Tesla tyre wear: the hidden inner edge, rotation and alignment

The numbers

How often do Tesla tyres cause MOT fails?

In 2025, tyres were involved in 71.9% of Tesla Model 3 initial MOT failures, and tyres were an advisory on 27.7% of all tests — far ahead of anything else.¹ The legal minimum tread depth for a car in the UK is 1.6 mm across the central three-quarters of the tread, all the way round.²

Inner-edge wear

The wear you can't see

Many Tesla owners find the tyres look fine from outside while the inner edge is worn down to the cords. To check: turn the steering to full lock, then look and feel along the inside edge of each front tyre with a torch. For the rears, look from behind the car. If the inside is much more worn than the outside, ask for an alignment check.

Rotation

Tesla's rotation interval

Tesla's owner's manual says to rotate the tyres every 10,000 km (about 6,250 miles), or if the tread depth difference is 1.5 mm or greater, whichever comes first.³ Many owners never do it, and the rears (or fronts) wear out long before the others. Note that cars with different-width tyres front and rear can't be swapped front to back.

Alignment

When to get an alignment

• Uneven wear across the tread, especially on the inner edge.
• After hitting a pothole or kerb hard, or if the steering wheel is off-centre.
• After any suspension work — new control arms or bushes change the geometry (see suspension noises).
• When fitting a new set of tyres, to protect the investment.

Use a garage that has aligned Teslas before and uses the correct lifting points. On cars with air suspension (many Model S and Model X), Jack Mode must be turned on before lifting.

Choosing tyres

Picking replacement tyres

Fit the correct size, load rating and speed rating for your car — Teslas often need extra-load (XL) tyres because of their weight. Some tyres carry a Tesla-specific marking (such as "T0" or "T1"), and some have foam inside to cut road noise. Ask your garage what's available in your size; see our tyres and brakes guide for more.

Sources

Where this information comes from

1. MOT Scout: Tesla Model 3 MOT results 2025 (DfT anonymised MOT data)
2. West Yorkshire Police: What is the law relating to tyres?
3. Tesla Model 3 Owner's Manual: Maintenance Service Intervals