Don't drive my Tesla in heavy rain due to battery damage???

[Mike728]

I had a 2014 Model S and drove it from New Jersey to my office in Massachusetts the day after Labor Day 2022. As you may recall, there was a huge nor’easter that day. Wet interstate and driving rains. I never drove through open water, just the deluge of a standard heavy rainstorm.

That evening after work, the car issued 5 serious faults and would not drive. It was flatbedded away with the diagnosis of water egress in the main battery through the junction box. $15,000 to replace the battery and Tesla service would not budge.

I coughed up the 15 large and sold the car right away on eBay. Ive never had a car die because of standard wet roads. In my opinion this is a design flaw and needs to be addressed. In the meantime, I am very happy driving my 2023 Kia Stinger GT2 at half the price.

I’m still annoyed.

$15k sounds like a really great deal! Check out the stories of an Ionic 5 battery replacement.

What did you sell it for? The new owner should get many years of enjoyment, now that it has a new battery.

 

[buckets0fun]

 

[EVer Hopeful]

It was flatbedded away with the diagnosis of water egress in the main battery through the junction box

That would be ingress

 

[zoomer0056]

So there's a story or two about Tesla batteries becoming flooded & ruined in heavy

FUD, just like this thread. But it's good to air out the laundry. Some you tubers will get clicks and the easily manipulated won't buy a car. Win. Win.

 

[RDoc]

FUD, just like this thread. But it's good to air out the laundry. Some you tubers will get clicks and the easily manipulated won't buy a car. Win. Win.

FUD? It happened to our car which is now in the shop having modules replaced.

 

[zoomer0056]

FUD? It happened to our car which is now in the shop having modules replaced.

Can you provide some details? Or maybe you've provided details in another thread?

 

[EVer Hopeful]

In fairness, if you drive an ICE and aren't a poser with the snorkel attachment[1], then if you go in water deep enough you'll ingest some and hydrolock the engine. I bet that's expensive


[1] - and the external high-lift jacks, fuel containers, things to put under your wheels if you encounter sand, a roofrack WITH a ladder to get up there, lots and lots of extra lights, a shovel and an axe ... but you only use the vehicle for city commuting

 

[plusplusjames]

So you just like hanging in the Tesla forums then?

While I've bought old ICE vehicles with tons of miles on them, I don't think I'd do that with an EV, even with low miles. The technology was so young back then that I'd worry about longevity, range and pack aging. Batteries and tech are improving so fast that an eight year old Ev just wouldnt appeal to me. Yeah, cheaper.... till it's not. I'd even dare guess that they are better sealed these days. And did you inspect the underside before purchase? A lot can happen to compromise a battery in 8 yrs.

No, I no longer hang out here. I was googling water damage to Tesla and found this thread. So I posted. No, I am not in the habit of looking at my underside except when on a lift during routine service.

I did love my Tesla for 8 years. Please don't feel insulted when I give my opinion that this is a design flaw and needs to be addressed by Tesla. My opinion aligns with your general interest.

As for me, I will never buy another Tesla until the Mother Ship makes this right.

 

[plusplusjames]

$15k sounds like a really great deal! Check out the stories of an Ionic 5 battery replacement.

What did you sell it for? The new owner should get many years of enjoyment, now that it has a new battery.

I sold it for book value. My disappointment is that I had to invest $15K in order to get book value. Without this design flaw, my net would have been book value minus zero. So, color me disappointed.

I'm not a troll -- check my profile. I had been an avid advocate for Tesla since buying my Tesla in 2014.

My point is that you should be able to drive the car on roads in the rain without the expensive battery failing.

 

[plusplusjames]

That would be ingress

I agree, I should have written ingress. Thank you for the grammatical correction.

 

[zoomer0056]

In my opinion this is a design flaw and needs to be addressed.

I think way back then it was a design flaw.

 

[Iron]

No, I no longer hang out here. I was googling water damage to Tesla and found this thread. So I posted. No, I am not in the habit of looking at my underside except when on a lift during routine service.

I did love my Tesla for 8 years. Please don't feel insulted when I give my opinion that this is a design flaw and needs to be addressed by Tesla. My opinion aligns with your general interest.

As for me, I will never buy another Tesla until the Mother Ship makes this right.

I was not at all insulted. Just expressing my opinion with regards to the situation you presented. I will reinforce that I wouldn't buy an 8 year old Tesla at this point for a myriad of reasons, but if I did, I'd be looking under it to see if the battery had ever been hit. We are talking about 8 years of driving, so what you call a design flaw, may have been a compromised battery is all I'm saying. Hell, I even looked under my brand new Tesla upon delivery because checking the jack points was on my list of checks. Brought along a piece of cardboard specifically for that and held my phone under it so I could use the camera to see underneath.

Trust me, I'm no Tesla fanboy or defender, I just look at all the angles. I'm aware of the Model Y design flaw which leaves insufficient protection for the battery coolant lines up front. Similarly, if I run over something and those those lines break, Tesla won't fix...they'll require a battery replacement. Really shitty design, that is. Need to get a metal belly plate for that.

 

[plusplusjames]

I was not at all insulted. Just expressing my opinion with regards to the situation you presented. I will reinforce that I wouldn't buy an 8 year old Tesla at this point for a myriad of reasons, but if I did, I'd be looking under it to see if the battery had ever been hit. We are talking about 8 years of driving, so what you call a design flaw, may have been a compromised battery is all I'm saying. Hell, I even looked under my brand new Tesla upon delivery because checking the jack points was on my list of checks. Brought along a piece of cardboard specifically for that and held my phone under it so I could use the camera to see underneath.

Trust me, I'm no Tesla fanboy or defender, I just look at all the angles. I'm aware of the Model Y design flaw which leaves insufficient protection for the battery coolant lines up front. Similarly, if I run over something and those those lines break, Tesla won't fix...they'll require a battery replacement. Really shitty design, that is. Need to get a metal belly plate for that.

I felt myself a fanboy due to the outstanding way the care drives and handles. So the let down was very bittersweet.

I have read other reports of similar Tesla vintages dying after rain storms. I'm not aware of any damage to the battery from 8 years of driving and the care was serviced in accordance with the schedule). The junction box, by the way, is on the top of the battery pack and that is where, according to Tesla service in Dedham, Mass, the water *ingressed*. So that is why this strikes me as a design flaw since this is the most protected part of the battery pack from the elements. I suspect that the seal was poorly designed and needs some reinforcement by Tesla. The company really doesn't want it's cars Found On Road Dead ("FORD"), now do they?

 

[RDoc]

I felt myself a fanboy due to the outstanding way the care drives and handles. So the let down was very bittersweet.

I have read other reports of similar Tesla vintages dying after rain storms. I'm not aware of any damage to the battery from 8 years of driving and the care was serviced in accordance with the schedule). The junction box, by the way, is on the top of the battery pack and that is where, according to Tesla service in Dedham, Mass, the water *ingressed*. So that is why this strikes me as a design flaw since this is the most protected part of the battery pack from the elements. I suspect that the seal was poorly designed and needs some reinforcement by Tesla. The company really doesn't want it's cars Found On Road Dead ("FORD"), now do they?

Same thing for our car. Apparently that plate corrodes over time, clearly a design flaw. You have to drop the battery to check it, something Tesla doesn't mention nor do in normal checkups. Electrified Garage makes a stainless replacement part. I wish I'd known about it before, although dropping the battery isn't great.

Being Tesla Means Never Having To Say You're Sorry.

 

[plusplusjames]

Same thing for our car. Apparently that plate corrodes over time, clearly a design flaw. You have to drop the battery to check it, something Tesla doesn't mention nor do in normal checkups. Electrified Garage makes a stainless replacement part. I wish I'd known about it before, although dropping the battery isn't great.

Being Tesla Means Never Having To Say You're Sorry.

Frankly, I'm surprised there is no class action lawsuit about this.

 

[Rocky_H]

In my opinion this is a design flaw and needs to be addressed.

It was...and it was.
The first few years, including the 2014 ones did have a few known design flaws that made them susceptible to water intrusion and corrosion. That has been well known for several years here on this forum. I have a 2014 too, and it hasn't failed from this yet, but I expect mine is likely to in the next few years. The newer battery pack designs since about 2017 corrected those problems.

I had to invest $15K in order to get book value.

Well, you didn't have to pay $15,000 to get that. I'm planning to pay $9,995 to get mine replaced whenever that happens.

Recell

recell-ev.com

Frankly, I'm surprised there is no class action lawsuit about this.

I'm not sure what the basis for that would be. Sure, it's a design flaw, but it is usually solid enough to hold up through a very long 8 year warranty and generally over 100K miles. That's a fairly solid lifetime. There are tons of consumer products that don't last nearly that long.

 

[RDoc]

It was...and it was.
The first few years, including the 2014 ones did have a few known design flaws that made them susceptible to water intrusion and corrosion. That has been well known for several years here on this forum. I have a 2014 too, and it hasn't failed from this yet, but I expect mine is likely to in the next few years. The newer battery pack designs since about 2017 corrected those problems.

Well, you didn't have to pay $15,000 to get that. I'm planning to pay $9,995 to get mine replaced whenever that happens.

Recell

recell-ev.com

I'm not sure what the basis for that would be. Sure, it's a design flaw, but it is usually solid enough to hold up through a very long 8 year warranty and generally over 100K miles. That's a fairly solid lifetime. There are tons of consumer products that don't last nearly that long.

Too bad they didn't mention it to owners or put out a TSB. I guess for some people $10k is really pocket change, kind of like replacing wiper blades.

Of course, by leaving owners in the dark that increases sales for them. Planned obsolescence.