2023 Model 3 RWD - Brand new will not charge to 272

[dtothek]

Hi All - I bought a RWD 2023 recently , June 30 to be exact and have less than 350 miles on it. Whenever I have charged it from day one to 100 percent it will only charge to between 244 and 258 miles when I set it to 100 percent. I have taken it to Tesla and it has not been there for more than 7 days while they try to fix it. They have tried draining the batter 2x to 6ish percent to then charge it up to 100 to reset the BMS but that has not worked. They said its either a software issue or battery issue, which seems obvious as it has to be one or the other.

They have said this is "not normal" and something is wrong as it should charge up to the stated 272 as new. Curious if anyone has had any expereince with this. They have a "senior engineer" involved to help fix. But I am pretty dissapointed and frustrated with my first Tesla

any thoughts or advice would be super helpful. Thank you

 

[father_of_6]

I recommend setting it to % instead of miles. It sounds like the range estimator is expecting you'll get 95% of the rated range. I'm not sure I'd leave my car at the service center for weeks over that. You're likely just using more wh/mile than the rated range, so your total mileage is a little less.

This is like if you bought a gas car that said it would get 30mpg, then drove it and only got 28mpg... so you brought it back to the dealership and left it in their service department for a week to figure it out.

I suspect it's a non-issue. The rated range only happens at ideal conditions (slower speed, no climate controls, no headwind, etc).

 

[father_of_6]

Just want to add... you own the world's funnest car IMO (almost... the M3P is). Don't sweat the small stuff. Get out there and drive! Congrats.

 

[DuncanM]

Hi All - I bought a RWD 2023 recently , June 30 to be exact and have less than 350 miles on it. Whenever I have charged it from day one to 100 percent it will only charge to between 244 and 258 miles when I set it to 100 percent. I have taken it to Tesla and it has not been there for more than 7 days while they try to fix it. They have tried draining the batter 2x to 6ish percent to then charge it up to 100 to reset the BMS but that has not worked. They said its either a software issue or battery issue, which seems obvious as it has to be one or the other.

They have said this is "not normal" and something is wrong as it should charge up to the stated 272 as new. Curious if anyone has had any expereince with this. They have a "senior engineer" involved to help fix. But I am pretty dissapointed and frustrated with my first Tesla

any thoughts or advice would be super helpful. Thank you

The car should show ~272 miles when charged to 100%. Something is not right and Tesla needs to fix it.

 

[3sr+buyer]

I recommend setting it to % instead of miles. It sounds like the range estimator is expecting you'll get 95% of the rated range. I'm not sure I'd leave my car at the service center for weeks over that. You're likely just using more wh/mile than the rated range, so your total mileage is a little less.

The miles that can be switched to % is rated miles. It is not based on recent driving history like the estimate on the energy screen.

On a new Tesla, it should show the EPA rated range or very close to that. After some time, it is likely to show lower rated miles based on typical battery degradation.

 

[dtothek]

I recommend setting it to % instead of miles. It sounds like the range estimator is expecting you'll get 95% of the rated range. I'm not sure I'd leave my car at the service center for weeks over that. You're likely just using more wh/mile than the rated range, so your total mileage is a little less.

This is like if you bought a gas car that said it would get 30mpg, then drove it and only got 28mpg... so you brought it back to the dealership and left it in their service department for a week to figure it out.

I suspect it's a non-issue. The rated range only happens at ideal conditions (slower speed, no climate controls, no headwind, etc).

I was hoping you would validate my fru

The miles that can be switched to % is rated miles. It is not based on recent driving history like the estimate on the energy screen.

On a new Tesla, it should show the EPA rated range or very close to that. After some time, it is likely to show lower rated miles based on typical battery degradation.

given that they have done a BMS reset 2x does that mean the battery is having a problem?

 

[Rocky_H]

It sounds like the range estimator is expecting you'll get 95% of the rated range.

That's not how that works. As @3sr+buyer pointed out, that rated miles number is calculated based on a fixed efficiency constant. It's NOT a "range estimator".

I recommend setting it to % instead of miles.

That is sticking your head in the sand and removing your visibility to information. This thread is an example of why that is frequently a bad idea. The "rated miles" is a fixed unit of energy in the battery. The % is just a fullness ratio.

it will only charge to between 244 and 258 miles when I set it to 100 percent. [...] it should charge up to the stated 272 as new

So here's why that dismissive "just set it to %" can be unhelpful. If the car's battery has some problem or severe degradation and can only hold 244 or 202 rated miles of energy instead of 272, that's very short of what it should hold, but the car will still happily display 100%, because it's holding all it can. You would never know.

But it takes a calm personality to use rated miles. Some people worry themselves to getting an ulcer and are freaking out and getting angry as they regularly see the car use more "rated miles" than the distance they just drove. Being crazy and upset all the time isn't good, so sure, flip it to % just so you never have to know if it's going to bother you. But if you can just say "meh" and be laid back about it, then the rated miles is a little bit more information.

 

[AlanSubie4Life]

t it will only charge to between 244 and 258 miles when I set it to 100 percent.

Aside from the primary problem of large missing capacity (at least 5%), this is actually a very wide range of 14 miles for 100% charge results. Usually should end up within a mile or two for each 100% charge (over a short timeframe). Should not be 14 miles apart depending on the day! (For actual charges to 100%, not the projected numbers, which have no utility.)

For certain, without any doubt, your BMS thinks your battery capacity is much lower than would typically be the case for a new RWD.

About 57.5kWh, rather than 60.5kWh typical.

Hopefully you can find resolution. Let us know what happens!

If there is nothing clearly broken other than capacity loss, Tesla will likely do nothing of consequence.

 

[dtothek]

The car is still there, senior engineer from Tesla corporate is involved. There is no time frame to get it back but it will be a minimum of 3 weeks. I have engaged a lemon law lawyer that said this is a slam dunk case if they cant fix it. I am in California so its 30 days and or 4 visits.

 

[acm17]

Hi All - I bought a RWD 2023 recently , June 30 to be exact and have less than 350 miles on it. Whenever I have charged it from day one to 100 percent it will only charge to between 244 and 258 miles when I set it to 100 percent. I have taken it to Tesla and it has not been there for more than 7 days while they try to fix it. They have tried draining the batter 2x to 6ish percent to then charge it up to 100 to reset the BMS but that has not worked. They said its either a software issue or battery issue, which seems obvious as it has to be one or the other.

They have said this is "not normal" and something is wrong as it should charge up to the stated 272 as new. Curious if anyone has had any expereince with this. They have a "senior engineer" involved to help fix. But I am pretty dissapointed and frustrated with my first Tesla

any thoughts or advice would be super helpful. Thank you

I have the same car, bought it beginning of April. I charged once a week at the supercharger for the first few months. The app told me to charge it to 100% once a week, and so did the virtual appt prepper. I did that. After about the 1st month, it was never 272. I think mine is around 265 now. But, of course, it's at the Service Center...draining the power constantly with no miles being driven with it (for a month). I'm having a blast.

 

[dtothek]

Tesla agrees there is a "software problem" and doesnt

I have the same car, bought it beginning of April. I charged once a week at the supercharger for the first few months. The app told me to charge it to 100% once a week, and so did the virtual appt prepper. I did that. After about the 1st month, it was never 272. I think mine is around 265 now. But, of course, it's at the Service Center...draining the power constantly with no miles being driven with it (for a month). I'm having a blast.

I have engaged a Lemon Law attorney that says I have a very strong case the car has a material defect. If your in California I suggest you research

 

[jjrandorin]

Tesla agrees there is a "software problem" and doesnt

I have engaged a Lemon Law attorney that says I have a very strong case the car has a material defect. If your in California I suggest you research

Your situation and what the person above you posted in this thread are different.

Yours = "My car never charged to its rated range, even once, and the car has 350 miles on it"
Them = "My rated range dropped after a month".

Yours sounds like a material defect in the battery, to me. Theirs is entirely debatable.

 

[AAKEE]

I was hoping you would validate my fru

given that they have done a BMS reset 2x does that mean the battery is having a problem?

Not nessesarily.

Probably not a complete software glitch but the BMS can be fairly off sometimes.

Do you charge it often to 100%?
Do you have sentry off sometimes to let the car sleep ?

The BMS do not seem to fix a BMS off situation at omve even if its obvious (for the BMS that it is off).
It can take some time and for the LFP having a harder time judging the SOC its probably harder to judge the capacity also.

My S arrived with 95kWh out of 99.4kWh new and I could calculate the capacity to 98 kwh myself. It took quite a few charges to reach 98kWh, which it holds quite stable now.

If you get it back with the issue not solved reach back here then we will help you with about how to perform a BMS Calibration.

 

[Regaj]

It wouldn't shock me if a new EV with an LFP battery had a wonky rated-range display until it got some miles on it. The same characteristic (low cell voltage variability) that challenges the BMS in reporting accurate SOC (and prompts the recommendation to charge to 100% at least once per week) could confuse the BMS until it had acquired more data. And, yet, AFAIK we don't hear reports of new LFP owners often reporting this.

What does surprise me is that a senior engineer wouldn't be able to diagnose this pretty quickly. The average user sees only SOC and Rated Range displayed by their car. The Service Center would have access to the individual cell voltages inside the pack that produce that SOC/Range, along with things like cell imbalance and cell temperature. They have all the raw data from the pack before it gets interpreted by the BMS, in other words. With that in hand, one would think they would be able to quickly determine which direction the problem lay, and proceed accordingly.

Best wishes to the OP in getting this resolved.

 

[dtothek]

3 weeks tomorrow, nothing is resolved but they have done a discharge and recharge 6x and it has not resolved. They are now telling me that I need to take the car and drive it to complete the process. I am not sure i should take it given it is not any better than when I brought it in vs having them keep the car and drive it and see if it actually gets better. Its pretty close to 30 days at that point they have to buy back the car.....I think there is some sense from them that they dont want to hit the 30 days (total conjecture)

 

[AlanSubie4Life]

Agreed an actual 10% loss (if it is that much; you gave a 5% and a 10% number) for a brand new vehicle is a clear issue, which Tesla must fix.

I guess I’d just take it back and tell them if it isn’t at 272 miles in a thousand miles or so, and is instead at around 244 miles, they’ll need to take it back. I’d definitely have an agreement with them quantifying what is acceptable and what is not, though, prior to taking the vehicle.

This is an issue which you immediately documented. It’s going to be a huge pain to get anything done, because they’ll lump you with the folks complaining about 267 miles.

Just remember the miles at 100% directly indicates the BMS estimate of your pack capacity. There’s nothing that depends on driving, etc. The estimate could be off for a while, but even if so, you should be able to extract much more energy from the pack than the BMS thinks you can (in a single nearly uninterrupted drive).

What is the displayed rated range at 100% currently? (Not extrapolated from low SOC.)

 

[Regaj]

That they would charge/discharge the car six times (presumably, simply running a Battery Health Check out of the Service Menu) tells me that they are clueless. They just keep hoping it will miraculously fix itself.

It also tells me they are fixated on it being a BMS problem. Which it could be... but I wouldn't put my money on that at this point.

Telling you that you now have to take the car and drive it to "complete the process" is beyond absurd.

Ask them to give you a printout of all cell voltages at 100% SOC. That will likely tell you (and them) which direction the problem lies.

Like @AlanSubie4Life mentioned, you're in a good spot because you caught and reported this issue immediately. But if you (or they) put a bunch of miles on the vehicle, so it gets pushed into the nether area where some amount of degradation is normal and expected, they may insist that all is well until/unless the 30% degradation warranty threshold gets tripped.

I wouldn't put a single mile on the vehicle until they resolve whatever is going on.

 

[dtothek]

Question, on a brand new model 3 rwd with 19 inch wheels should the computer when fully charged read 272 or 267? Tesla has been stating 272 but then in the paperwork upon pickup they changed it to 267. I Know the range is lower if it is the 19 inch wheels but would appreciate an answer on that one.

 

[father_of_6]

Question, on a brand new model 3 rwd with 19 inch wheels should the computer when fully charged read 272 or 267? Tesla has been stating 272 but then in the paperwork upon pickup they changed it to 267. I Know the range is lower if it is the 19 inch wheels but would appreciate an answer on that one.

The configurator on the website *right now* shows 272 with the 18" wheels, and 267 with 19" wheels.

 

[AlanSubie4Life]

computer when fully charged read 272 or 267? Tesla has been stating 272 but then in the paperwork upon pickup they changed it to 267.

Since the website does not say "EPA est." for the 19" wheels, that means Tesla did not do an EPA test for that configuration, and just estimated it.

In the past, this has meant that 272 will be the reading in the vehicle, regardless of wheel selection in the GUI. There have been instances where EPA tests of other wheel configs were done, and then the wheel selection changed the constant (2020 Performance is the primary example).

So, I would expect the reading in the vehicle should be 272 rated miles, regardless of wheel selection, when new (assuming the BMS isn't having a bad day).

The constant is about 222Wh/rmi, so each displayed rated mile (when below the degradation threshold of about 60.5kWh) contains about 212Wh (95.5% of 222Wh).