Did they say what was wrong with your battery that it needed service?
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good thing I read your car when I did.
My 2014 S85 was just totaled. I would like to replace it with another S or a 3. However I decided to buy a new accord instead due to the way tesla handled this.
The other morning while my wife and I were walking our dog, she asked me, "If you knew in 2014 what Tesla would be doing with the Model S, would you still have bought it?"
I replied that until May this year, I tolerated their poor software updates, their difficult to schedule service appointments, their interminable waits on hold, and other niggling issues that arose from time to time. I was willing to cut them a large amount of slack due to their relatively new entry into the automobile industry combined with radical technology. But after the dreaded software updates in late spring/early summer, no. Their lies and reticence to explain these issues made me lose my patience. I would not have bought a Tesla five and one half years ago had I been in possession of a crystal ball back then.
It is peculiar to me that the five years of an enjoyable experience with our Model S driving all over the country on electricity can be wiped out in a matter of seconds with a software update that just sucks the joy out of driving our Model S.
We had agreed that the Model 3 would probably be our last car purchase. But if we have to buy a new car in the next several years, it will not be a Tesla unless it has cleaned up its act considerably and is a trustworthy company.
Hybrid still has an ice. I had a Prius and the battery failed. Replacement options at the time were all expensive. I am hopeful VW produces a good EV.Mine asked almost the same question and I feel the same, but I would not buy another Tesla car. I said id never go ICE again but now im considering a hybrid. What a shame!
I tolerated their poor software updates, their difficult to schedule service appointments, their interminable waits on hold, and other niggling issues that arose from time to time. I was willing to cut them a large amount of slack due to their relatively new entry into the automobile industry combined with radical technology. But after the dreaded software updates in late spring/early summer, no. Their lies and reticence to explain these issues made me lose my patience.
More than 4 people have posted their h aving filed complaints here already, some with full text of what was sent. If the NHTSA is having a difficult time sorting them all I recommend everyone that has filed a complaint do so again.
The link is here: File a Vehicle Safety Complaint | Safercar.gov | NHTSA
Include this at the top:
RE: NHTSA Action Number: DP19005 - INVESTIGATION Subject : Battery Management Software Updates
That is their internal number and their internal title. Remember this is a safety complaint not a legal one. Mention that they took action to downgrade horsepower and range along with all other aspects of performance through a total voltage cap after claiming to be releasing a fire-safety update, but officially no safety update was released ever. All we want is answers - recalls have procedures that aren't being followed.
I suggest writing in your own words, the gist being something like what @jkennebeck said:
Starting with a software update in May 2019, Tesla capped the max voltage the high voltage battery would charge to. They claim they did this "out of an abundance of caution" after several non-crash fires happened to these models. Tesla took action to downgrade horsepower and range along with all other aspects of performance through a total voltage cap after claiming to be releasing a fire-safety update, but officially no safety update was released. This change happened while the car was parked in my garage and stationary.
My own complaint asked them to investigate as I would like to have a definitive answer of whether it is safe for my family to have a battery in the garage that may catch fire for any reason at any moment, and Tesla refuses to clarify why they have crippled my battery and removed $30,000. My request if for answers - recompense can come later if justified, but safety is most important and Tesla will not directly answer any questions regarding safety. Nobody will willingly update and risk losing so much value to they car on purpose, so we need to knowz:
(1) This update is a critical safety issue and worth more than money,
(2) The update is effective at reducing the fires that necessitated the updates and our homes/families will not burn if we resume parking in the garage,
(3) The downgrades are temporary measure taken while more permanent repairs are planned,
(4) people that have chosen not to upgrade, people that are blacklisted from official Tesla updates, and people that are unable to receive wireless data are notified that there is a critical safety update needed and they should schedule an appointment with Tesla to have it installed in accordance with NHTSA recall procedures.
Since Tesla has refused to answer any of the above questions and only made vague statements implying a safety risk - to the press, not to us - we seek definitive answers from an NHTSA investigation.
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Mods or @Dutchmeeuw could you add this to Post #1? There's a lot of helpful updates that could ge there to make this an easier to follow thread. We've learned a lot in the months since the reductions were first discovered, the first post is still just a simple "has anyone else lost a ton from this last update, tesla says it's normal" blurb.
Here's a list of people that filed and shared:
I did, presumably DJRas did, @lightningltd , @jkennebeck , @Ferrycraigs , I quit here but I do remember a few more people posting their text. It's helpful to see what others are saying to make our submissions more direct, I'll link them when I have time.
The issue still growing and affecting more cars. I was unaffected for a while but then got hit as well a few weeks ago.
Now Tesla is now more sneaky about taking away range by limiting the charge voltage. It used to be a sudden drop. Now it's slower and gradual. I have been loosing range continuously and drastically. The only reason I notice it so clearly is because I keep very good track of the parameters and I drive very much. The drop in my case is much more noticeable than it would for others who drive far less. I have lost 15 miles (still dropping though) since then and the max voltage keeps dropping. I have driven aprox 15k miles since then (aprox 6 weeks) . It would take an average driver probably a year and the drop over that time would be hard to notice. I believe that Tesla is now gradually dropping the voltage over the miles you drive. This way it looks much more like natural degradation. I'm confident that the number of affected cars is much higher than originally thought. By applying the clipping gradually it becomes hard to notice and mostly indistinguishable from degradation. Only looking at the max voltage on the CAN bus would show it. And that's exactly what Tesla refuses to access proof.
Tesla is really messing with us here. My usable capacity it now less than 60 kWh. And even that is very hard to get as charging to 100% now takes extremely long.
David - This is really awful and what I feared they would do, i.e., gradual vs sudden grab (which we went through). And, you are right that this is impacting lots of cars with most owners not even noticing the difference (or the reasons behind it). Furtive is the most polite word I can think of.
People have found referring to the problem as a 'range' Issue, or 'Loss of Range' has opened up the door to Tesla responding to say there is no guarantee of Range, and that loss of Range is specifically excluded from the Warranty. Both are true statements, so any conversation about Range is always going to fail.I’m new, so I hope this come across correctly. I am extremely frustrated with the canned responses we get when we reach out to the CS to register our complaints.
We buy a car that’s supposed to have a specific range and then Tesla arbitrarily caps it so the battery supposedly doesn’t get damaged...to me, this sounds like fraud.
In my opinion, that is faulty workmanship and should be covered under warranty. Tesla does not stand behind their car.
The range shown on the battery icon, regardless of whether you select Rated or Typical is a straight algorithm, ie a fixed consumption rate. Neither are really that accurate, and neither takes any other condition (like your driving style, temperature, geography etc) into account.Aren't the miles at 90% rating people are all giving dependant on your driving though? Or are you quoting the non rated version you can choose in options (not sure I have the terminology right here)?
At the moment due to the hilly terrain, I am using about 370 to 390 wh/mile and in roughly 4 deg C to 7 Deg C weather your 90% charge range is the same as my 100% range.
S85 2014 115k miles
I have a suspicion that Tesla is also playing with the typical range miles shown next to the battery symbol in the instrument cluster behind the steering wheel.
I think that the value is being manipulated and inflated over time to give the perception that range is being restored.
I know it’s winter time but my car can’t even make 70% of the range distance shown in the binnacle.
The only thing that remains accurate is the range estimates produced by the nav system when enabled.
Again this is just a suspicion. Has anyone else noticed similar?
we must stress the point that, without the owner's permission, Tesla reached into our cars and artificially reduced battery capacity, charge speed, performance and decreased efficiency of the charging process. As a result, our cars have less range, less performance, charge slower and lost value.
... the rated ("typical" in EU cars) ...
My guess is that it is because it is rated according to EPA and therefore not “rated” in the EU.Does anyone know why in the hell they chose to call it Rated Miles in the U.S. and Typical Miles in E.U.?
Furtive behavior.