Telsa Model S' battery costs $30,000 to replace when it no longer holds enough of a charge

Telsa claims that the battery in the Model S will last about ten years.  Still let's hope you don't do anything that will cause it not to hold enough of a charge.  A new battery pack for the car costs $30,000 (see also this here).  Of course, batteries do slowly lose their charge so you might simply find that the car has 90% of the range that it used to have after a couple of years.  Telsa does offer an option where you can pre-pay $12,000 when you buy the car to have a battery replaced when you need it.  That means the price of the car is really $92,000, not the $80,000 advertised.