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Hi all
i was tiptoeing through some traffic the other day and once it cleared i punched the accelerator...got the usual shove in the behind, momentarily, but then suddenly nothing and the car cruised to a stop.
there was no warning, no 12v afterwards (which meant caution when shutting the doors! )
Tesla uk have picked it up and say the diagnosis shows sheet 8 (out of 11) has a fault...probably the fuse gone on that bank - which shuts down everthing.
tesla say they cannot repair/replace the faulty sheet so will hunt down a decent recon and swop the entire battery.
My battery was in rude health up (to this point) and the prospect of receiving a half knackered unit doesn't fill me with joy.
anyone got any suggestions?
Thx
 
...
tesla say they cannot repair/replace the faulty sheet so will hunt down a decent recon and swop the entire battery.
...
Thx

Sure they can replace just that sheet, sounds crazy. Only valid reason I could see them not replacing the sheet and require the entire ESS to be swapped is either:

a) Your CAC is very low and replacing one sheet doesn't make sense
b) They don't have any sheets around your ESS's avg. CAC.
c) They ran out of sheets entirely (which I highly doubt)
 
Sure they can replace just that sheet, sounds crazy. Only valid reason I could see them not replacing the sheet and require the entire ESS to be swapped is either:

a) Your CAC is very low and replacing one sheet doesn't make sense
b) They don't have any sheets around your ESS's avg. CAC.
c) They ran out of sheets entirely (which I highly doubt)

Tesla does not work on packs in the field. The SC's don't have the tools or the experience. It's a safety issue. Now I doubt Tesla is going to send the pack back to California; my guess is there is one SC in the UK/Europe that has the personnel with the skills and tools to deal with this. Still, it will be a much better customer experience for you for Tesla to swap out the entire pack and get you back on the road.
 
Tesla does not work on packs in the field. The SC's don't have the tools or the experience. It's a safety issue. Now I doubt Tesla is going to send the pack back to California; my guess is there is one SC in the UK/Europe that has the personnel with the skills and tools to deal with this. Still, it will be a much better customer experience for you for Tesla to swap out the entire pack and get you back on the road.

That's what I was thinking, they don't have the resources or expertise to replace the sheet.

So are they going to charge you for just a single sheet replacement and swap the ESS? As for the customer service experience, swapping the entire ESS can be a good or bad one. Meaning, the original ESS you know the CAC/behavior / range on that one. With a swapped out one you don't know, you don't know what CAC it will eventually reside at, also you don't know the state of the cells and how the previous owner treated them. Cool downs, range mode charges, high/low SOC charge & discharges, etc. I had a pack swapped and the ideal miles or CAC never reached the one it was replacing after it was properly balanced. I let Tesla know and they swapped it out for another one again. Even though the CAC is higher on this pack than my original, my ideal range is still lower. I can see 2 low bricks in the pack, the rest are very healthy, like new. But the pack / range is only as good as your lowest brick. So having all those other healthy bricks really isn't doing me any good. Overall the customer service was exceptional, reason that I say that is because they listened to me when I had an issue. That is the key to good customer service.
 
Sure they can replace just that sheet, sounds crazy. Only valid reason I could see them not replacing the sheet and require the entire ESS to be swapped is either:

a) Your CAC is very low and replacing one sheet doesn't make sense
b) They don't have any sheets around your ESS's avg. CAC.
c) They ran out of sheets entirely (which I highly doubt)

Thanks for answer...
The cac was good. The battery had been well respected and looked after.
I was wondering...if these batteries are no longer available new, why not replace the entire ess with a more modern battery .. perhaps a lithium phosphate battery.
would the PEM recognise it?
 
Tesla does not work on packs in the field. The SC's don't have the tools or the experience. It's a safety issue. Now I doubt Tesla is going to send the pack back to California; my guess is there is one SC in the UK/Europe that has the personnel with the skills and tools to deal with this. Still, it will be a much better customer experience for you for Tesla to swap out the entire pack and get you back on the road.

Apologies to everyone. I was reading the forum via an app and didn't see that this was the roadster forum. My response was with the S in mind. I have no knowledge to share in how tesla deals with roadster repairs.
 
Thanks for answer...
The cac was good. The battery had been well respected and looked after.
I was wondering...if these batteries are no longer available new, why not replace the entire ess with a more modern battery .. perhaps a lithium phosphate battery.
would the PEM recognise it?
Well, that's basically what they're doing with the "400-mile" pack that is coming for Roadsters. They are using Model S (or perhaps even newer generation) cells which store more energy per cell than the current Roadster ones. Wish for your sake they would get those packs built and available to get people back on the road.
 
I was wondering...if these batteries are no longer available new, why not replace the entire ess with a more modern battery

That's the 400 mile ESS people been chatting about here, I'm waiting for it too, though I'm getting wary of waiting for it.

.. perhaps a lithium phosphate battery.
Energy density not high enough for Tesla.

would the PEM recognise it?
PEM doesn't care, ESS on other hand would as long as replacement cell battery voltage is the same it will work.
 
Update on total power failure...
there's 11 sheets of battery in the power pack and our number 8 has a fault.
this has pulled down all the sheets.
car is with tesla and it seems repairing the dodgy sheet is not practiced in the uk. They prefer to replace the whole battery pack...however tesla only offer reconditioned packs...
trouble is finding one which is in great condition!
Car has been with garage for over a month and no battery has been found...
Not great, but when all your batteries fail be prepared.
:(
 
Thanks for Update.

I've just come back from USA and had an in depth chat to a very knowledgeable Roady Tech at Dana Beach, Florida Service centre - and even there, for ANY ESS/battery pack faults, even minor relay trips etc. They drop the battery and return it to California to be repaired.

So I guess the delay is once ESS diagnosed, then the shipping back and forth to USA will take time - aircargo is not an option.

The good news is they charge for repairs, he said has dropped significantly "Tesla want to support loyal Roadster owners" with all ESS repairs in the $500 to $5000 bracket.
Do you have a extended warrantee - if so its $0 just annoying time off road.

Mark, Dorset, UK
 
Mark, that ESS repair pricing range is indeed good news if what you were told is accurate. I am fortunate to live just 40 miles from the factory so if I needed an ESS repair I wouldn't have to wait for shipping the battery back and forth, I would just flatbed my Roadster to the factory. You owners overseas have to endure lengthy waits, unfortunately.

Thanks for Update.
I've just come back from USA and had an in depth chat to a very knowledgeable Roady Tech at Dana Beach, Florida Service centre - and even there, for ANY ESS/battery pack faults, even minor relay trips etc. They drop the battery and return it to California to be repaired.

So I guess the delay is once ESS diagnosed, then the shipping back and forth to USA will take time - aircargo is not an option.

The good news is they charge for repairs, he said has dropped significantly "Tesla want to support loyal Roadster owners" with all ESS repairs in the $500 to $5000 bracket.
 
The good news is they charge for repairs, he said has dropped significantly "Tesla want to support loyal Roadster owners" with all ESS repairs in the $500 to $5000 bracket.
Do you have a extended warrantee - if so its $0 just annoying time off road.

Hi Mark,
This is great news. I use my roadster very often (now 1500km/week) so I assume the battery pack will fail at some point too..
If they would offer the new battery at a "supportive price for loyal roadster owners", now that would be awesome.
 
Thanks for Update.

I've just come back from USA and had an in depth chat to a very knowledgeable Roady Tech at Dana Beach, Florida Service centre - and even there, for ANY ESS/battery pack faults, even minor relay trips etc. They drop the battery and return it to California to be repaired.

So I guess the delay is once ESS diagnosed, then the shipping back and forth to USA will take time - aircargo is not an option.

The good news is they charge for repairs, he said has dropped significantly "Tesla want to support loyal Roadster owners" with all ESS repairs in the $500 to $5000 bracket.
Do you have a extended warrantee - if so its $0 just annoying time off road.

Mark, Dorset, UK


So Tesla uk have provisionally said they are searching for a replacement. The cost is Circa £5500. ..as usual it seems the price in dollars is simply converted to pounds stirling....
What's frustrating is they haven't yet dropped the battery and arranged shipping to repair the unit. They are waiting for a replacement unit to show up...meanwhile the weeks go by.
 
@Dash That is rather odd .. from the conversation with the US Tesla guy, they repair packs with any problems (in CA) .. he made no mention of using replacement packs or parts from other packs ????
I assumed they have a stock of bricks and parts that go to make up a sheet in California. Is it due to being a paid for repair (rather than covered by extended warrantee) ? Does it depend on you agreeing to pay ? ... I totally agree that's wrong to convert $ into £ at 1:1, when £1 is approx $1.6 (ie a 160% price hike to $8800), unless the extra $3800 is shipping to and from USA.
I hope you ask for a Model S loaner while your car is being repaired .. that would somewhat make up for the wait :)

Its hard to speculate from here, in Europe:
So, can any roadster owners based near Fremont (@ecarfan ?) investigate: what is going on at the 'Roadster battery repair centre' ? .
 
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@Dash The technician I met was at Dana Beach, Florida. He said there is a Roadster battery repair section at Tesla California, where ALL roadster batteries are sent to for repair, from anywhere in USA (and globally). if I find his email i'll DM it, but Florida is also a few 1000 miles from California. As for a Loaner, go for it ! silver lining :smile:
 
Update:
Tesla called on christmas Eve....replacement battery located (in California). New quote being devised, but in light of recent Musk Announcement for the Roadster 3 I have asked for a date & cost for the new battery.
I'll keep you posted on the response.