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Car wouldn't open after 3 months in Container

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Dear Community,

Help needed...!

After much wait, Tesla Model X P100D (2019) arrived at port. This vehicle has been sitting on container since 13th January, and today the container was opened at port for examination before customs clearance. Roughly 3 and a half month since car was last started or opened.

Car was kept in low battery consumption mode, with sentry mode or preconditioning all turned off. Last time when I was able to connect via Tesla App, vehicle had about 105 Miles range about six weeks ago. And haven't used app often to unnecessarily wake up the car.

Regardless, the car wouldn't open from key fob today when car examination was to be conducted by port officials.

I had the old 12V battery replaced on 7th January by Tesla Service Center, but it hasn't been driven much after the installation of new battery.

Any idea what the issue could be? And any proposed remedies?

Since the vehicle is in grey market now hence unable to call in Tesla Mobil Service or Support.

Any help will be greatly appreciated
 
Dear Community,
Help needed...!
After much wait, Tesla Model X P100D (2019) arrived at port. This vehicle has been sitting on container since 13th January, and today the container was opened at port for examination before customs clearance. Roughly 3 and a half month since car was last started or opened.

Car was kept in low battery consumption mode, with sentry mode or preconditioning all turned off. Last time when I was able to connect via Tesla App, vehicle had about 105 Miles range about six weeks ago. And haven't used app often to unnecessarily wake up the car.
If you were able to access the car from the app, it was not in a particularly "low consumption" mode with the electronics off. The car is never truly "off" and will continue to consume energy at the rate of between 1% and 3% per day from the traction battery. The Tesla manual says for long term storage, to always leave the vehicle plugged in. Obviously not possible in your situation. They may have a hidden procedure for situations such as yours. I expect it involves physically disconnecting the traction battery and the 12 volt battery. That may be hazardous though, since the brakes may be disabled.
Regardless, the car wouldn't open from key fob today when car examination was to be conducted by port officials.
I had the old 12V battery replaced on 7th January by Tesla Service Center, but it hasn't been driven much after the installation of new battery.
Any idea what the issue could be? And any proposed remedies?
The issue was discussed above, but I have no proposed remedies. You very well may have killed your car. Mainly because you cannot get any service on it. I know I would never expect my cars to survive 3-4 months not plugged in. You will need to contact Tesla, explain your situation, and see what they recommend. I am sure you will be paying them quite a bit, if they touch your car. They may be able to suggest local alternatives.
Since the vehicle is in grey market now hence unable to call in Tesla Mobil Service or Support.
Any help will be greatly appreciated
Did you expect the trip to take so long? I assume the vehicle is now in London, UK, where/what market was it purchased in?
 
  • Informative
Reactions: cleverscreenam
it's not all doom and gloom... and no need to blame the victim even if he made dodgy choices.
The car is not bricked... Teslas are no longer mystical wonders... get a 12 volt battery

That part of the advice was followed as quoted;

"I had the old 12V battery replaced on 7th January by Tesla Service Center, but it hasn't been driven much after the installation of new battery."

and try charging the HV traction battery

Whether this part of the advice was followed or not, it's unknown. It doesn't say "charging much" but it does say "...it hasn't been driven much after the installation of new battery."
 
it's not all doom and gloom... and no need to blame the victim even if he made dodgy choices.
The car is not bricked... Teslas are no longer mystical wonders... get a 12 volt battery and try charging the HV traction battery
Yep, get a new 12V or jump it, try to get HV charged by plugging it in after waking car. Also check if fob battery is dead. AFAIK even with HV dead, computer can turn on via 12V.

The ERG for Model X can be found here, page 19 shows how to pop the hood with no power.
 
  • Helpful
Reactions: cleverscreenam
That part of the advice was followed as quoted;

"I had the old 12V battery replaced on 7th January by Tesla Service Center, but it hasn't been driven much after the installation of new battery."



Whether this part of the advice was followed or not, it's unknown. It doesn't say "charging much" but it does say "...it hasn't been driven much after the installation of new battery."
I don't think having a new 12V back in January means much. I haven't been following Model X (although my impression is vampire drain is worse than Model 3), but for my Model 3 it drains about 1 mile per day, so with only 100 miles on the pack and 3 months, the HV pack may have drained, in which case the 12V would likely also be drained (as the HV may no longer have enough charge to recharge the 12V).
 
I don't think having a new 12V back in January means much. I haven't been following Model X (although my impression is vampire drain is worse than Model 3), but for my Model 3 it drains about 1 mile per day, so with only 100 miles on the pack and 3 months, the HV pack may have drained, in which case the 12V would likely also be drained (as the HV may no longer have enough charge to recharge the 12V).
Exactly, it should have been charged to 90+% before being put in the container.

The issue now is it likely can't be charged in the container, so it will have to be towed somewhere. Which sounds like it could be a problem because it needs to pass an import/customs inspection before they can take possession of it.
 
Any idea what the issue could be? And any proposed remedies?
Yes, the 12V battery ran out again; it will need to be replaced.

You very well may have killed your car.
No, definitely not. We've seen a few threads on this of cars that sat unplugged for many months and went dead. The car will gladly sacrifice the cheap 12V battery to avoid destroying the very expensive main battery, and it has the right self care emergency procedures to do so. It's a proper kind of dead man's switch, where it needs to use the 12V power to actively make the main battery connect to the rest of the car. If it has no 12V power, the main can stay fully disconnected from the rest of the car with an anti-bricking reserve left in there to prevent catastrophic damage and can stay there with hardly any drain at all for a very long time.

Here's a thread about it:

 
  • Helpful
Reactions: cleverscreenam
If you were able to access the car from the app, it was not in a particularly "low consumption" mode with the electronics off. The car is never truly "off" and will continue to consume energy at the rate of between 1% and 3% per day from the traction battery. The Tesla manual says for long term storage, to always leave the vehicle plugged in. Obviously not possible in your situation. They may have a hidden procedure for situations such as yours. I expect it involves physically disconnecting the traction battery and the 12 volt battery. That may be hazardous though, since the brakes may be disabled.

So I inquired from shipping company and they responded that they usually disconnect HV battery before shipping since the EV cargo is marked hazardous.

Don't suppose there is a way to validate if indeed HV battery was disconnected, without physical inspection.

Trying to find literature also to understand the step wise guideline for reconnecting HV battery. Any advice will be helpful
The issue was discussed above, but I have no proposed remedies. You very well may have killed your car. Mainly because you cannot get any service on it. I know I would never expect my cars to survive 3-4 months not plugged in. You will need to contact Tesla, explain your situation, and see what they recommend. I am sure you will be paying them quite a bit, if they touch your car. They may be able to suggest local alternatives.

Did you expect the trip to take so long? I assume the vehicle is now in London, UK, where/what market was it purchased in?

So just to reiterate, car was charged to 90% and shipped to container by 13th January. It wasn't supposed to last in container for three month. I had booked the ship sailing on 18th January from London Gateway Port, but unfortunately the cargo was rolled over and left behind due to my booking agent negligence.

And then due to stormy English Channel and limited vessel availablity, it finally sailed in mid Feb and arrived at destination port by end March. Since then, three weeks lapsed in getting the custom process sorted.

Finally the vehicle was removed from the container yesterday, and it wouldn't open. Hence the post.
 

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it's not all doom and gloom... and no need to blame the victim even if he made dodgy choices.
The car is not bricked... Teslas are no longer mystical wonders... get a 12 volt battery and try charging the HV traction battery
Thank you. I'm quite hopeful that jump starting 12v battery would be helpful. *fingers crossed*.

Next step should be to confirm that HV battery is connected perhaps before putting it on charge. Figuring out the most secure way to open the frunk whilst vehicle is dead. I don't suppose there's a latch as in M3 that can be opened and then cables jump started to open frunk
 
Exactly, it should have been charged to 90+% before being put in the container.

The issue now is it likely can't be charged in the container, so it will have to be towed somewhere. Which sounds like it could be a problem because it needs to pass an import/customs inspection before they can take possession of it.
Precisely the problem. I've had the examination process conducted but the process cannot be completed before complete inspection. And inspection can not be completed without opening the doors. And opening the doors won't be possible without first jumping the 12v. 😬
 
...disconnect HV battery before shipping...

If it was literally and physically disconnected from the system, the car would give out all kinds of error messages and you wouldn't be able to see that the car got "105 miles".

I think they meant they would not charge your car so the charging cable was nowhere near your car once they got possession of your car.

As others said, repeat another good well charged 12V battery to access your car. Without plugging in your car, you'll just have to repeat the 12V procedure again and again.