Car defect: How long to expect "fix" under warranty?

[David_Cary]

I would think appropriate balancing of battery would be easier and cheaper than hiring a lawyer. Hiring a lawyer might also get you a loaner battery until the firmware is fixed. Then you need to go back and get your original battery. So 2 trips to service.

But do all the right things, document it well, and you could have 1 trip to service and a new battery - if you really play nice and teach Tesla something, you might get a 75 battery since they probably don't make a 60 anymore.

 

[Btrflyl8e]

I had the same issue with my 60. For at least the first year or so, there were only two charging options, Standard or Max Range. Standard was somewhere around 93%. When a software update gave us the charge % slider, I changed it to 70% daily. Over time, my range dropped, to where I was only getting 182 at 100%. I figured there must have been a reason Tesla had the old Standard charge set at 93%, so I changed my daily %. Slowly, over about 2 weeks, I gained all those "missing" miles back. When I sold her this past March, she was still getting 199 at 100%.

 

[green1]

Tesla doesn't really have an escalation process any more. They used to, but now they try to leave it all on the local service centre.
If you can't get any satisfactory response from the manager of the local service centre, there are instructions in your warranty paperwork on how to escalate. It involves sending a physical letter to Tesla, and threatening arbitration. According to the warranty documentation, if you do that, they'll actually try to work with you to solve your problem.

 

[BEEZR]

I would think appropriate balancing of battery would be easier and cheaper than hiring a lawyer. Hiring a lawyer might also get you a loaner battery until the firmware is fixed. Then you need to go back and get your original battery. So 2 trips to service.

But do all the right things, document it well, and you could have 1 trip to service and a new battery - if you really play nice and teach Tesla something, you might get a 75 battery since they probably don't make a 60 anymore.

Thanks. So it could be firmware within the battery? I was assuming it's in the car, not battery, but that's the edge of my tech awareness... Tesla has said it's not the battery itself. Getting a 75 battery would be a long, long shot, but I would even pay a modest fee to upgrade... However, I expect they are replacing 60 batteries as needed with refurbished 60 batteries.

 

[BEEZR]

I did some actual testing on this a year or two ago. I ran my car to near depletion to see how many kWh I could get out of it. New it was something like 54-55 kWh if I remember correctly. Definitely not 60 kWh usable. EPA rated range when new is 208. My car had 209 when new. Still getting 196 with range mode off at 86K miles, so about 6% degradation. So I should expect to get at least 52 kWh of usable energy capacity at this point. But I haven't tested it in a while.

If I understand things correctly, the car shutting down is based on actual cell voltages, not range estimate. As you approach low voltage cut off, the power limit bars appear on your speedo/power meter. This is a tell tale sign your battery is actually depleted. The power limit bars get lower and lower as the battery nears zero to the point where you start having to slow down. This is a sign to get off the road.

Of course the OP shouldn't have to fuss with any of this, just a though exercise.

Edit: BTW, I am not encouraging anyone to run their car until it stops. This just serves to give you a night of hassle.

BTW/FYI: Checked Roadside Assistance policy... One of the circumstances not covered is "Depletion of high voltage battery."

 

[BEEZR]

I had the same issue with my 60. For at least the first year or so, there were only two charging options, Standard or Max Range. Standard was somewhere around 93%. When a software update gave us the charge % slider, I changed it to 70% daily. Over time, my range dropped, to where I was only getting 182 at 100%. I figured there must have been a reason Tesla had the old Standard charge set at 93%, so I changed my daily %. Slowly, over about 2 weeks, I gained all those "missing" miles back. When I sold her this past March, she was still getting 199 at 100%.

Thanks. I just upped my charge to above 90 but below 100... hard to know exactly but something close to 93. I'll see if anything changes...

 

[MP3Mike]

Thanks. I just upped my charge to above 90 but below 100... hard to know exactly but something close to 93. I'll see if anything changes...

If you use the up arrows to move from 90% to 100% it moves in 2.5% increments. (So 4 taps to get all the way to 100% from 90%). Below 90% the arrows move it in 10% increments.

Two taps would get you to 95%. (This is of course assuming that you have the 8.x firmware.)

 

[BEEZR]

If you use the up arrows to move from 90% to 100% it moves in 2.5% increments. (So 4 taps to get all the way to 100% from 90%). Below 90% the arrows move it in 10% increments.

Two taps would get you to 95%. (This is of course assuming that you have the 8.x firmware.)

First set from mobile app, so less precise. Just went to the car and tapped the arrows -- mine took 5 taps from 90-100%. (Did this up and down twice to confirm.) So I gave it 2 taps, anyway, which is either 94% or 95%...

 

[BEEZR]

Tesla doesn't really have an escalation process any more. They used to, but now they try to leave it all on the local service centre.
If you can't get any satisfactory response from the manager of the local service centre, there are instructions in your warranty paperwork on how to escalate. It involves sending a physical letter to Tesla, and threatening arbitration. According to the warranty documentation, if you do that, they'll actually try to work with you to solve your problem.

An update on my saga... In January I wrote a formal letter as described in the Warranty. Delivery confirmed by USPS. No response from Tesla. Nothing. Escalated through my local service center for a few months until the supervisor left Tesla. Nothing. Service Advisor said, basically, I should do what I need to do - in response to me asking if I need to get a lawyer.