Yesterday morning there was a thread on a person that drove over a hitch on the roadway and damaged his car, requiring a new battery. He indicated that he wrote to Tesla requesting that one be able to over-ride the automatic low setting of the air suspension. There was also a discussion in the thread that the refurbished battery pack has less energy than his original battery pack. I can't find that thread anymore. Has it been deleted? If so, why?
Hey Swegman, Here is a link, it's a protected thread, did the system log you out? Sign into My Tesla | Tesla Motors Peter
Did not realize I was not logged in. When I logged in the thread showed up. According to the thread, a brand new battery pack is $50K. If too many battery packs get damaged by road debris, that will likely jack up insurance rates.
That's not good news for the car sales or resale. Is this for real? $50,000 battery? Damaged simply by road debris?
That's the deal. A few independent confirmations from other battery replacements chimed in, all in the same ballpark.
Do they charge different rates for insurance vs out of pocket (I know last time I quoted a body repair on my car, they ask if it's insurance or out of pocket). And I assume that includes labor.
If Model S traction battery costs $50k and lasts 150,000 miles then wear and tear is $0.33/mile on just the battery. Then another $0.03/mile for electricity is trivial. Makes the $0.06/mile cost of gasoline for my Prius the past 60,000 miles look like the bargain it is.
I've cleaned toilets....and driven a Prius..... Stop disrespecting the toilet. I'd take that any day...
Handling will clean up as well as most other 3k lb FWD cars w/ better sway bars/sub-frame brace/wheels/tires on a Prius, and for a savvy MS driver, the battery will last twice as long and cost a fifth of that.
"Ye cannae change the laws of physics!" http://www.ksl.stanford.edu/people/kpfleger/auto/handling.html
Per a thread at TM forums, the current replacement cost for the 85 kWh battery is $40k-$50k plus 3-4 hours of labor. This is from someone who needed a battery replacement due to undercarriage damage.
The worst part is, that's only the beginning. My insurance company, as probably most, would consider this an "at fault" accident, and raise your rates. It's similar to hitting a pothole, and needing a new tire and wheel. Michael
