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What warranty will Tesla provide on the ~400 mile Roadster pack upgrade?

What warranty will Tesla provide on the ~400 mile Roadster pack upgrade?

  • 3 yrs / 36,000 miles on defects (i.e., in materials/workmanship)

    Votes: 11 34.4%
  • 5 yrs / 60,000 miles on defects

    Votes: 3 9.4%
  • 8 yrs / 100,000 miles on defects

    Votes: 4 12.5%
  • 8 yrs / unlimited miles on defects

    Votes: 10 31.3%
  • 5 yrs / 60,000 miles on defects and capacity loss below 70%

    Votes: 1 3.1%
  • 8 yrs / unlimited miles on defects and capacity loss below 70%

    Votes: 2 6.3%
  • 8 yrs / unlimited miles on defects and capacity loss below 85%

    Votes: 1 3.1%
  • Other

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Total voters
    32
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pharma5

Roadster F#25, Model 3 #36xx
Nov 22, 2011
569
129
central NJ
We've had other poll questions on timing and cost - this one asks what Tesla will provide for a base/unextended warranty on the ~400 mile battery pack upgrade.

(I know we've had other threads with broader warranty debates - let's try to keep this thread to what we think Tesla will do on the Roadster pack upgrade, whenever it comes out and at whatever price...:smile:).

Thanks in advance to all who participate.
 
Why all these polls on something that isn't out yet?

I think I'll start a poll asking how many polls we'll have in November.

Just asking what the good people of TMC think will happen on timing / cost / coverage - less fun speculating after it's already out.:wink::biggrin:

Plus if anyone at Tesla reads the polls (prob a big "if"?), it may give them a tiny, tiny help in matching up their emerging plans, customer expectations, and messaging for what is announced / when / and how.

Promise not to post any more polls for a bit unless people really, really, want them. Def not trying to cause poll fatigue.
 
Checking in briefly, the early lead goes to both:

3 yrs / 36,000 miles - similar to the duration of the original Roadster warranty and later the CPO warranty; and
8 yrs / unlimited miles - similar to the Model S 85kwh


One would like to think Tesla could offer something impressive if the cell chemistry is more "rugged", unless there's something else about the bricks, sheets, and interconnections of Roadster pack architecture that leads them to offer shorter base coverage.

A long tail for coverage would also look good if its going to be ~7 years between pack upgrade cycles (?) for each Tesla model. Just upgrade to the next (better) pack and always have something under warranty. Roadster would just be the first example, maybe with an asterisk (...dunno if Roadster would get something pretty cool again in, say, 2022...).
 
I think it's kinda fun pharma5. I pick and choose the polls to participate in. Perhaps this is the last poll dance for a bit;)

Definitely shouldn't dance more than you are comfortable!:tongue:

Seriously, not posting anymore polls for awhile - just wanted to hit timing/cost/coverage on this topic, and got delayed by mundane things like work. Whole world should be focused on 'the D' and 'something else' for quite some time anyway...
 
One would like to think Tesla could offer something impressive if the cell chemistry is more "rugged", unless there's something else about the bricks, sheets, and interconnections of Roadster pack architecture that leads them to offer shorter base coverage.

I have had my Roadster battery replaced twice. Both times it had nothing to do with the cells, it was the non-cell electronics and connections that failed/caused trouble.
Different cells would have done nothing to improve the reliability of my packs over the last 5 years.
 
I have had my Roadster battery replaced twice. Both times it had nothing to do with the cells, it was the non-cell electronics and connections that failed/caused trouble.
Different cells would have done nothing to improve the reliability of my packs over the last 5 years.

I've also replaced mine twice. First one was for a sensor that came loose - apparently they were riveted on in the early Roadsters, but later they started welding them in (apparently for good reason). Second ran into issues within a few months and got replaced (finally something that was under warranty for me:biggrin:). From my conversations at the Service Center, I understand that the vast majority of battery issues have been with connections/non-cell electronics and not with the battery cells themselves. Anyway, I voted for and would like to see them match the Model S P85 warranty on future batteries, seems like anything else would be a step backwards.
 
I have had my Roadster battery replaced twice. Both times it had nothing to do with the cells, it was the non-cell electronics and connections that failed/caused trouble.
Different cells would have done nothing to improve the reliability of my packs over the last 5 years.

I've also replaced mine twice. First one was for a sensor that came loose - apparently they were riveted on in the early Roadsters, but later they started welding them in (apparently for good reason). Second ran into issues within a few months and got replaced (finally something that was under warranty for me:biggrin:). From my conversations at the Service Center, I understand that the vast majority of battery issues have been with connections/non-cell electronics and not with the battery cells themselves. Anyway, I voted for and would like to see them match the Model S P85 warranty on future batteries, seems like anything else would be a step backwards.

Good points. For the new pack, let's hope they've improved some of those items based on the experience of the old design, so they can offer coverage like the Model S 85.

(It's quite possible they've needed to look at new suppliers and components anyway, with the Roadsters out of production for a while...).
 
Bumping this up ahead of Tesla's progress update, if anyone wants to add to the poll or discussion on potential warranty for the pack upgrade.

Since we don't know what info is coming (timing, general specs, warranty, cost...?), it's possible warranty info will not be shared yet.
 
While Tesla (like other manufacturers, especially new ones trying to raise consumer confidence) offers some long warranties on their new cars, I think their current add-on stuff all has a 1-year warranty. That's what I got with a new battery sheet, anyway. I would think something really short like that would be reasonably likely.

That said, batteries are different (key to the product, and what most potential buyers are most afraid of), and I sure would enjoy a longer warranty. In other threads we've discussed Tesla's pricing dilemma; a low-volume product with high-end cells and a lot of labor is going to be very costly, but pricing it high could scare away future customers for other models. Pricing anything (especially a key Roadster upgrade) low is not the Tesla way. Tesla has to decide how much "subsidy" to apply, if any. It's quite possible they will just keep charging the same price they do now (about $33k for the battery plus $3k for labor). Who knows. In any event, if the pricing is painfully high, a nice long warranty would be a delayed cost that may be easier for Tesla to justify and will make a high price easier to swallow for some Roadster owners.

If it only affected Roadster owners, I am confident we'd get a high price and a short warranty. They are a business after all, and in fact one trying to show the rest of the industry just how high their profit margins can be. The Roadster is a very small, discontinued market for them; they don't have any reason to give us a deal. I think it's largely the effect that a high-priced, poorly warranted replacement battery will have on future buyers (including via resale values) that will make Tesla think of making it a "nicer" package. In some ways it's not fair to Tesla; the Roadster is high-priced, leading edge, low-volume and parts are just expensive; but as the first replacement battery out, consumers are going to consider it a model for what they'd have to pay even though that's not really true. This may put pressure on Tesla to give us Roadster owners a better deal. And here's where our small numbers help; if Tesla does decide to "subsidize" this upgrade for us, it won't cost them that much. We'll see...

Me, I'd still prefer a low-priced pre-buy option for a future battery. Few of us need one yet, and they can price it lower if they get paid in advance and don't actually give the battery to us until after the gigafactory is going. I think that would work out better for both sides, but my understanding (not verified) is that Tesla has to move sooner because they are running out of suitable replacement materials for existing packs.
 
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