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12-volt battery: Proactive fix (Replacement)

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Wow, this seems excessive Scotty...was this quote just for replacing the battery?

I usually have mine replaced in conjunction with a tire swap or annual service...they will be checking the brakes anyway, so the car is already up on the hoist...I have never paid anything like this amount...

...
Yeah, same problem with my Roadster. I really cheap, crappy gel-cell battery, they want $350-$400 to replace. With a known life of 12 months.

I thought they were better than other car companies.
 
And for those of us with the extended warranty, we will have to pay a $200 deductible per repair. So for us, the 12v will continue to cost $200 per replacement after the first four years and 50,000 miles. That's assuming it would even be covered under the 8 year extended, I haven't read the contract recently so I don't remember if it would cover "consumables".
 
My reading of the extended warranty is that the battery is not covered period.


  • Maintenance/Parts, including but not limited to the following:
o Parts and normal or expendable maintenance items and procedures such as annual service anddiagnostics checks, brake pads/linings, brake rotor, suspension alignment, wheel balancing,hoses, air conditioning lines, hoses or connections, Battery testing, fluid changes, appearancecare (such as cleaning and polishing), filters and wiper blades/inserts; and
o Other maintenance services and parts described in Tesla’s maintenance schedule for thecovered Vehicle;
Other Parts not covered:
o Bright metal, sheet metal, bumpers, ornamentation moldings, carpet, upholstery, paint, shock
absorbers, battery, battery cables, lenses, light bulbs, sealed beams, glass (e.g., windshield),
wheels, interior trim, body seals and gaskets (e.g., weather stripping);
 
A warranty is meant for selling cars, not servicing them.

Somebody on this forum should step up and post the DIY process of replacing the 12v battery, next time theirs is due.

Think of those souls who are not near a Tesla service center. We're stranded without a 12v working.
And just doesn't make sense to carry the car 1000 kilometers away to one, or even 50km to a local shop to a mechanic who is willing to replace the 12v.

Cost? Buy your gel cel battery at Costco, once. When it gaks before its rated lifetime, get a new one under warranty replacement.. anything less than 30 months I think is a new one free. So batteries will cost nothing.

Just show us how it's done.

Video the service centre guy doing it.
 
Is it possible to replace the 12V battery as DIY?

It's not a conventional 12v battery that's available off the shelf at Cotsco, Sears, or anywhere else for that matter. And replacing it is not a DIY job as some have implied. High voltage connections are present and the top of the battery has a set of unconvential fused connections that have to be dealt with. So people have to stop thinking of this as a conventional ICE 12v battery dropped in an EV. It's a very different thing altogether. There's only one similarity to an ICE 12v: if the battery runs out of juice it can be charged by connecting a external 12v source of power to the post behind the nose cone.
 
Considering this is likely to fail every year Tesla needs to make this a much simpler operation. Which brings up the larger issue that for some reason Tesla thinks its OK to not have a Service Manual. Every other car on the planet has a service manual.
 
My reading of the extended warranty is that the battery is not covered period.


  • Maintenance/Parts, including but not limited to the following:
o Parts and normal or expendable maintenance items and procedures such as annual service anddiagnostics checks, brake pads/linings, brake rotor, suspension alignment, wheel balancing,hoses, air conditioning lines, hoses or connections, Battery testing, fluid changes, appearancecare (such as cleaning and polishing), filters and wiper blades/inserts; and
o Other maintenance services and parts described in Tesla’s maintenance schedule for thecovered Vehicle;
Other Parts not covered:
o Bright metal, sheet metal, bumpers, ornamentation moldings, carpet, upholstery, paint, shock
absorbers, battery, battery cables, lenses, light bulbs, sealed beams, glass (e.g., windshield),
wheels, interior trim, body seals and gaskets (e.g., weather stripping);

Great...
 
Tesla Battery.jpg
I just had my 12 V battery replaced by a Tesla Ranger. This is the new one which is the same as the old one.

Changing the battery is a 45 minute operation as the battery is buried deep on the passenger side in the frunk. It is below the air filter and about 20 things need to be removed or unscrewed to get to the battery. Clearly this location was not meant for a yearly swap.

The new D chassis has the battery located in a much more accessible location in the middle of the frunk.
 
it can be charged by connecting a external 12v source of power to the post behind the nose cone.

The new D chassis has the battery located in a much more accessible location in the middle of the frunk.

Herein lies the answer. Who says you have to replace the battery where it once was located?

When the old one dies ...get is out and abandon that space.

Power leads have been extended to be accessible elsewhere from where the stock 12v was originally located. Add leads to where you need.

For those without a 2nd motor, the microwave oven area in frunk seems like it might be a nice place to put the replacement.
Heck, room for 2 batteries for twice the fun. (I wonder if it would extend life more than 2x by having 2 batteries in parallel).

You should have video'd the ranger doing the job, mounted a cam above the bay where the work was going on..
and chatted him up all the while 45 minutes passed.

Please someone, show us the "trick". It's just a sequence of steps. There's a safe way to do this.

And thanks for the photo of the battery. It's just a Pb deep cycle, not a gel.
 
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I saw an earlier post about replacing it. In the roadster, it appears easy. I just have to find a suitable replacement. I don't know the type or amperage, I will likely pull it out and research the make/model.

When or if I do it, I'll put up some pics, like when I replaced the radio.

-Scotty