I'm starting to worry a lot about my 2014 Tesla model S main battery.

[dustinconner10]

hello everyone, I hope all who read this is doing well today. I wondering if someone could look and see some kind of way to tell me more about my main battery unit. This my 1st and only EV so far. Of couse I've been reading up some about the 20k plus repair bill that comes with having a Tesla that is older with no warranty at purchase. Im not sure what I've got myself into, but I know 20k is Money I don't have lying around for a car I just paid for. My model s have 82k miles on it at time of purchase. I'm having thoughts about reneging on this deal. Can someone please point me in the right direction to give me insite at least. Thank you whom ever read this , take care.

 

[GHammer]

My advice is; if you cant afford to repair a Tesla, you cant afford to buy a Tesla. I have two older 85's with original batteries and well over 100k miles on both. I'm keeping them but I can afford to fix them.

 

[Rocky_H]

@dustinconner10 Your post is confusing, as it seems to be saying opposite, conflicting things. Do you own this car or not?

You say it's the first EV you have, so it seems that you bought it, but then you say you're considering reneging on the deal, so maybe you haven't bought it yet, or are about to, or just did or.....? What's going on?

Regarding the title of this thread, "I'm starting to worry a lot", well don't worry--just expect it. I have a 2014 Model S85 with 104K miles on it and still original battery, which seems fine at the moment. But I know very well that it might fail next month or in a few years. The early battery designs had some bad choices that made them susceptible to some high failure rates.

Of couse I've been reading up some about the 20k plus repair bill

Then you should get better information than the fear mongering stories that people are writing to try to discredit EVs. I plan to pay $9,995 for my replacement battery whenever it dies, not $20,000. That is from a shop called Recell that does battery replacements on those older S and X cars.

Recell

recell-ev.com

 

[NV Ray]

To my knowledge, none of the previous respondents have written the check for a replacement pack. I have, and a new (not reman) pack from Tesla. So my comments comes from that perspective.

First, whether a pack fails is a gamble. There are some things you can see with an app like Scan My Tesla that can help determine a pack's health. However, a truer test is CAC imbalance and currently on more sophisticated testing equipment than Scan My Tesla.

As @Recell has stated "There can be a number of factors that may cause a pack to fail, but a well-balanced pack, even an older one, with a (CAC) delta less than 2% across each of the modules will continue to deliver years of safe, reliable power."

In my case, I got the BMS_u029 alert requiring out of warranty pack replacement 3 days after I purchased my 2012 P85. However, I'm sure the majority of early Model S owners report their original packs are doing just fine.

Agree with @GHammer that if you don't have money set aside ($10k-$20k) for repairs, then you should look for another car. I realize the current market is making these older Model S's affordable (that originally were over $100k new) but they are expensive cars to maintain.

If you have any further concerns, suggest you join this Facebook Group

 

[ucmndd]

I wondering if someone could look and see some kind of way to tell me more about my main battery unit.

Since this hasn’t been directly answered, based on the sticker that’s very likely the original pack to the car, manufactured in Feb 2014.

Agree with all the prior comments - your concerns are probably warranted. There are significant design flaws with these early cars that increase the likelihood of pack failure. If you can’t afford a surprise ~$10k+ repair bill, you can’t afford this car.