Cost for new battery sheet?

[bobinfla]

I got a diagnosis today that one of my battery sheets is bad. The good news being that they can replace a sheet and that i don't need to have the whole battery replaced, but the Service Center still needs to figure out what that's going to run me. It's a long wait until Monday to find out, so I'm wondering if anybody has been through this and can give me an idea of what to expect.

 

[markwj]

Wild ballpark guess: $40k battery / 11 sheets = say $4k for the single sheet, plus labour. Very interested to hear what the price you get is.

 

[wiztecy]

Wild ballpark guess: $40k battery / 11 sheets = say $4k for the single sheet, plus labour. Very interested to hear what the price you get is.

I heard it cost $2k to drop the pack.

Whats interesting is that most likely your whole sheet is not bad, only one or two bricks that's pulling down the sheet. Tesla has a CAC graph utility which plots every bricks CAC in each individual sheet. So when you buy their sheet, they'll ask for your old sheet back.

Curious if every brick is epoxied into one sheet as a whole. Or only each brick has the individual cells epoxied in.

Reason being, when you trade your old sheet back in most likely they'll try to recover all your good bricks and may reuse them in the same sheet if they're healthy. Then all they'd have to invest in rebuilding the sheet is 2 bricks where you had to buy a full sheet. Again, that's only if the bricks can be removed and switched individually.

 

[bobinfla]

Got more word from the SC today. Well the good news (I guess?) is that it's not actually a bad sheet, just a bad rivet. (I guess a rivet holding the sheet together, or a rivet holding the sheet in place, or something like that.) The bad news is that it still means dropping the battery and shipping it to Fremont to be fixed. Altogether looking at about $5k plus whatever the shipping back and forth ends up being, so probably $6k. Not good, but no as bad as what I feared it might be when it left on the tow truck back on Tuesday, so I guess Christmas won't be cancelled after all.

 

[Doug_G]

Wow. My warranty runs out next summer. Extended warranty is looking like a good bet.

 

[wiztecy]

Bob,
Did you happen to hit any big bumps or drive on any bumpy roads for a pro-longed time? Curious if these rivets can shake loose like a riveted aluminum boat which after some time loosen their rivets from the stresses of pounding oncoming waves. I always try to take it easy over bumps/transitions if I know their coming but every now and then one gets away and with the way the suspension is setup the whole impact is taken the entire car including the battery pack (since its so close in proximity to the rear suspension). Aluminum (frame of the Roadster) transfers the energy of the impact very well too.

 

[pharma5]

Got more word from the SC today. Well the good news (I guess?) is that it's not actually a bad sheet, just a bad rivet. (I guess a rivet holding the sheet together, or a rivet holding the sheet in place, or something like that.) The bad news is that it still means dropping the battery and shipping it to Fremont to be fixed. Altogether looking at about $5k plus whatever the shipping back and forth ends up being, so probably $6k. Not good, but no as bad as what I feared it might be when it left on the tow truck back on Tuesday, so I guess Christmas won't be cancelled after all.

Hey bob, your car's twin over here empathizes. Glad(?) to hear it's just a rivet, but very sorry to hear it's nearly the same price (?!?) as that guessed for replacing a sheet. :frown:

Feel like shipping should not be charged for stuff like this, as there is (or once was) a reasonable expectation that at least regional capability would be out there by now with all the service centers added. I guess a single national location for Roadster battery matters (not centrally located) will remain the facts of life for the historic Roadster.

 

[bobinfla]

Bob,
Did you happen to hit any big bumps or drive on any bumpy roads for a pro-longed time? Curious if these rivets can shake loose like a riveted aluminum boat which after some time loosen their rivets from the stresses of pounding oncoming waves. I always try to take it easy over bumps/transitions if I know their coming but every now and then one gets away and with the way the suspension is setup the whole impact is taken the entire car including the battery pack (since its so close in proximity to the rear suspension). Aluminum (frame of the Roadster) transfers the energy of the impact very well too.

Well I haven't taken it off-road four wheeling, but I do drive it around town (not just smooth highways). I try to avoid and/or takes bumps easy, but who knows. Weird thing here is that everything was great the last time I drove it, then was off on vacation for a few days, and when I got back it was showing the error on the screen. Not aware of any earthquakes in Floriday while I was gone to shake it loose.

 

[dhanson865]

How about tire pressure? how high do you run, how often do you check, etcetera.

Also would an issue like this be a concern for Model S or is it a roadster only issue?

 

[bonnie]

Hey bob, your car's twin over here empathizes. Glad(?) to hear it's just a rivet, but very sorry to hear it's nearly the same price (?!?) as that guessed for replacing a sheet. :frown:

Feel like shipping should not be charged for stuff like this, as there is (or once was) a reasonable expectation that at least regional capability would be out there by now with all the service centers added. I guess a single national location for Roadster battery matters (not centrally located) will remain the facts of life for the historic Roadster.

It would be prohibitive to train all the new techs on Roadster battery repair for the few times / year (guessing) that they might do this. Add in any specialized equipment and it makes sense to send the battery back to the mother ship. (But surely they could find room for it on a Model S delivery truck returning for a new load...)

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How about tire pressure? how high do you run, how often do you check, etcetera.

Also would an issue like this be a concern for Model S or is it a roadster only issue?

I truly doubt that tire pressure variance would be a factor. Roadsters aren't that sensitive. We're talking major "rattle your teeth" kind of bumps.

it hasn't been a frequently reported issue to date for the Roadster (first one I've heard), so I wouldn't classify it as a concern.

 

[pharma5]

It would be prohibitive to train all the new techs on Roadster battery repair

Did not and would not suggest that - a few specialists at most. But cost of equipment replication could still be the issue, as you said, even for a handful of centers around the U.S..

(But surely they could find room for it on a Model S delivery truck returning for a new load...)

I like your thinking on this!:biggrin: