Battery won’t charge

[Hurricane]

When I came to drive my car this evening I was presented with a message “Unable to charge - Maximum charge level reached”. Battery was at 65%. I returned home after a couple of errands and plugged in with the car at 61% and it wouldn’t charge. Rebooted the car but no difference. I’ve logged a service request and next available appointment is 19th March, unless I get a Ranger or they sort it remotely.

I’ve had the message “Fast DC charging unavailable” several times but it’s always cleared itself. I installed 2024.2.8 several days ago.

Has anyone else come across this?

 

[spdpsba]

“Fast DC charging unavailable” several times but it’s always cleared itself.

Do you remember the full message, did it say Fast DC charging unavailable but can AC charge? If that was the message then it is a hardware issue. The harness need to be changed as this is a known hardware issue in 2020-2021 cars.

 

[Alex987854]

When it gets too low for your return journey, call roadside for recovery. That should get you a loaner.

And put some air in your tires.

 

[Hurricane]

Do you remember the full message, did it say Fast DC charging unavailable but can AC charge? If that was the message then it is a hardware issue. The harness need to be changed as this is a known hardware issue in 2020-2021 cars.

Yes that was exactly the message, and my car is a 2021 model. Thanks for the info - I’ll add it to my service request.

 

[Alistairuk]

mine is now also displaying this - originally I had the warning “max charge level and range reduced” pop up end of January which was intermittent at first and then came on permanently in feb - I am currently waiting a new battery for this but was told it’s fine to drive for now…

Last weekend it is now also displaying same as you “unable to charge - maximum charge level reduced” (it’s currently at 43%) which makes the car undrivable so it’s currently sat on the driveway as an expensive ornament!

Don’t suppose anyone else has had their battery replaced recently and has a rough idea of how long it takes - Tesla have so far been unable to provide an estimate just saying there’s a backlog

 

[yessuz]

mine is now also displaying this - originally I had the warning “max charge level and range reduced” pop up end of January which was intermittent at first and then came on permanently in feb - I am currently waiting a new battery for this but was told it’s fine to drive for now…

Last weekend it is now also displaying same as you “unable to charge - maximum charge level reduced” (it’s currently at 43%) which makes the car undrivable so it’s currently sat on the driveway as an expensive ornament!

Don’t suppose anyone else has had their battery replaced recently and has a rough idea of how long it takes - Tesla have so far been unable to provide an estimate just saying there’s a backlog

wellll... @M1tch can tell you more...

 

[Hurricane]

mine is now also displaying this - originally I had the warning “max charge level and range reduced” pop up end of January which was intermittent at first and then came on permanently in feb - I am currently waiting a new battery for this but was told it’s fine to drive for now…

Last weekend it is now also displaying same as you “unable to charge - maximum charge level reduced” (it’s currently at 43%) which makes the car undrivable so it’s currently sat on the driveway as an expensive ornament!

Don’t suppose anyone else has had their battery replaced recently and has a rough idea of how long it takes - Tesla have so far been unable to provide an estimate just saying there’s a backlog

I’m really hoping that mine doesn’t need a new battery, but all I’ve heard from Tesla so far is “parts may be needed”.

I’m presuming your car is still under warranty so have you been provided with a loaner? I still need to drive for work and my battery is now down to 42%. I may need to drive 50 miles to the Chester SC so I’ve now got very little margin. Not going to work isn’t an option so I need a car.

 

[Alistairuk]

I’m really hoping that mine doesn’t need a new battery, but all I’ve heard from Tesla so far is “parts may be needed”.

I’m presuming your car is still under warranty so have you been provided with a loaner? I still need to drive for work and my battery is now down to 42%. I may need to drive 50 miles to the Chester SC so I’ve now got very little margin. Not going to work isn’t an option so I need a car.

Yep still under warranty. They haven’t provided a loaner yet as it was still drivable until the weekend - I messaged them on Monday on the original service request and they responded on Wednesday asking if it was drivable - so I pointed out that if it goes much lower and won’t charge I won’t have enough to get to Edinburgh service centre, not heard anything since… luckily work from home so not immediately urgent if haven’t heard by Monday I’ll message again as can’t have no car for weeks.

 

[M1tch]

wellll... @M1tch can tell you more...

I’ve had 3 batteries now. Normally takes about a week but only ever 2-3 days worth of work on the car. Although Aprils was 3 weeks with most of the time waiting for parts.

One in April, one in Sept and can’t remember when the other was. (Didn’t use the car for most of sept, any of oct or Nov so don’t worry, there was no after replacement issue). Third time lucky and all that

 

[Alistairuk]

I’ve had 3 batteries now. Normally takes about a week but only ever 2-3 days worth of work on the car. Although Aprils was 3 weeks with most of the time waiting for parts. View attachment 1028256

One in April, one in Sept and can’t remember when the other was. (Didn’t use the car for most of sept, any of oct or Nov so don’t worry, there was no after replacement issue). Third time lucky and all that

Does the 3 weeks include the time waiting for the replacement battery or is that after they have the battery?

I’m now at a month since they supposedly have ordered the parts needed

Also 3 batteries!?!? Same issue with all?

 

[thewishy]

Basically this will be a BMS failure, It can't balance the cells any more, so you're left with the capacity of the highest charged cell. The situation will only get worse, expect a replacement battery.

They should sort you a loaner, and if the max battery level is reducing enough for it to make the service centre marginal, I'd make it clear that it's getting worse, and they can either fit you in more quickly or pay for a low-loader

 

[M1tch]

Does the 3 weeks include the time waiting for the replacement battery or is that after they have the battery?

I’m now at a month since they supposedly have ordered the parts needed

Also 3 batteries!?!? Same issue with all?

No, first was a dodgy batch which the replaced with one of the wrong capacity. Second they replaced with the right battery but with the remaining capacity measured from the second incorrect battery. Third was replaced with the capacity measurements of the first good battery prior to it failing and now all is good.

The long wait was waiting for parts to arrive. I was able to connect to the car for all of the replacements and see them drain the battery, then I couldn’t see the car for a while, then it was back online then it was outside and charging.

There is a bit of a faffy procedure of full charge and full discharge to fully calculate the new battery but a bit of nonsense. I did a post on here about it somewhere.

As for a loaner car, I’ve had short range, long range and P variants and free charging while I’ve had it so was no issue how long it took!

 

[Hurricane]

Tesla have identified that I need a new HV battery. As my battery was running down Chester SC invited me to drop my car off and pick up a loaner. Great service so far. As I can enjoy free supercharging I’m not really concerned about how long the repair takes.

 

[M1tch]

Tesla have identified that I need a new HV battery. As my battery was running down Chester SC invited me to drop my car off and pick up a loaner. Great service so far. As I can enjoy free supercharging I’m not really concerned about how long the repair takes.

I was the same, literally didn’t care - especially as my profile migrated so was home from home (minus the performance performance)

 

[Alistairuk]

Basically this will be a BMS failure, It can't balance the cells any more, so you're left with the capacity of the highest charged cell. The situation will only get worse, expect a replacement battery.

They should sort you a loaner, and if the max battery level is reducing enough for it to make the service centre marginal, I'd make it clear that it's getting worse, and they can either fit you in more quickly or pay for a low-loader

Have updated the service request and added it as another issue, rather than just in the chat (not sure if theres any actual difference, but maybe its read by a different person) - also made it clear it's not usable and if it goes much lower it wont make it to Edinburgh, lets see if this prompts them to say bring it over.

 

[Hurricane]

I just sent a message asking for an update because my battery was running down and within 5 minutes I had a reply inviting me to drop my car off at Chester SC and pick up a loaner. Arrived at 2.20pm and left less than 10 minutes later in a loaner. Very efficient.

 

[Alistairuk]

I just sent a message asking for an update because my battery was running down and within 5 minutes I had a reply inviting me to drop my car off at Chester SC and pick up a loaner. Arrived at 2.20pm and left less than 10 minutes later in a loaner. Very efficient.

It seems Edinburgh are not that efficient! Guess I shall hear from them on monday - its now at 31%...

 

[Hurricane]

It seems Edinburgh are not that efficient! Guess I shall hear from them on monday - its now at 31%...

I hope you get sorted soon. My app tells me the estimated repair date for my car is 26th April. That’s fine - I’m saving 250 miles a week on my car and enjoying free supercharging.

The loaner I’ve been given is a 2019 M3LR - not the Performance I’m used to but perfectly adequate. The charge limit is set to 100% which surprised me.

 

[Durzel]

Battery longevity probably isn't much of a concern to Tesla themselves on a 2019 loaner. It's presumably written off as a business expenditure.

 

[Alistairuk]

I hope you get sorted soon. My app tells me the estimated repair date for my car is 26th April. That’s fine - I’m saving 250 miles a week on my car and enjoying free supercharging.

The loaner I’ve been given is a 2019 M3LR - not the Performance I’m used to but perfectly adequate. The charge limit is set to 100% which surprised me.

So far their "customer service" has been garbage - promised to get back to me on monday re: arranging a loaner, so far nothing, messages I sent to them yesterday afternoon enquiring if there was any update seem to have been completley ignored - car has now made its way down to 28% remaining, lets see if I get a response from them today.

12,000 miles and the battery is dead - I am not very impressed.