0% State of Charge @ Delivery...

[Bluesmdl3]

I was on my way to pickup my M3 and I got a call from the dealer indication my car is at 0% state of charge so they can't move it to do the detailing. My appointment is going to be re-scheduled for later in the day.

What are the implications of 0% state of charge on the long-term battery life?

Thanks for the quick answers, I expect I will be at the dealership in a few hours with this concern on my hands.

 

[Runt8]

I’d be more concerned with why it was down to 0%, seems to indicate that it has either been sitting for a long time or there’s a problem with the battery.

 

[PJFW8]

I was on my way to pickup my M3 and I got a call from the dealer indication my car is at 0% state of charge so they can't move it to do the detailing. My appointment is going to be re-scheduled for later in the day.

What are the implications of 0% state of charge on the long-term battery life?

Thanks for the quick answers, I expect I will be at the dealership in a few hours with this concern on my hands.

Probably no big deal. If a defect or software issue caused an abnormal drain, it should be easy to detect and correct. Even with ICE cars, a dead battery at the dealership is common. You would not want to go to zero every day, but this single incident should not concern you.

 

[P85_DA]

Nothing to worry about ..batteries have 8 year warranty ..they were fully transparent vs just saying “your car is not ready.” I can see with all these pics of 3s in car lots ...batteries getting to delivery centers with low SOC and than with volume this slipping thru the cracks ..the 3 also has a better battery architecture than S X ...congrats on ur new car !

 

[apacheguy]

Nothing to worry about ..batteries have 8 year warranty ..they were fully transparent vs just saying “your car is not ready.” I can see with all these pics of 3s in car lots ...batteries getting to delivery centers with low SOC and than with volume this slipping thru the cracks ..the 3 also has a better battery architecture than S X ...congrats on ur new car !

Battery warranty does not cover degradation. 0% SOC is really not good for battery health and likely means the car has been sitting around in a lot for some time.

 

[Bluesmdl3]

My gut reaction was to accept that with so many cars out there for delivery, these things are happening. The guy at the dealer called me about 45-min before my appointment and he was clearly upfront about the issue.

Under the warranty I expect I'm in good shape provided it didn't discharge into a low voltage state too deeply.

Is there any way to know how far it got? Should I annotate something on my final contract to assure the battery will still hold typical energy amounts without accelerated degradation?

I'm not sure if they will be able to reschedule for today but I hope so...

Thanks for the insight.

 

[David99]

What are the implications of 0% state of charge on the long-term battery life?

Nothing to worry at all. 0% on the battery in a Tesla is not a totally empty battery. There is some energy left to make sure the battery does not get damaged. I have driven my car down to 0% (sometimes even beyond) without any long term issues. I have 170k miles on my car and battery. Even if the battery gets to 0% and the3 car shuts down, there is no damaging effect on it. It just means the car disconnects the battery from any drain and it can safely sit like this for months without any damaging effect.

 

[apacheguy]

Nothing to worry at all. 0% on the battery in a Tesla is not a totally empty battery. There is some energy left to make sure the battery does not get damaged. I have driven my car down to 0% (sometimes even beyond) without any long term issues. I have 170k miles on my can and battery.

Fair, but I’m assuming you charged right away when you reached your destination. My worry would be if this vehicle sat at 0% for days on end.

 

[Gwgan]

You may be looking at a 12-volt battery replacement very soon.

 

[David99]

Fair, but I’m assuming you charged right away when you reached your destination. My worry would be if this vehicle sat at 0% for days on end.

Yes I always charged right away. But having the battery sit at 4-5% (which is the real state of charge when Tesla shows 0%) it will not take any damage. Using a battery near empty isn't good but having it just sit should really not be an issue.

 

[Runt8]

@David99 You disagreed with my post, so what’s your theory as to why the battery is at 0%?

 

[Dinozero]

Battery warranty does not cover degradation. 0% SOC is really not good for battery health and likely means the car has been sitting around in a lot for some time.

I actually think they do cover degradationnpast a certain range.

 

[spurs10]

I see so many new thread all over the internet about issues with model 3 and 95% of them are from new member. Um....

 

[Shock-On-T]

Yeah it’s fine to be at 0%
The car will avoid letting the battery go completely flat, which is less than 0%.

 

[xyeahtony]

There is a bottom buffer under 0%, Tesla doesn't allow you to completely discharge the battery to protect it.

Tesla does not transport the cars with a full or even half state of charge. Too many fully charged lithium batteries on one transport presents an interesting fire risk.

Its the same concept with ICE vehicles, they always get delivered to the dealers with little to no gasoline in them.

 

[MXWing]

I see so many new thread all over the internet about issues with model 3 and 95% of them are from new member. Um....

Not all Tesla members are on TMC.. and that's a good time to make your first post - when the topic is WTF is wrong with my car?!?!?

I thought my VIN in the 55K (ready for delivery today) was high but just read about 57K being registered this morning. The amount of cars flying off the line is unprecedented for Tesla, so more issues are going to arise.

Tons of people out and enjoying their cars with no issues and not posting here as well.

 

[slipnslider]

Yes I always charged right away. But having the battery sit at 4-5% (which is the real state of charge when Tesla shows 0%) it will not take any damage. Using a battery near empty isn't good but having it just sit should really not be an issue.

But if it's sitting in extreme heat at 5%, does it use that last 5% reserve to cool the batteries or let the batteries cook? A lot of these cars have been sitting around since early June, and it's almost August.

 

[abasile]

But if it's sitting in extreme heat at 5%, does it use that last 5% reserve to cool the batteries or let the batteries cook? A lot of these cars have been sitting around since early June, and it's almost August.

Any ambient temperature that the battery might experience from just sitting around isn't going to be "extreme", even 120 F. The battery chemistry can tolerate this without a problem, particularly at a low state of change (SOC). It's at high SOCs, closer to 100%, that higher temperatures may more noticeably affect the degradation rate. And to answer your question, I wouldn't expect the cars to be actively cooling their batteries if they're just sitting in a parking lot and not plugged in.

 

[ls7corvete]

But if it's sitting in extreme heat at 5%, does it use that last 5% reserve to cool the batteries or let the batteries cook? A lot of these cars have been sitting around since early June, and it's almost August.

A disconnected battery at low charge without active cooling will be fine. Like was repeated above, there is a buffer before the truely damaging voltages. Plus, I doubt the battery went to 0 right after it left the factory, probalby took weeks.

 

[Bluesmdl3]

So Thanks for all the discussion, I did the pickup this afternoon and I love the new M3. The dealer said it's not unusual for the cars to be at 0% just before delivery...

Sometime between 9am and 1pm the car was charged to 100%... I'm sure going from 0-100% in 4hrs isn't wonderful for the battery so let's hope this is the last time that happens.

I had a few minor issues that will be addressed in service later in the month:
- Bumper skuff
- Nick in paint at rear trim
- Lower frame scratch where car was unloaded

Overall the car is incredible! Cosmetically it's great, I can see some orange peal in the paint and some adhesive marks and such on the windows. Also some weird crystal looking glints in the corner of the front windscreen that are apparent in the setting light. These items are not something I'm worrying about but other's have mentioned them so I wanted to add to the tally.

It's time to start enjoying the new ride!