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2012 P85 HV battery replacement options -- need perspective.

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@Droschke; @blodg1; @wk057 ; @lightningltd ; @gaswalla ; @danielk04 ; @ElectricIAC ; @dark cloud ;
To my great surprise, after two weeks of diligently but politely pushing Tesla to unlock my battery (via the app and scheduling calls with reps), I discovered that Tesla did so, probably last night. Toggling the SOC display between percentage and rated miles showed 150 - 147 miles at 50% and 120 - 117 miles at 40%. Charging at home now to 100% and will report max, but the 297 miles mentioned in preceding posts is looking likely.

THANK YOU to all of you who shared your knowledge and experience as it gave me the ammunition and impetus needed to tackle this issue with Tesla. I think anyone paying out-of-pocket for this 1014116-00-C pack should be able to have it without software cap, and I'd suggest getting Tesla to state that in writing beforehand to save time and PITA factor.

To my even greater surprise, it seems that Tesla also "re-badged" my car on the screens to a "P90" -- That, I have to admit, brings a little smile to my face.
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@Droschke; @blodg1; @wk057 ; @lightningltd ; @gaswalla ; @danielk04 ; @ElectricIAC ; @dark cloud ;
To my great surprise, after two weeks of diligently but politely pushing Tesla to unlock my battery (via the app and scheduling calls with reps), I discovered that Tesla did so, probably last night. Toggling the SOC display between percentage and rated miles showed 150 - 147 miles at 50% and 120 - 117 miles at 40%. Charging at home now to 100% and will report max, but the 297 miles mentioned in preceding posts is looking likely.

THANK YOU to all of you who shared your knowledge and experience as it gave me the ammunition and impetus needed to tackle this issue with Tesla. I think anyone paying out-of-pocket for this 1014116-00-C pack should be able to have it without software cap, and I'd suggest getting Tesla to state that in writing beforehand to save time and PITA factor.

To my even greater surprise, it seems that Tesla also "re-badged" my car on the screens to a "P90" -- That, I have to admit, brings a little smile to my face.
View attachment 854889
According to my math, you will see 296-297 miles at 100%, 266-267 at 90% :)
Happy you got it sorted.
By the way, enjoy the faster than new supercharger speed :)
Edit:
Another thing I noticed on mine:
My wh/mi went down.
For the last 17527 miles before the new battery it was 328 wh/mi
The 2825 miles since the new battery is running 298 wh/mi. Same route every day (90 miles round trip 4 times a week).
Also noticed more acceleration, but that could be that I was used to the bad battery for so long having not so good acceleration.
With the new suspension parts, I am hearing a slight bit more hum / road noise, but not enough to even have to turn up the radio. slightly noticable, but still quiet. Of course, the wife noticed it first :p
Still VERY VERY happy.
 
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Did you ever get a quote from Jason Hughes 057 Tech? I’m in California and would consider shipping it out there before paying Tesla…
You need to also consider the MCU issue. In a matter of time all Tesla has to do is push an OTA and you can forget Suppercharging, Windows, Radio, and Air unless you fork out $ to upgrade.

You have me rethinking my options… $12K /yr in repairs or $1000/m in payments. When will it ever get paid off?
 
Did you ever get a quote from Jason Hughes 057 Tech? I’m in California and would consider shipping it out there before paying Tesla…
You need to also consider the MCU issue. In a matter of time all Tesla has to do is push an OTA and you can forget Suppercharging, Windows, Radio, and Air unless you fork out $ to upgrade.

You have me rethinking my options… $12K /yr in repairs or $1000/m in payments. When will it ever get paid off?
I wonder if a whole group of us ship together from California if we can get a cheaper deal for bulk shipping I’d be down lol
 
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Get the new battery pack. Results are awesome:
 
Hello Brain Trust--

2012 P85 with 118,000 miles, 12/2012 build, in Upstate NY, with MCU2, approximately 15% supercharging and 85% charged at 20 - 40A at home. I purchased car in March from third owner. Tesla replaced HV battery under warranty with remanufactured July 2020 prior to my purchase, which I thought of as added value in this older car. Car had 100% SOC range of 240 in March with 109,000 mileage, and yesterday had full-charged range of about 235. Car sat unused, unplugged, outdoors in summer heat for six weeks until a week ago and lost most of its charge during that period but had no issues charging to 85% after that. Today the "Maximum battery charge level reduced" warning appeared while the car was charged to 190 miles range. I tried to charge it beyond that and got "charge complete" message, then left it in the driveway -- I don't know what the charge level has been capped at but want to preserve what range I have so I can get it to the SC. Made service appointment on app then got a call from Tesla couple of hours later saying they had remotely analyzed the battery and it needs to be replaced. Tech said it appears that "one brick is shorted." I pressed for more clarity but didn't get it; all he said is that at least one module is defective.

Tesla is giving me option of buying either a remanufactured battery or a new battery; both are 90kWh, and both have same 4 year / 50K mile warranty. Tech said the reman battery would be expected to begin life in my car with about 5% degradation compared to the new battery. Remanufactured (1102982-01-A) is $11,500. New (1101078-00-A) is $21,000. Tech was unable to tell me about actual wait time for either battery to arrive at the White Plains SC but said "about a week."

I'm aware of Electrified Garage, 057 Technology, and ReCell, and have reached out to all for information.

I may be nuts but I am actually leaning toward investing the $21,000 in this older car for the brand new battery -- I would then have $50K in the car. My logic is that I would then have a P90 with something like 290+ miles range at 100% SOC, and, more importantly, I would expect the free supercharging to be much faster for at least the first several years. I would also expect to get 8 - 10 years from the new battery, even if the warranty is only for 4 years, so amortized cost over ten years is not insane. I am also wary of buying a remanufactured battery from Tesla or third parties given that the reman in the car, which was installed 25 months ago, has apparently failed fatally (and is not warrantied as the original 8 year warranty is expired). I love the car and don't have any desire for self-driving or even auto-pilot features, and the car seems to be solid and in very good shape apart from the HV battery. Although I have many other things I'd rather use the money for, I can swing this if it makes sense.

So looking for a reality check here. Are my assumptions above correct? Is my logic flawed and is there a better way to think about this? Thanks in advance--
Airsailor,

Could you share the quotes with me that you got from the White Plains SC? I needed a replacement HV pack for my 2012 MS P85 with 170k miles in May and was told the only option was a remanufactured 85 pack, asked for a new one but was told that option wasn't available (Bend, Oregon SC). Was told in writing the pack would have same capacity (85 nominal, around 77 usable) as a new one, but replacement that took 6 weeks to arrive had less than 70 kWh usable left (or 245 mi rated range). What's worse, the $11,500 replacement REMAN pack already died after 2.5 months and less than 5k miles driven last week, my car is now at the Portland SC and I've been trying since early August to get the Bend SC to make good on their capacity promise. Bend SC manager is now in touch with the Portland SC manager, but it took a couple dozen calls to get to this point... Perhaps the fact that the replacement pack now already has to be replaced again will help things, but TBD. Ideally I'd like to get a new pack as I would have preferred all along, happy to pay a few k more and get something more reliable and with more range. Obviously, my confidence in another REMAN one is very low at this point.

Roman
 
Why not 60’s?
We're super swamped on contact responses at the moment, but we've been getting through them. Give us a few business days on that at worst.

The thing is, I personally wouldn't think you're likely to get another decade out of a 2012 S that's actually being used and not just garaged for show. There were a LOT of other changes between 2012 and 2014 that significantly improve longevity, and more so in 2015+. I think mid 2015 is where I'd consider the S to be pretty solid and probably able to be kept for decades with a reasonable amount of maintenance, on average. With a 2012, you're going to run into issues left and right, many with expensive components that aren't even produced anymore and have no new stock anywhere, and also don't even have updated revisions that can be retrofit to improve lifespan upon replacement. You're kind of stuck with the 2012 design flaws.

My napkin math would come out a bit differently, and I'd expect over the course of 8-10 years, even with a new battery, that you'll spend more on the 2012 than you would cutting you losses and getting something at least late 2014. You might even be better off getting something even newer or even new, since the price delta isn't going to be massive and the added value of the newer models significantly more OEM warranty remaining could potentially outweigh everything else over the long term. Kind of a personal preference at that point, but I can't think of any scenario where trying to keep the 2012 on the road long term is a great plan.

I don't know exactly what we could offer on your car as-is since it would be dependent on a lot of things. DM your last-6-of-VIN, ZIP where it sits, if it drives at all (even at reduced charge/power), and any other relevant info you can think of related to the battery and powertrain in general... and I can probably give you a rough estimate. It's not going to be $29k, and I don't see any scenario where you'd get that back even with repairs, unfortunately, but we usually can offer something pretty reasonable for vehicles (except 60s) that drive under their own power, even with errors/damage/etc.
Hello wk057: I am in the same boat. I have a SUPER clean 2013 Model S 85 with 161K miles. Light Grey on Blk with 21" rims. No accidents clean in and out with a new MCU (LTE), free supercharging and connectivity. Just got the BMS u029 message and the SC wants to charge me 13,500 plus tax and labor to install a reconditioned battery. I would love to see if you want to make me an offer as-is. It still charging to 85 miles, throttled.
 
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Hello wk057: I am in the same boat. I have a SUPER clean 2013 Model S 85 with 161K miles. Light Grey on Blk with 21" rims. No accidents clean in and out with a new MCU (LTE), free supercharging and connectivity. Just got the BMS u029 message and the SC wants to charge me 13,500 plus tax and labor to install a reconditioned battery. I would love to see if you want to make me an offer as-is. It still charging to 85 miles, throttled.
Same boat. MS 2013, 70k miles - got the BMS_u029 message - it won’t charge more than 65 miles right now and waiting for Tesla Service Center to respond. I am thinking I don’t want to pay $10k+ to keep the car alive so are there trade in options presented to you?

Will read through these threads while awaiting to hear back.
 
Same boat. MS 2013, 70k miles - got the BMS_u029 message - it won’t charge more than 65 miles right now and waiting for Tesla Service Center to respond. I am thinking I don’t want to pay $10k+ to keep the car alive so are there trade in options presented to you?

Will read through these threads while awaiting to hear back.
Hello wk057: I am in the same boat. I have a SUPER clean 2013 Model S 85 with 161K miles. Light Grey on Blk with 21" rims. No accidents clean in and out with a new MCU (LTE), free supercharging and connectivity. Just got the BMS u029 message and the SC wants to charge me 13,500 plus tax and labor to install a reconditioned battery. I would love to see if you want to make me an offer as-is. It still charging to 85 miles, throttled.
@JaniceCanada @Chia123 -- When did your warranty end? When was your last OTA software update? It is interesting how the 2013s are starting to get the BMS_u029 / Maximum battery charge level reduced message after their warranty expiration date.

I have a 2013 MS 85 and got the message last week. I'm working with @Recell to get it fixed but I'm asking them to take pictures of the battery pack in case I need it for evidence. My range was capped at 107 miles for a fews days. I has since gone down to 96 miles.
 
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Get the new battery pack. Results are awesome:
Glad to see that, but I recommend only charging to 90% maximum for better battery health over the long term...whether you go with a new main battery or a refurbished one (which is likely much less costly). These third-party companies can help also with main battery repairs, likely close to the $5k range:

www.057tech.com (Offers a main battery warranty)

www.recell-ev.com

www.electrifiedgarage.com
 
@JaniceCanada @Chia123 -- When did your warranty end? When was your last OTA software update? It is interesting how the 2013s are starting to get the BMS_u029 / Maximum battery charge level reduced message after their warranty expiration date.

I have a 2013 MS 85 and got the message last week. I'm working with @Recell to get it fixed but I'm asking them to take pictures of the battery pack in case I need it for evidence. My range was capped at 107 miles for a fews days. I has since gone down to 96 miles.
Add me to the list of 2013 MS 85's getting BMS_u029 this week.

Answering some of the questions I've seen in this thread and others:
MS 85 w/ 83k miles
Battery warranty expired Dec 2021
Software: 2022.8.10.5 - I don't recall when it was installed, but I don't think it was right before - I usually just let the updates do their thing.

Error popped up on Wednesday morning after I had charged to 90% on my home charger overnight. I drove rest of the week, battery is now at 40% and still will not take a charge (immediately says Charge Complete after starting charge). Today I tried the various tricks I read on here (4 finger reset, reset the tires, factory reset) but none have changed the situation.

Car has run thru 12V batteries multiple times over the years, last one replaced in July'21. I bought thru CPO in 2017 and the drive unit was replaced under warranty right after that. Like others I have some decisions to make - will find out what Tesla quotes me on a battery this week.

Is there any way to tell how much charge it will hold or will it continue to degrade? From other posts it seems like 60ish miles is typical
I'm trying to figure out if I can buy time to make a decision or if these are my last 100 miles.
 
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Add me to the list of 2013 MS 85's getting BMS_u029 this week.

Answering some of the questions I've seen in this thread and others:
MS 85 w/ 83k miles
Battery warranty expired Dec 2021
Software: 2022.8.10.5 - I don't recall when it was installed, but I don't think it was right before - I usually just let the updates do their thing.

Error popped up on Wednesday morning after I had charged to 90% on my home charger overnight. I drove rest of the week, battery is now at 40% and still will not take a charge (immediately says Charge Complete after starting charge). Today I tried the various tricks I read on here (4 finger reset, reset the tires, factory reset) but none have changed the situation.

Car has run thru 12V batteries multiple times over the years, last one replaced in July'21. I bought thru CPO in 2017 and the drive unit was replaced under warranty right after that. Like others I have some decisions to make - will find out what Tesla quotes me on a battery this week.

Is there any way to tell how much charge it will hold or will it continue to degrade? From other posts it seems like 60ish miles is typical
I'm trying to figure out if I can buy time to make a decision or if these are my last 100 miles.
@JTV3 -- My situation is identical to yours. 2013 MS 85, same expiration date, same software version. My vehicle / app showed 280 miles as recently as 1 month ago when I charged up to 100%. Got the error 1 week ago on Saturday. Miles were capped at 107 ... then 97 .. then back up to 106 .. now back down to 97. Same thing: factory reset, 4-button .. nothing.

I've researched all the 3rd parties options, the Tesla refurb option and I think I'm going to replace it with a new pack at the SC. Message me if you have any questions.