3.0 Batteries from 2016 experiencing issues.

[asimo3089]

Hi all. I noticed my car was experiencing sluggish acceleration among other issues. Stubborn to charge even at 80 degrees. Nearly impossible to climb small hills without losing speed. Lengthy accelerations to the speed limit. After enough of this I shipped my car to Gruber and waited to hear back. The news was bad.

There are apparently three known roadsters, including mine, with the 3.0 battery made in 2016 with an impedance issue. These packs have low impedance readings which kicks in a safety power limit in the firmware. Gruber's team has tried reloading the firmware with no luck and now they're in talks with Tesla corporate and engineers to find a solution. It's been a few weeks since I've last checked in and I'll be calling them in the morning to find out the latest.

Age issue or model year issue, that I don't know yet. I've never owned a vehicle with an issue this rogue. I'm here asking for advice. Do I consider selling the car... do I wait it out? Should I leave the car with Gruber for months on end or do I bring it back home? Just kind of at a loss on how to proceed and I'm wondering where I should "give up" as much as I love this car.

 

[eHorses]

Bummer to hear you‘re having these issues. My understanding is that impedance and limited charge max issues could be due to bad resistive cell(s) In the pack which limits soc and output from that brick. Is Gruber not able to isolate it and repair/replace that brick in the pack?
Sound like you like the quirkiness of roadster ownership. It’s no different from owning yesteryears‘ exotics. I would keep the car if you have storage space and financial resources. Bring it home and get in line for a new 3.0 replacement Or call Carl, @CM_007, for a second opinion. Worse case would be a 29k investment on a new ESS; but, you should be able to recover that when you’re ready to sale it. Good luck!

 

[marco2228]

Bummer, that such a relatively new pack causes issues.
Has this pack ever been deep discharged?

If you or anyone who has a Roadster with this issue could capture a CAN Log of the Battery Bus while this error is being thrown and send it to me, I could tell what the issue is, for sure.

 

[asimo3089]

Talked to Pete and have a little more information.

1. Four known vehicles with this issue, all 2016 3.0 battery packs. Same symptoms.
2. They've gone through extensive data collecting and test drives.
3. "Preliminary indications are the ESS battery pack brick impedance in affected Roadsters is much higher than control cars going through the same road tests. This is an indication of loss of power in the DC source, or cell failure."
4. No solution from Tesla yet but they're remaining in contact and feeding test results.

Also super appreciative of the advice here to keep the car and wait it out. It's totally the right move. Just sad to see my car struggling! I'm glad we have people like Pete to keep these roadsters cared for.

I'll report back anything new I hear here.

 

[ggr]

Add mine to the list. I reported briefly in the 3.0 thread, but basically identical symptoms.

 

[backmost]

I’ve had similar issues with mine, the 3.0 replacement was done in April 2017. My car is with Carl now.

 

[Adrian Cockcroft]

What does the CAC report? I have OVMS to look

it up and I get 163.6 CAC, it’s definitely not got the range it used to have after the 3.0 swap, but it’s still charging and driving ok. Mine was one of the earliest 3.0 upgrades. I keep it in storage mode most of the time, at 50-75% SOC.

 

[asimo3089]

Pete has run all the diagnostics he could and suggested I reach out to Tesla. My car is now in the hands of Tesla in Tempe, AZ. The few people I've talked to over there sounded very capable and ready to help. I'll let you know if I hear anything back.
Unable to run a CAC report right now and might be a while before my car is back in my hands.

 

[backmost]

At this point are they thinking your Roadster will need a full battery replacement?

 

[Timothy]

Are full battery replacements available at this point? 3.0 upgrade?

 

[backmost]

I've heard they restarted the program with better cells in a "3.0b" type of thing, but it's all through the grapevine. There's probably a long list of Roadsters that have been waiting for years to get new packs.

 

[Timothy]

Here's hopin'!

 

[asimo3089]

Pete says somebody up in Tesla corporate is now aware of the issue. I was called by Tesla in Tempe yesterday and they said it may be a couple weeks before I hear anything new but that their work is ongoing.

 

[backmost]

 

[asimo3089]

Hi guys. My car has been at Tesla for a few weeks and just came back home. Tesla says I need a new pack and the wait time is 6 months. They didn't give a reason as to why, just that the pack wasn't operating as it should. Beyond the bad news, the Tempe, AZ team has been extremely communicative and friendly. You can tell they enjoy these roadsters as much as we do.

I have to give Pete and his team credit for returning the car to me in greater condition. They found a cooling fan and pump not fully operating and cleaned out my PEM. So far the car appears more resilient to hot weather although charging can get hot still.

Considering this problem sounds unique to a specific year of pack, does anybody here think I can convince Tesla to cover part of the cost? And how would I go about that? I didn't purchase the original 2016 pack but I'm sure it inflated the purchase price when I bought the car years back. If I do buy a pack, the silver lining is roadster values continue to climb. Any sort of pack cost is going to be eaten up when or if I eventually sell this car.

 

[bolosky]

The real question is whether the new ones will fail like this after a few years, or if it was specific to packs made in 2016/2017. I'm not really excited to shell out another 30K every few years.

I suppose we can wait a while and see if more and more 3.0 packs do this. Given the 6 month wait, I suppose we have no choice.

 

[smorgasbord]

My 2021 3.0 pack is about 22 months old now.

CAC has dropped from to 210.901 when installed to 198.37 today
Only 5,131 miles driven - I need to get out more!

 

[backmost]

Hi guys. My car has been at Tesla for a few weeks and just came back home. Tesla says I need a new pack and the wait time is 6 months. They didn't give a reason as to why, just that the pack wasn't operating as it should. Beyond the bad news, the Tempe, AZ team has been extremely communicative and friendly. You can tell they enjoy these roadsters as much as we do.

I have to give Pete and his team credit for returning the car to me in greater condition. They found a cooling fan and pump not fully operating and cleaned out my PEM. So far the car appears more resilient to hot weather although charging can get hot still.

Considering this problem sounds unique to a specific year of pack, does anybody here think I can convince Tesla to cover part of the cost? And how would I go about that? I didn't purchase the original 2016 pack but I'm sure it inflated the purchase price when I bought the car years back. If I do buy a pack, the silver lining is roadster values continue to climb. Any sort of pack cost is going to be eaten up when or if I eventually sell this car.

6 months in Elon time lol