Supercharger hub in multiple phases, with the second phase potentially introducing wireless induction charging, something the company has been developing for the Robotaxi fleet.
Initially, 48 Tesla Robotaxi-geared Superchargers will be built on a lot just across from the St. Elmo, Texas, Service Center. There are about 80 additional spots that will not be impacted by phase 1 of the construction process.
Filings show that the second phase of the project will turn those 80 additional spots into wireless charging for Robotaxi, but it might be an error. The Key Notes state that item 3 is listed as “V4 Charging Cabinet to Support 80 Wireless Chargers in Phase 2. However, the drawings point to V3 Cabinets that are already tied to Superchargers:
There are roughly 128 total spots in the lot, but it is unclear if they will all be used for charging based on what appears to be some sort of typo in the blueprint.
A new Robotaxi fleet charging hub is coming soon to Austin, Texas!!
Permits have been filed for the installation of 48 (V3) stalls in a vehicle storage lot across the road from Tesla’s St Elmo service center. pic.twitter.com/xwRgSWDqht
— MarcoRP (@MarcoRPi1) August 18, 2026
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This is among the first Robotaxi charging hubs Tesla has started to develop, as it currently has four others planned throughout various areas: one in Phoenix, one in San Antonio, another in Irving, which will serve the Dallas-Fort Worth area, and another in Las Vegas.
These projects are necessary as Tesla expands its Robotaxi program. Now that preparations have started for the public launch of Cybercab, Robotaxi will likely be expanding aggressively, especially over the next two to three years.
Last night, The Information reported that Tesla was planning to launch Cybercab as soon as the end of August. Hours later, Tesla then announced it was launching a competition for fans to potentially ride in Cybercab during its first public rides.
Tesla’s plan to expand its charging infrastructure in the regions where Robotaxi will initially operate is great preparation for the expanding service. There is still a lot to do, including launching the Cybercab on time.
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Tesla got its largest order for the all-electric Class 8 Semi yet, a 500-unit order from Einride AB, a Swedish trucking company.
Einride made the announcement this morning following its second-quarter earnings call. The company said it plans to use 500 Tesla Semi units on its fleet intelligence platform, called Saga AI. The deployments will serve large companies like Amazon and will extend Einride’s electric freight network across logistics routes in California, New Jersey, Texas, Illinois, and Georgia.
🚨 Tesla has received a MASSIVE order from Swedish freight company Einride AB, which placed an order for 500 Tesla Semi trucks
Tesla’s biggest order for the Semi yet! pic.twitter.com/PrtLp5yzvh
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) August 18, 2026
The deployment is being carried out in several phases over the next two years as Tesla ramps production of the Semi at its dedicated production facility in Sparks, Nevada. Einride will receive its first Semi units in September.
Saga AI
Saga AI is Einride’s dedicated fleet intelligence platform. It enables scaled adoption of electric trucks for freight use and allows shippers to integrate electric capacity without the operational burden or capital risks of managing a fleet. This helps integrate cost-efficient logistics and makes budgeting and forecasting much more accurate.
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Tesla Semi’s Adoption
The Tesla Semi is now gathering large-scale clients past those who have helped the company operate a Pilot Program to gain initial information and feedback from real-world drivers.
Perhaps the biggest and most notable is that of Frito-Lay and PepsiCo., who have worked with Tesla for the past several years to dial in the finer details of the truck, including its efficiency and operation-related components.
Tesla Semi gets strange-but-understandable comparison from Jay Leno
There has been tremendous progress in that time, and it even catalyzed Tesla to make some design changes, which were unveiled earlier this year.
But Einride CEO Roozbeh Charli says his company’s partnership with Tesla will continue to push those things forward:
“This deployment is yet another proof point that we can execute at the scale our customers demand. Working closely with Tesla to bring next-generation Semis into active operations quickly and at scale is a testament to the strength of that partnership, and how quickly this technology is maturing from promise to daily operations.”
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Additionally, Dan Priestley, the Director of the Semi Program at Tesla, said the partnership is ideal due to Einride’s focus on sustainable transport:
“Einride is at the forefront of sustainable freight, and we are thrilled to deepen our relationship with them through this order of 500 Semis. EV heavy trucks provide lower costs per mile from fuel savings, reduced maintenance, and better uptime over diesel trucks. These savings increase further through operational efficiency when deploying EV trucks at scale, and we are excited that Einride recognizes this and look forward to supporting their deployments.”
Elon Musk
India tells Elon Musk’s X to “Follow the Law” in latest censorship update
Elon Musk says X now exposes government censorship, but India’s secrecy laws complicate that promise.
Elon Musk’s promise to make government censorship requests on X “clearly visible” is running into a wall in India, where the law forbids the very disclosure Musk is promising.
On August 15, Musk responded to an update from X’s open-source algorithm team by writing “Any censorship required by governments is now clearly visible.” The claim referred to a change X pushed two days earlier to its public xai-org/x-algorithm repository, which now includes a controversial filter written directly into the code. The filter suppresses posts from 665 accounts flagged by Brazil’s Superior Electoral Court from appearing in the For You feed of any viewer located in Brazil, unless the viewer already follows the account. The election tied to the filter is scheduled for October 4.
India’s government wasn’t as impressed, and responded on Monday that “X will have to follow the law of the land,” in response to Musk’s transparency push covered by the Times of India. The problem is structural rather than political. India issues content blocking orders under Section 69A of its IT Act, and Rule 16 of the accompanying 2009 Blocking Rules requires those orders to stay confidential. Publishing an India equivalent of the Brazil filter, naming specific accounts and citing specific government orders, would itself violate Indian law. Government use of Section 69A has grown from roughly 6,000 orders a year between 2018 and 2023 to about 24,300 in 2025, according to a Tech Times report.
The contrast puts Musk’s transparency pledge in an odd spot. It works largely as advertised in Brazil, where electoral law requires disclosure and X can point to specific account IDs and a specific court order in public code. It cannot work the same way in India, where the law requires the opposite. X users in India will keep seeing content disappear from search and their feeds without any public accounting of why, even as X tells the rest of the world that its censorship compliance is now inspectable.
This isn’t the first time X’s fights with a national government have shaped how the platform operates. Brazil’s Supreme Court ordered X to suspend the accounts of sitting lawmakers and journalists in 2024, a standoff that cost X its Brazilian revenue for months and froze Starlink’s local accounts before the investigation into Musk and X was closed in March with no evidence of wrongdoing found. X also sued California over a state law requiring moderation disclosures, arguing the mandate itself violated the First Amendment.
Whether India’s government pursues anything beyond a public statement remains to be seen. For now, the mismatch between what X can legally publish and what different governments legally allow it to publish is the real story behind Musk’s seven word claim.
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Tesla reveals plans for Robotaxi charging hub in Austin
Tesla Semi gets its largest order yet
