Can you drive your Tesla in the rain?

[Krokkodillo]

Hi all,

I wonder if you heard the story about a couple facing a battery replacement bill from Tesla after driving their MY in the rain? Here is the article

What are your thoughts on this issue? What are the news not telling us? Can someone ask Tesla spokesperson about this issue as this news went viral.

 

[Regulo]

Isn't the battery sealed against moisture ingress? Surely got to be a seal failure somewhere. But worrying if this turns out to be the case. How it could be the fault of the driver is beyond me.

 

[robbieduncan]

I suspect what the people in the story are not telling us is that they drove through relatively deep standing water.

 

[Krokkodillo]

I suspect what the people in the story are not telling us is that they drove through relatively deep standing water.

But this would clearly classify as a flood damage, no new ICE nor Electric car can withstand water damage and usually the entire car is written off?

 

[FastLaneJB]

I suspect what the people in the story are not telling us is that they drove through relatively deep standing water.

Maybe so but if Tesla did put that the reason as "The drove in the rain" as why it's not covered by the warranty, I think that would get laughed out of court. Why fit windscreen wipers if a car cannot be driven in the rain? It's easy to make them look foolish.

But yes I also suspect you are right.

 

[init6]

At no point did Tesla say it was caused by simply driving in the rain:

After complaints from me, we received a call at 5.30pm on the Wednesday saying the battery was damaged due to water ingress and it was unfortunately not covered by the battery’s 8-year warranty and so the repair would be around £17,500

John says he pressed representatives of Tesla on whether he or Rob were at fault for the damage, to which he claims he was told that it was a weather issue.

He continued: “They said that the battery is effectively submerged in water. How can that be our fault?

“After finally getting to speak to a manager, he told me it had water in it due to the fact the weather in Scotland has been so bad. That was the issue. They said it’s not necessarily my fault but it’s not Tesla’s to pay under warranty. He reminded me there was a yellow weather warning in some parts of Scotland.

As above the weather reference could be driving through standing water.

 

[FastLaneJB]

At no point did Tesla say it was caused by simply driving in the rain:





As above the weather reference could be driving through standing water.

Yes and most likely this is the issue, just if it's not and they literally have an issue with the car where through no fault of their own this has happened they are going to struggle to get anywhere with it. The assumption is they've drowned the battery in water.

 

[Billbrown1982]

Thing is though legally it falls on Tesla to prove without reasonable doubt that the damage was caused by driving through a flood, rather than just regular rain.

Of course pushing for that is a whole other issue. I do tend to assume in these situations that there is a lot more to the story, but I doubt we will ever know for sure.

 

[FastLaneJB]

Yeah but it means potentially taking them to court and not sure if it’s different in Scotland but it’s outside of the lower small claim's limits.

 

[init6]

Yeah but it means potentially taking them to court and not sure if it’s different in Scotland but it’s outside of the lower small claim's limits.

£5k limit in Scotland for Simple Procedure.

I'm pretty sure it has rained in the UK since Teslas have been out, so I'm sure we'd have heard about this if it was a real problem.

 

[spon88]

I've been caught in rising flood water in a Model 3 a few years ago. Up over the door sills and pushed up through the boot seals. I posted about it on here if I recall. No issues apart from drying the boot out. Today I had to navigate deep (ish) water on the A52 - no alternative as all the other cars were getting through and I'd have blocked the road. No issues. I've also been caught twice in "biblical" storms in the Rhone valley in the past, actually fearing getting washed away at one point. Those events were in an ICE car but we got through. So under these types of circumstances you can usually make it out as long as you don't try anything too stupid. So it would imply that those concerned did try something daft or that Tesla are flying a kite trying to avoid an expensive warranty issue.

Maybe tricky to prove either way - onboard footage perhaps? Or records of deep floods on their route at the time concerned? I think Tesla will have to try harder though, after all, the battery is apparently a sealed unit?

 

[MrT3]

the battery is apparently a sealed unit?

It has to be, it is liquid cooled.

 

[LiamPope]

Just rain can't possibly get water in the battery. Must have gone through a flood. The version of the story I read mentioned they were expecting a bill £500-1000, so they knew they did something. The only thing confusing me is noone mentions insurance. Surely this is exactly what insurance is for?? I can only imagine they didn't have fully comp for some daft reason, so just hoping they can blag getting it sorted through warranty.

 

[Irata]

I'm guessing it's a quiet news day. It's not a very complex situation.

We've only heard one side of the story.

If it's as reported then this is clearly a warranty issue. It's reasonable to expect a car to cope with being parked in heavy rain, even in a British autumn "storm". It's a breach of contract to refuse a warranty claim. Some insurance includes legal advice.

However, if we haven't been told the whole story and the car wasn't simply left in the rain, then it is an insurance issue. If they don't have appropriate insurance, they accepted that risk.

 

[Chewy13]

Dupe thread: Don't drive my Tesla in heavy rain due to battery damage???

 

[init6]

Not really. This is the UK&I forum and we like to be insular.

 

[WannabeOwner]

Why fit windscreen wipers if a car cannot be driven in the rain?

Surely there is no requirement to have wipers fitted to a car, just if they are fitted them must work?

Ah ...

 

[NewbieT]

If the seal had failed that’s a warranty issue. Referencing yellow weather warning is just mis-direction bollocks. Now what they don’t say was whether the battery was damaged causing the water ingress.

 

[FastLaneJB]

I’d think the battery should be pretty well sealed that water cannot get in. Even if you don’t drown it, going through a puddle even at moderate speed might well give it a good soaking from a lot of angles.

It’s kind of disappointing as it always felt that if you want a real hybrid car, you know that drives on roads and is also a submarine to make a quick escape then the EV is the way to make it. Maybe now Lotus has Geely’s money behind then they’ll get one out of the door.

 

[Buzzliteyear]

Just rain can't possibly get water in the battery. Must have gone through a flood. The version of the story I read mentioned they were expecting a bill £500-1000, so they knew they did something. The only thing confusing me is noone mentions insurance. Surely this is exactly what insurance is for?? I can only imagine they didn't have fully comp for some daft reason, so just hoping they can blag getting it sorted through warranty.

They aren’t telling us the full story, either it is a straight forward warranty issue or they have knowingly done something that would require them to get a bill. Probably tried some off roading and damaged the battery.