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Tales from a Tesla Model S that hit 400,000 miles in 3 years
Tesloop, a Tesla-only intercity shuttle service for Southern California commuters, has reached another milestone with its Model S 90D. In a recent announcement, the company revealed that their Model S, dubbed eHawk, has passed the 400,000-mile mark, making it as one of the highest mileage Teslas in the world today.
eHawk entered service on July 2015, driving from city to city in Southern California and Nevada. By February 2016, the Model S 90D had logged its first 100,000 miles, and by August that year, the full-sized family sedan passed the 200,000-mile mark. In a recent blog post, Tesloop stated that roughly 90% of eHawk’s trips were driven using Autopilot, with Pilots (as the company refers to its drivers) only taking over active driving duties when needed. Tesloop’s Model S 90D currently travels an average of 17,000 miles per month. On the company’s recent post, Haydn Sonnad, Tesloop’s founder, expressed his optimism for the coming years.
“Vehicle connectivity is about to transform the car ownership and user experience. We are close to the point where increasingly sophisticated autonomous driving features and deep connectivity are coupled with electric drivetrains that last hundreds of thousands of miles, a whole new approach to mobility can be offered, that will transform the economics of car ownership and usage, while offering a greatly superior customer experience,” he said.
Over the past 3 years and through 400,000 miles on the road, eHawk has accumulated roughly $19,000 worth of maintenance costs, equating to about $0.05 per miles. This cost is broken down to $6,700 for general vehicle repairs and $12,200 for regularly scheduled maintenance. According to the company’s estimates, a Lincoln Town Car or a Mercedes-Benz GLS class would have accumulated maintenance costs of $88,500 ($0.22/mile) and $98,900 ($0.25/mile), respectively, had the vehicles been driven for 400,000 miles.
The Model S 90D’s high voltage (HV) battery unit was replaced twice under warranty since July 2015. The first battery HV battery replacement was at 194,000 miles, while the second was at 324,000 miles. Average battery degradation over the vehicle’s first 194,000 miles was around 6% with multiple Supercharger stops every day. Between 194,000 – 324,000 miles, the HV battery degradation was estimated at around 22%. According to Tesloop, this was likely due to the company’s practice of constantly charging eHawk to 95-100%, instead of Tesla’s recommended 90-95%. On its blog post, Tesloop shared Tesla’s reminder to the company after its first HV battery replacement.
“Found internal imbalance in HV battery due to consistent supercharging to 100% from a low state of charge (SOC) without any rest periods in between. HV battery has been approved to be replaced. Also recommend that customer does not Supercharge on a regular basis and does not charge to 100% on a regular basis. We also recommend that the customer use scheduled charging to start charge 3 hours after end of drive at low SOC.”
The interior of Tesloop’s Tesla Model S 90D after being in service for 400,000 miles. [Credit: Tesloop]
Apart from its HV battery, Tesloop’s Model S 90D also had its front drive unit replaced under warranty at 36,000 miles. No issues with the vehicle’s drive units have emerged since. The Tesla-exclusive shuttle service also opted to upgrade the rear seating of eHawk to the executive seat option for maximum passenger comfort. According to the company, the seats have held up well over the thousands of passengers the electric car has transported over the years.
Considering the endurance showcased by its Model S 90D, Tesloop estimates that eHawk should be able to last another 600,000 miles over the next five years. If the vehicle achieves this, it would be the first Tesla Model S to reach the 1 million-mile mark.
Tesloop currently operates a fleet of Model S and Model X vehicles. One of its Model X, a 90D named Rex, also achieved its own milestone last month, after it hit 300,000 miles on the road since being deployed. When the all-electric SUV reached the 300,000-mile mark, its battery degradation was estimated at roughly 10%. Since achieving its milestone, however, Tesla has changed the vehicle’s rear drive unit.
Elon Musk
Texas township wants The Boring Company to build it a Loop system
The township’s board unanimously approved an application to The Boring Company’s “Tunnel Vision Challenge.”
The Woodlands Township, Texas, has formally entered The Boring Company’s tunneling sweepstakes.
The township’s board unanimously approved an application to The Boring Company’s “Tunnel Vision Challenge,” which offers up to one mile of tunnel construction at no cost to a selected community.
The Woodlands’ proposal, dubbed “The Current,” features two parallel 12-foot-diameter tunnels beneath the Town Center corridor near The Waterway. Teslas would shuttle passengers between Waterway Square, Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion, Town Green Park and nearby hotels during concerts and large-scale events, as noted in a Chron report.
Township officials framed the tunnel as a solution for the township’s traffic congestion issues. The Pavilion alone hosts more than 60 shows each year and can accommodate crowds of up to 16,500, often straining Lake Robbins Drive and surrounding intersections.
“We know we have traffic impacts and pedestrian movement challenges, especially in the Town Center area,” Chris Nunes, chief operating officer of The Woodlands Township, stated during the meeting.
“The Current” mirrors the Loop system operating beneath the Las Vegas Convention Center, where Tesla vehicles transport passengers through underground tunnels between venues and resorts.
The Boring Company issued its request for proposals (RFP) in mid-January, inviting cities and districts to pitch local uses for its tunneling technology. The Woodlands must submit its application by Feb. 23, though no timeline has been provided for when a winning community will be announced.
Nunes confirmed that the board has authorized a submission for “The Current’s” proposal, though he emphasized that the project is still in its preliminary stages.
“The Woodlands Township Board of Directors has authorized staff to submit an application to The Boring Company, which has issued an RFP for communities interested in leveraging their technology to address community challenges,” he said in a statement.
“The Board believes that an underground tunnel would provide a safe and efficient means to transport people to and from various high-use community amenities in our Town Center.”
News
Tesla Model Y wins 2026 Drive Car of the Year award in Australia
The Model Y is already Australia’s best-selling EV in 2025 and the tenth best-selling vehicle overall.
The Tesla Model Y has been named 2026 Drive Car of the Year overall winner, taking the top honor after being judged as the vehicle that “moves the game forward the most for Australian new car buyers.”
The Model Y is already Australia’s best-selling EV in 2025 and the tenth best-selling vehicle overall, but the vehicle’s Juniper update strengthened its case with new ownership benefits and expanded software capability.
Drive’s overall award compares category winners and looks at which model most significantly advances the local new car market. In 2026, judges pointed to the Model Y’s five-year warranty and the availability of Full Self-Driving (Supervised) as a monthly subscription as key differentiators.
Priced from AU$58,900 before on-road costs, the all-electric crossover SUV offers a lot of value compared to similarly sized petrol and hybrid rivals. The ability to access Tesla’s Supercharger network across Australia also reduces friction for buyers moving to EV ownership.
Owners can add FSD (Supervised) for AU$149 per month. While it still requires driver oversight, the system expands the vehicle’s advanced driver-assistance capabilities and reflects Tesla’s software-first approach.
“The default choice for a reason. The Tesla Model Y makes the transition to electric both effortless and rewarding,” Drive wrote.
The 2025 Model Y facelift also sharpened the vehicle’s exterior, highlighted by a distinctive rear light bar that gives the crossover SUV a more modern road presence.
Drive described the Model Y as a benchmark for combining practicality, efficiency and technology at an accessible price point. With eligibility for federal Fringe Benefit Tax exemptions through novated leasing, its value proposition has improved for numerous buyers.
For 2026, the Model Y’s combination of range efficiency, charging access and software capability proved decisive. Ultimately, the award all but cements the Model Y’s position as one of the most influential vehicles in Australia’s evolving new-car market today.
Elon Musk
Elon Musk reiterates rapid Starship V3 timeline with next launch in sight
Musk shared the update in a brief post on X, writing, “Starship flies again next month.”
Elon Musk has confirmed that Starship will fly again next month, reiterating SpaceX’s aggressive timeline for the first launch of its Starship V3 rocket.
Musk shared the update in a brief post on X, writing, “Starship flies again next month.” The CEO’s post was accompanied by a video of Starship’s Super Heavy booster being successfully caught by a launch tower in Starbase, Texas.
The timeline is notable. In late January, Musk stated that Starship’s next flight, Flight 12, was expected in about six weeks. This placed the expected mission date sometime in March. That estimate aligned with SpaceX’s earlier statement that Starship’s 12th flight test “remains targeted for the first quarter of 2026.”
If the vehicle does indeed fly next month, it would mark the debut of Starship V3, the upgraded platform expected to feature the rocket’s new Raptor V3 engines.
Raptor V3 is designed to deliver significantly higher thrust than earlier versions while reducing cost and weight. Starship V3 itself is expected to be optimized for manufacturability, a critical step if SpaceX intends to scale production toward frequent launches for Starlink, lunar missions, and eventually Mars.
Starship V3 is widely viewed as the version that transitions the program from experimental testing to true operational scaling. Previous iterations have completed multiple integrated flight tests, with mixed outcomes but steady progress. Expectations are high that SpaceX is now working on Starship’s refinement.
An aggressive launch schedule supports several priorities at once. It advances Starlink’s next-generation satellite deployment, supports NASA’s lunar ambitions under Artemis, and keeps SpaceX on track for its longer-term Moon and Mars objectives.
Texas township wants The Boring Company to build it a Loop system
Tesla Model Y wins 2026 Drive Car of the Year award in Australia
