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napabill

Active Member
Supporting Member
Just finished a 2,000 mile trip up to Vancouver, no problems, perfect. Had my 25,000 mile service done just before I left. Day after I got back went to pick up a couple of neighbors a mile from me, and as I leave after picking them up, I accelerate on a long straight stretch of highway. And "POP" goes the car, and warning lights and the car shuts down. Claimed the 12v battery had issues. I pull over, the car dead sticking it. My dear 30,000 mile Tess is dead in the water. A call to Tesla Roadside, after a rather length hold, got a tow truck on it's way. I had remembered reading some time ago, that if the 12v battery goes, the "Tow" mode becomes unavailable, so I managed to get it selected. About 5 minutes later, the computers/screens went black. Tess is on her way to a service center, and will find out more on Monday. Bummer.:confused:
 
I accelerate on a long straight stretch of highway. And "POP" goes the car, and warning lights and the car shuts down. Claimed the 12v battery had issues. I pull over, the car dead sticking it. My dear 30,000 mile Tess is dead in the water.
You guys have standing water on the highways?

Tesla needs to get my hovercraft mode implemented sooner than I thought!
 
Had my 25,000 mile service done just before I left.

I had my failure just a few days after my first annual service. I had a 12V battery replacement and a bunch of TSB's. Then about 2 days later the pop and stop. I have noticed a few others stating the same thing on this forum about service occurring and then a HV failure.

It makes me wonder if service actually did something that affected things unknowingly. Would be good for them not to do whatever could be related to this.

Hope you get a new D battery or at least a B refurb. Remember to ask about SOC and range on your new/refurb.
 
Just got off the phone with the SC. I was told that the battery needs to be pulled and sent to the factory for repair. A "loaner" battery would be installed while that happens. Then once "fixed" it would be returned to the SC to be reinstalled. Needless to say, this does not make me happy. I sent the following to ownership:
"I've got several issues with this approach. It is well known that early VIN cars (mine is 1571) with "A" batteries have had this sort of failure and in all cases a reconditioned "newer" battery was installed (see TMC threads on this subject). I do not think it is appropriate to "band aid" an obviously flawed "A" battery. This failure was catastrophic and put me and my passengers at great risk. I do not want to chance it happening again. As an aside, I would think Tesla should review whether all early VIN "A" batteries be replaced before an accident happens.

I would appreciate your input on this matter."

I am no expert on the internals of the battery, but I assume that there would be multiple other parts that would not be replaced, leaving the battery still potentially flawed. As someone who takes frequent long-distance trips, I'm not thrilled with the prospect of another failure, perhaps in the Arizona desert.

Be interesting to hear their response.
 
I hope you receive the resolution that you seek.

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If the flaw is the contactor, it really has very little to do with the battery proper. I do understand your consternation, though.

Given the reports about failed contactors, I'm shocked Tesla did not do a proactive replacement. Tesla proactively replaced rear seat brackets because it discovered a flaw, but it doesn't do the same over an issue that could lead to a terrible accident? Imagine being in the fast lane when the car suddenly loses power and then needing to cross over four lanes of cars going 75+ MPH to get to the shoulder. We are incredibly fortunate that nothing worse has happened, but this is one area where I am not at all satisfied with Tesla's response. This should have been a big deal.

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@ napabill - If you are not happy with Tesla's response, I might suggest you file a report with the NHTSA. This is a real safety issue that should be addressed.