2013 Model S 85 High Voltage Battery Failure | Replacement recommendations?

[JoshK]

My 2013 ms85 just yesterday got the service soon error and the charge dropped from 50% to 0% overnight. Unfortunately car could not drive and required tow. Feel lucky I snagged a loaner Model 3 from Tesla service center for what could be a long wait. This is Milford, CT Tesla Service Center

When my battery warranty ran out last year, I mistakenly assumed new garages who were getting in to Tesla service might be an option. Didn't realize Gruber is on 1 year wait timeframe at this point (Pete Gruber called me and said he's focusing on roadsters and has a backlog of S's in service and shortage of techs). Electrified Garage told me that they could swap a battery but id have to source it and earliest appt in October. 057 in North Carolina seems able to do a swap but Id have to transport to them , earliest appointment is in October, and its tricky since I don't have an alternative vehicle for work / daycare runs. 057 does offer an intriguing service plan to warranty the replaced battery for ~2k

Appreciate @airsailor 's recent post on this matter. I'd love to hear recent experiences of other model S owners who replaced their pack OUT of warranty.

My outstanding questions are - does Tesla offer any warranty for the remanufactured cheaper pack? What was your total out of pocket cost? Is a goodwill adjustment to the total cost ever offered?

I'm bummed but also I bought this vehicle 4 years ago used with high miles knowing this could be a potential issue. In August 2018, it was the cheapest Model S - found it out auto trader for $26,000 with 169k miles. No issues in past 4 years other than charge port replacement and usual tires, 12v batt etc. I love the look of the S vs the 3/Y and it's my first car where total strangers often come up and compliment me on my car. For me, buying this car was a balance of enjoying its sportiness, its environmental impact, and the style. Ive taken good care of it and am willing to invest because entry in any used 3 or older S is around 35-40k+

Please share any experiences with your HV battery replacement out of warranty- appreciate it. Going to decide after official estimate from Tesla whether to go that route or ship the car to 057 and figure out something while it's being serviced.

 

[zoomer0056]

I hope you get it back on the road soon.

 

[Rocky_H]

I'm bummed but also I bought this vehicle 4 years ago used with high miles knowing this could be a potential issue. In August 2018, it was the cheapest Model S - found it out auto trader for $26,000 with 169k miles.

That is a really good perspective to take on it, and I appreciate the realism of expectations. And that was a pretty good deal for the car too.

057 does offer an intriguing service plan to warranty the replaced battery for ~2k

Well, yes and no. Yes, that warranty plan that he came up with is really cool and something that no one else offers. However, no, you can't sign up for the warranty plan after the fact, after your battery has failed. That would have been a really great thing to sign up for a few months ago, but it's too late now I think.

057 in North Carolina seems able to do a swap but Id have to transport to them , earliest appointment is in October, and its tricky since I don't have an alternative vehicle for work / daycare runs.

I notice you didn't directly tag @wk057 , so I'm going to so that he can give some ideas. I think this is going to be your best bet for having real availability of packs and being able to get it done in a timely manner. And they transport cars so much, he has the companies and connections to arrange the transport for you, so you wouldn't have to figure that out on your own. Figuring out your substitute vehicle situation is of course on you, but that would be the case regardless of what path you choose for the repair.

 

[David_Cary]

Typically the reman battery is $12-$16k and 6 weeks (on average from what I can tell). It has a 4 year/50k warranty.
There is zero chance you get your car back in a timely manner. But if Tesla is giving you a loaner for those 6 weeks (or maybe a lot more), then you would want to factor that in your decision. WK057 is going to be cheaper. He maybe faster but maybe not.
Give up on fast and decide how much driving a 3 vs another rental car matter to you. And price out the rental car you would tolerate.

 

[JoshK]

Give up on fast and decide how much driving a 3 vs another rental car matter to you. And price out the rental car you would tolerate.

This is the quandary - Ive even mulled buying a car for the period and then selling back to dealer.

 

[NewbyMaybe]

What about flashing the system back to see if it's an "update problem"? Does Tesla try that or is a hacker required? Did an update solve the bug?

 

[wk057]

At the moment, we're just swamped, and appointments for pack replacements are actually going to start getting pushed back a bit more as we're overrunning our capacity for sales for other projects. The balance is needed to keep prices reasonable, since if we can't recoup funds for the core battery packs we can't really offer the significant core discounts we do on replacements. This is fine normally, because up until recently our battery sales for projects far exceeded the number of repairs/replacements... but we're quickly closing that gap and will need to either put some resources into the sales side, or push back timeline on replacements a bit more. Most likely the latter, unfortunately.

I think we're at about 8 weeks on replacements, but we're still at least 50% less expensive than Tesla in most cases.

 

[EstebanP212]

At the moment, we're just swamped, and appointments for pack replacements are actually going to start getting pushed back a bit more as we're overrunning our capacity for sales for other projects. The balance is needed to keep prices reasonable, since if we can't recoup funds for the core battery packs we can't really offer the significant core discounts we do on replacements. This is fine normally, because up until recently our battery sales for projects far exceeded the number of repairs/replacements... but we're quickly closing that gap and will need to either put some resources into the sales side, or push back timeline on replacements a bit more. Most likely the latter, unfortunately.

I think we're at about 8 weeks on replacements, but we're still at least 50% less expensive than Tesla in most cases.

Do you also sell the tesla battery modules for solar storage? Maybe that’s another interest people may want especially if you can sell the modules with a charring system already for solar BMS/mppt controller

 

[dark cloud]

Do you also sell the tesla battery modules for solar storage? Maybe that’s another interest people may want especially if you can sell the modules with a charring system already for solar BMS/mppt controller

He has been selling the modules for this purpose for many years

85-type | Battery Modules | Products | 057 Technology

 

[chrisro]

I rebuild many batteries in Germany since last year. Main isssues are bad bmb boards.

 

[ElectricSled]

Going through the same kind of issue with my 2013 S P85. Considered 057 as an option, but in my case had both the drive unit and HV battery failed due to water ingress. The drive unit was under warranty due to an earlier replacement so opted for Tesla SC in Charlotte to do both DU and HV. Didn't have the 057 battery service plan but wish I had. They are ahead of everyone else in offering a service to monitor the battery and avoid a FORD (found on road dead) battery.

Timeline for replacement has been about 6 weeks including waiting 2 weeks to get the initial service diagnosis and waiting for the reman battery. Should be back on the road tomorrow and will see how things look. They charged the battery to 255 miles which is close to what I saw before the failure. Feel like the 4 year, 50k warranty on the battery is worth some of the premium cost of the Tesla option.

 

[Roman Petres]

From my own experience from May this year until today, I don't recommend a reman pack from Tesla. While coming with a 4 year/50k mile parts warranty, the quality seems rather hit or miss, as my replacement pack installed in July 2022 already crapped out last week after little over 2 months and 5k miles, and now has to be replaced AGAIN. I also got over 10% less capacity (69 kWh or 245 miles rated range) than the service advisor had promised me in writing, and trying to get the SC to make good on that has been extremely hard. Took me weeks and over a dozen calls so far, and it's not done, though I am in contact with the SC manager now. For reasons unknown, I wasn't given the option to buy a new pack from Tesla despite asking for it, which I would rather have done, and which other like airsailor were offered before and after me.

 

[Lasttoy]

Roman, my refurbished pack died two years later. Only choice is Recell or 057. Gruber has year wait just to fix one.

 

[gaswalla]

the 350v battery offered by Tesla for replacement - now oft referred as the 90kwh offering - uses new cells and reports have been outstanding thus far (been offered about 2 years now).. Agree that the reman packs (400v packs) are not worth it due to long term reliability issues

 

[Roman Petres]

Thank you Lasttoy and gaswalla,

That is valuable information for me. Got a call yesterday and the Bend SC manager said I could choose between a free warranty replacement of the reman or pay $19k for the new 90 kWh pack. I assumed of course that Tesla would credit me the almost $12k I spent only 2 months ago on the already failed reman pack, but supposedly I'd have to forfeit that and pay the whole $19k for a new pack?! The SC manager claimed that the new 90 kWh pack wasn't available in May/July, and only is available now, which disagrees with numerous reports of other people that a new battery replacement has been available for quite some time, at least since 2020. I will not accept this proposal and try to talk more with Tesla first, go up the chain from the SC manager, but if that doesn't help go the arbitration route. I can't believe they would refuse to give me any credit for a $12k product that failed well within warranty, and they have to give me a replacement battery either way. Why not accept another $7.5k from me and have more money and a happy customer?

 

[gaswalla]

Just take the reman battery for free and plan on getting the 'upgraded' battery in the future when the reman battery fails -- hopefully, a new battery will be better priced in the future (or not, blame inflation).
Tesla doesn't owe you anything towards an upgraded battery unfortunately - and you are very unlikely to make headway on getting them to subsidize such.

 

[Roman Petres]

Just take the reman battery for free and plan on getting the 'upgraded' battery in the future when the reman battery fails -- hopefully, a new battery will be better priced in the future (or not, blame inflation).
Tesla doesn't owe you anything towards an upgraded battery unfortunately - and you are very unlikely to make headway on getting them to subsidize such.

I tried arguing more and then some more. Had several calls with the SC manager, she seemed relatively new and was still learning details herself. She got in contact with the battery team and first came back with word that even the "new" 90 pack (1014116-00-C) may not have all new cells...after that, I decided to just go with the free warranty replacement of the REMAN pack. Why pay significantly more if warranty definitely and cell condition potentially are the same, just for extra range? I pointed out that, based on this info, I thought it was misleading to call the 90 pack "new".

HOWEVER, one week later I got another call from her, she had escalated things higher up as she didn't like how our call went, and then came back with the correction that indeed the new 90 kWh pack actually DOES have new cells after all.
The best part, Tesla now is giving me 100% credit for the failed REMAN pack as I had asked for after all, and is allowing me to only pay the difference and get the new 90 pack! Took a lot more time and persistence than I feel it should have, but I am very happy that Tesla came around after all!

This also restored my confidence to hold onto my Cybertruck reservation...

 

[Droschke]

The best part, Tesla now is giving me 100% credit for the failed REMAN pack as I had asked for after all, and is allowing me to only pay the difference and get the new 90 pack!

So, what's your net cost for a new 350v 90kWh 1014116-00-C pack?

 

[Roman Petres]

So, what's your net cost for a new 350v 90kWh 1014116-00-C pack?

$17k for the battery (1014116-00-C) alone as quoted end of September, as compared to now $13.5k for another REMAN (1088815-01-B, got that quoted by accident before warranty was applied). Back in May, the same REMAN was $11.5k, so apparently prices have increased, at least for the REMAN packs.
In addition to the new battery, the quote has $1.3k in parts for upgrading the rear suspension, and about $700 in labor.

I have yet to receive the updated quote, reflecting the credit for the old battery.

On a side note, I am glad the packs both died while I was in Oregon, not paying sales tax makes a dent at those numbers...

 

[Droschke]

$17k for the battery (1014116-00-C) alone as quoted end of September, as compared to now $13.5k for another REMAN (1088815-01-B, got that quoted by accident before warranty was applied). Back in May, the same REMAN was $11.5k, so apparently prices have increased, at least for the REMAN packs.
In addition to the new battery, the quote has $1.3k in parts for upgrading the rear suspension, and about $700 in labor.

I have yet to receive the updated quote, reflecting the credit for the old battery.

On a side note, I am glad the packs both died while I was in Oregon, not paying sales tax makes a dent at those numbers...

Thanks. I hope they don't lock your 1014116-00-C since you are paying for it.