Battery self swap :)

[firstpl@gmail]

Any why does the location say New York if you are in the EU

Because the battery is in New York and I live in EU

and why was the photo of a battery in the factory?

Because at that time we did not take the battery out of the car yet.

Anyway I understand that no one knows what is going to happen when I swap the battery? I would swap it for a 85 as well. I am sure some of you know the answer If no one helps, then its trial and error time

 

[tomas]

Because the battery is in New York and I live in EU



Because at that time we did not take the battery out of the car yet.

Anyway I understand that no one knows what is going to happen when I swap the battery? I would swap it for a 85 as well. I am sure some of you know the answer If no one helps, then its trial and error time

Actually.... I'm pretty sure that none of us knows the answer and nobody is holding back on you. If anyone is holding back, it is you. You are being coy about where you got the battery, where it is, what it is being swapped into, and why. So, that leaves us guessing. If I had to guess, I'd say you got it by nefarious means, you are selling it on eBay, you found a buyer, and you are trying to assess the risk of the whole thing going pear shaped when you install.

Personally, I do not understand why anybody would buy it, given that Tesla offers a pretty comprehensive battery warranty. Only possibility I can reach is car 1 all totaled but battery, and car 2 damaged battery but otherwise repairable. Odds of that??? Or maybe an "A" pack owner who is losing so much sleep over 90kw charging limit and suspected 3% range loss that they're ready to pay thousands AND risk their warranty!

 

[qwk]

Because the battery is in New York and I live in EU



Because at that time we did not take the battery out of the car yet.

Anyway I understand that no one knows what is going to happen when I swap the battery? I would swap it for a 85 as well. I am sure some of you know the answer If no one helps, then its trial and error time

If you are swapping into a 60kwh car, you will need new firmware. If swapping into an 85kwh car, you might be able to get lucky and not have glitches, as long as the pack is the same revision. Tesla always updates firmware after any hardware swap, because of the many different part revisions. Otherwise there may be problems, or glitches.

 

[EarlyAdopter]

Anyway I understand that no one knows what is going to happen when I swap the battery? I would swap it for a 85 as well. I am sure some of you know the answer If no one helps, then its trial and error time

Short answer is no one outside of Tesla knows as Tesla is the only one that has ever swapped battery packs between cars, both for the battery swapping demo and to replace packs that have gone bad. Nobody here is going to be able to say whether software changes were involved to make it work, for instance to authenticate the serial number of the new pack. Why don't you email Tesla and ask?

Are you trying to sell a battery pack from a totaled car, or offload a rev A pack for a rev B pack?

 

[firstpl@gmail]

Short answer is no one outside of Tesla knows as Tesla is the only one that has ever swapped battery packs between cars, both for the battery swapping demo and to replace packs that have gone bad. Nobody here is going to be able to say whether software changes were involved to make it work, for instance to authenticate the serial number of the new pack. Why don't you email Tesla and ask?

Are you trying to sell a battery pack from a totaled car, or offload a rev A pack for a rev B pack?

I was hoping that someone here is from Tesla or knows someone who could help. The battery is from a totaled car. I contacted Tesla but they were unwilling to disclose any information. Weirdly enough they were unwilling to remove the battery for me, or even tell me how to remove the battery safely myself so I went ahead and removed it as cautiously as I could.

 

[Johan]

I was hoping that someone here is from Tesla or knows someone who could help. The battery is from a totaled car. I contacted Tesla but they were unwilling to disclose any information. Weirdly enough they were unwilling to remove the battery for me, or even tell me how to remove the battery safely myself so I went ahead and removed it as cautiously as I could.

They didn't want to tell you how to remove it for safety reasons. If they removed it for you then at some point someone would either take it apart or try to install it another car (after removing the battery in thst car) - so for the same safety reasons that's a road they won't go down. I understand why. It would look bad if some died from electrocution after messing with the pack, worse if Tesla were involved/facilitated it.

I truly believe there is a real danger messing with a pack like this. There HAS to be a connector able to deliver 1000A and that will very likely kill a human.

 

[LMB]

(LMB spouse)

@Johan - 100 milliamps (a tenth of an amp) can kill you if it's across your heart, e.g. arm to arm.

 

[EarlyAdopter]

I was hoping that someone here is from Tesla or knows someone who could help. The battery is from a totaled car. I contacted Tesla but they were unwilling to disclose any information. Weirdly enough they were unwilling to remove the battery for me, or even tell me how to remove the battery safely myself so I went ahead and removed it as cautiously as I could.

Your best bet is probably going to be to wait for someone out of warranty to suffer a battery pack failure. That could be a long wait though as the battery is under warranty for 8 years, unlimited miles in the 85kWh model and 8 years, 125,000 miles in the 60kWh model. It's possible a 60kWh driver could blow past 125,000 miles sooner, but I suspect most high mileage drivers opted for the 85kWh model. There's just no secondary market for battery packs yet. And it's pretty well established that a 60kWh car can't be upgraded to an 85kWh pack without Tesla's involvement.

Another possibility is finding an enterprising electrical engineer looking to add battery storage to their solar setup. Maybe try posting on some of the hard-core DIY solar forums.

I am surprised Tesla doesn't have a plan for dealing with packs from totaled cars. I agree, just letting it rot in a junk yard is a waste. Maybe instead of inquiring with them about selling the pack to an individual you can inquire with them about selling it back to Tesla as recycle salvage. If they haven't put together a policy yet, they will need to.

 

[firstpl@gmail]

Another possibility is finding an enterprising electrical engineer looking to add battery storage to their solar setup. Maybe try posting on some of the hard-core DIY solar forums.

That is what I was planning to do next. There is a number of applications for this battery. Large ups, EV project, of-grid living. But any of these applications requires dealing with active cooling/heating the pack and going around the onboard electronics(if there are any). So my first choice will be to try and make use of the pack as intended by Tesla, if that does not work, then it will end up as ups

By the way I think there is a number of teslas without warranty out there. If I remember correctly from reading the Model S warranty, any accident makes the car lose warranty. Correct me if I'm wrong.

 

[aviators99]

That is what I was planning to do next. There is a number of applications for this battery. Large ups, EV project, of-grid living. But any of these applications requires dealing with active cooling/heating the pack and going around the onboard electronics(if there are any). So my first choice will be to try and make use of the pack as intended by Tesla, if that does not work, then it will end up as ups

By the way I think there is a number of teslas without warranty out there. If I remember correctly from reading the Model S warranty, any accident makes the car lose warranty. Correct me if I'm wrong.

Also, there are plenty approaching 50,000 miles.

- - - Updated - - -

If I remember correctly from reading the Model S warranty, any accident makes the car lose warranty. Correct me if I'm wrong.

I shall correct you. The warranty doesn't cover damage caused by accidents. An accident doesn't void the warranty.

 

[richkae]

I truly believe there is a real danger messing with a pack like this. There HAS to be a connector able to deliver 1000A and that will very likely kill a human.

1000A at 400V could likely vaporize whatever part of a human it flowed through.

 

[dhrivnak]

Do you have any idea of the dangers of 400VDC at a few hundred amps? This will not end well. You'll screw it up (since no one outside of Tesla knows how to do it right) and they'll charge you a ton to clean up your mistakes. That's assuming you don't kill yourself in the process.

If you know what you are doing it is quite safe and much safer than a 5 gal can of gas.

 

[aviators99]

If you know what you are doing it is quite safe and much safer than a 5 gal can of gas.

And besides, he's already done it and apparently survived!

 

[scaesare]

It certainly is something to be careful doing, no doubt, but it has already been done safely by somebody who knows what they are doing (see my link to Otmar's project earlier).

Additionally, my understanding is that there is a set of contactors in the pack (there have been reports of these failing in the "klunk" thread). So, unless the car negotiates successfully with the battery back to close the contactors, I doubt there's any current available at the external high-power contacts when removed....

 

[EarlyAdopter]

Also, there are plenty approaching 50,000 miles.

That's just the drive train and bumper to bumper warranty. Even after that has expired the battery remains covered under its own warranty to 8yrs unlimited miles (or 8yrs, 125,000 miles for the 60kWh).

 

[JRP3]

I'm not clear where the battery pack is at this point in time, but if it's in the US contact Jack Rickard at EVTV, he'd might buy it, or know someone who would, and if it's in the EU contact Anne Kloppenberg (sp?) at New Electric/EVTV EU.

Jack:
http://evtv.me/

Anne:
https://www.facebook.com/NewElectricAmsterdam
http://evtv-amsterdam.eu/

You can also try selling it at http://www.diyelectriccar.com/

 

[tga]

If you know what you are doing it is quite safe and much safer than a 5 gal can of gas.

And besides, he's already done it and apparently survived!

Both valid points, but all original indications at the beginning of the thread was that the OP (a) didn't know what he was doing, and (b) hadn't removed a pack yet. He came across to me as a clueless, cagey yahoo, who was likely to hurt himself in the process - the very reason Tesla won't give out the info he seeks.

If I'm wrong, fine. But this is a lot different than pulling an engine out of a car. There's a lot that could go wrong, and most people don't have the knolwedge to to it correctly/safely.