In Denmark when a car reaches 6 years, it needs to be safety checked to be used on the roads. After that it’s every 2nd years.
Tesla model 3 managed these safety checks extremely poorly, with 3 times the average failure rate.
In total, 1,392 errors were found on the Tesla model, which is three times as many compared to the other electric cars.
If you don’t have a translate page button (to your own language), You may want to switch to Firefox. I’m showing the original page in danish, because danish is delicious.
When a car dumps this safety check, it’s illegal to drive unless the problem is fixed withing 14 days.
So generally with older cars it’s recommended to take the car to a mechanic for inspection first, and have issues fixed before inspection.
But with an only 4 year old car, that generally have been through manufacturer recommended services until very recently, this shouldn’t be necessary.
Unfortunately the article doesn’t mention any particular safety hazard, but I’m guessing brakes are high on the list, because there have been stories about that already before they were old enough to require inspections.
Edit:
Changed 6 to 4 year.
I read an article about how many more Teslas failed the safety check in Germany, and the % was extremely high compared to other cars! The thing that failed the most was the breaks, as they had rusted. If you live in the Northern hemisphere where there’s snow, Tesla recommends to have the car in for service to clean the breaks, lubricate etc. every year. It’s not a high cost (1200 DKK) compared to other yearly services.
In Denmark a car will fail with brakes as the cause for simply having rust on them, even if the actual braking performance is good enough to pass. This is causing a lot of BEV and PHEV to require brake replacements even though they’re not worn and still work just fine.
Why don’t other cars suffer the same fate as often?
EVs don’t use the brakes nearly as much as regular ICE vehicles. Regenerative braking can provide nearly every bit of braking necessary for everyday driving.
They do, all BEV and PHEV suffer from this. For most teslas it’s probably not getting corrected before inspection because there is no service requirement from Tesla to maintain vehicle warranty. Since other manufacturers require service to maintain warranty, they discover and fix these before inspection.
The reason EV’s have this problem is regenerative breaking, I’m guessing other brands are better at taking that into account.
Other brands have mandatory service to maintain warranty, so they likely replace parts just before inspection rather than just after.
brakes are not generally on the list for more than an inspection - which quick lube plates won’t do.
But a simple visual inspection is all you need to see if there’s rust on the discs requiring action before the safety inspection. And it’s this check many BEV owner’s don’t do, so it’s not caught until they do the actual safety inspection.
I like that. Unsafe vehicles on the street are public danger.
It’s weaker in Germany: 1 month to fix it, and if you fail that, you get fined, but you can still drive it for a while longer, and have more attempts to repair it.
In the UK the safety check (the MOT) starts 3 years after the car is first sold, and annually after that. MOT results are categorised into “pass,” “minor (= warnings)” or “major.” If any findings are marked as “dangerous,” you can’t drive the vehicle until they’re fixed. Otherwise, if it failed, you can still drive the vehicle as long as its old MOT hasn’t yet expired. Driving with “dangerous” findings will get you in some major trouble, including fines and a driving ban.
I admit I’m not 100% familiar with the rules, I think if the car is in the shop, you can get an extension.
But if it’s really bad, they can take the plates on the spot. There are degrees.
USA: