Elon Musk Images Show How Tesla Model 3 Gears Look After a Million Miles

Tesla has been putting the Model 3 through its paces. On Monday, the company shared images of gears for its electric car, showing their pristine condition after running them for a million miles through testing.

CEO Elon Musk highlighted the images on his Twitter page, noting how the pictured motor and gearbox are “still in god condition,” as they are “designed for ultra high endurance.” The vehicle may be the company’s cheapest-ever electric car, with an advertised starting price of $35,000, but the images suggest it hasn’t skimped on quality to meet these targets.

It’s unlikely that any consumers have actually driven their Model 3 for a million miles — it’s been around 10,680 hours since the first vehicles reached consumers, and a constant speed of 80 mph still only reaches 854,400 miles — but it’s good to know that Tesla has designed with such high levels of mileage in mind.

Tesla handed over the first Model 3s back in July 2017, with a special handover event at its design studio in Fremont, California. The vehicle is intended as a cheaper version of the Model S sedan, and because of its reduced cost, the company has been faced with a backlog of hundreds of thousands of orders that have necessitated a production expansion from around 2,000 cars per week total to over 7,000 cars. Tesla has yet to start shipping the cheapest version of the car, instead focusing on premium interior and long-range battery models with a starting price of $49,000.

Tesla introduced a $78,000 performance version of the Model 3 back in May. This version uses two motors for all-wheel drive, replacing the rear-wheel configuration. An AC induction front motor optimized for power works together with the the partial permanent, switched reluctance magnet rear motor optimized for range. The setup is similar to that found in the Model S and X, switching between the two and enabling the car to switch to one motor of the other fails.

The company also offers an all-wheel drive option as an extra outside of the performance edition. Where both models use the same motors, the performance models undergo double the burn-in during the production process, and Tesla sorts for the highest sigma output for the more expensive vehicles.

While it’s unlikely that anyone will reach a million miles any time soon, never say never. Model 3 fans looking to get the most out of their vehicle have been aiming to set “hypermile” records for the longest distance on a single charge, putting the car through its paces.