EV Hacker awaiting delivery of my first Model S

[JRP3]

Are you going to open up the pack at all or just use it as a unit? Just wondering if you might be able to answer the question of cell count and actual cell amp hour capacity once and for all. Also, would you be willing to share about how much you paid for the salvaged car, for those of us in the market for something similar someday?

 

[qwk]

Are you going to open up the pack at all or just use it as a unit? Just wondering if you might be able to answer the question of cell count and actual cell amp hour capacity once and for all. Also, would you be willing to share about how much you paid for the salvaged car, for those of us in the market for something similar someday?

Totaled Roadsters and Model S usually fetch from anywhere in the $9-25k range from an insurance auction. This seems cheap, but I think it's because the parts to fix them from Tesla are pretty spendy.

 

[Otmar]

Totaled Roadsters and Model S usually fetch from anywhere in the $9-25k range from an insurance auction. This seems cheap, but I think it's because the parts to fix them from Tesla are pretty spendy.

I've seen them a bit higher than that. Final auction prices are often 2X the pre-bid value, you have to watch them live to know the final sale amount. I expect they will get much more affordable in a year or two.
Here's a list of Model S sales over the last few months, you have to pay fees on top of these selling prices.
Sld 00163 Sig85, 20kw 19" Lft frnt Copart LA $50K
Sld 00914 Sig85, 20kw+DC, flood Cert destr. $51,000
Sld 01552 std85, 10kw, Copart RT Front $28K
Sld 01680 Std85, 20kw+DC, Sold $28,250 on a Call
Sld 03224 std85, 10kw Copart lft rear 9/17 Missed sale
Sld 07450 std85, 10kw+DC, Sold $36,750.
Sld 08112 std85 10kw+DC Anaheim Minor dmg, $46,500 Sold
Sld 08983 std60 10kw+DC Fremont to PDX $30,000
Sld 10444 std85 20kw, Seattle, Pano 19" Lft Rear, $43,250 on approval FL
Sld 10661 Std85, 10kw, front Dallas, Springs? TX Copart, $25K Call
Sld 12901 std85, 20kw+DC, Copart rt frnt PreBid 32,250 Missed
Sld 13800 S85 10kw, pano, Springs? Copart 11/22 Noon MIssed.
Sld 17684 std85, 10kw+dc, No Air, San Diego Rear $46,250
Sold? 01616 std85, 20kw+DC Chicago Lft rear ripped, $38,500 call, relst $45,500 buy now

Mine was relatively clean and I won it at $38,100 on a call. It will cost me a bit over $42K with fees. Pretty much "half off" in more ways than one :biggrin:
It's important to remember that Salvage titles have no Tesla warranty and yes parts are very spendy.

Edit: Also, I don't intend to open the pack. I'd like it to maintain the original mounting system. I'm planning to just use the bottom of the Tesla very much as is with as little modification as needed. I won't be keeping the SRS system active since it could be dangerous so I may need to fake it out to avoid error codes.

 

[Otmar]

I've now set up "email subscriptions" on the blog in case people want to insure they hear about future posts. I apologize that I'm on too many forums to update each one every time I update the blog.

 

[qwk]

I've seen them a bit higher than that. Final auction prices are often 2X the pre-bid value, you have to watch them live to know the final sale amount. I expect they will get much more affordable in a year or two.
Here's a list of Model S sales over the last few months, you have to pay fees on top of these selling prices.
Sld 00163 Sig85, 20kw 19" Lft frnt Copart LA $50K
Sld 00914 Sig85, 20kw+DC, flood Cert destr. $51,000
Sld 01552 std85, 10kw, Copart RT Front $28K
Sld 01680 Std85, 20kw+DC, Sold $28,250 on a Call
Sld 03224 std85, 10kw Copart lft rear 9/17 Missed sale
Sld 07450 std85, 10kw+DC, Sold $36,750.
Sld 08112 std85 10kw+DC Anaheim Minor dmg, $46,500 Sold
Sld 08983 std60 10kw+DC Fremont to PDX $30,000
Sld 10444 std85 20kw, Seattle, Pano 19" Lft Rear, $43,250 on approval FL
Sld 10661 Std85, 10kw, front Dallas, Springs? TX Copart, $25K Call
Sld 12901 std85, 20kw+DC, Copart rt frnt PreBid 32,250 Missed
Sld 13800 S85 10kw, pano, Springs? Copart 11/22 Noon MIssed.
Sld 17684 std85, 10kw+dc, No Air, San Diego Rear $46,250
Sold? 01616 std85, 20kw+DC Chicago Lft rear ripped, $38,500 call, relst $45,500 buy now

Mine was relatively clean and I won it at $38,100 on a call. It will cost me a bit over $42K with fees. Pretty much "half off" in more ways than one :biggrin:
It's important to remember that Salvage titles have no Tesla warranty and yes parts are very spendy.

Edit: Also, I don't intend to open the pack. I'd like it to maintain the original mounting system. I'm planning to just use the bottom of the Tesla very much as is with as little modification as needed. I won't be keeping the SRS system active since it could be dangerous so I may need to fake it out to avoid error codes.

Oh wow. They must have gone up a bit, or some of those are not totaled? $50k for a totaled 85kwh car seems like a bit much,since a brand new base 85kwh car used to sell for $70k after the $7500 fed tax break.

 

[Otmar]

Oh wow. They must have gone up a bit, or some of those are not totaled? $50k for a totaled 85kwh car seems like a bit much, since a brand new base 85kwh car used to sell for $70k after the $7500 fed tax break.

$50K came with a CA Salvage Certificate. The $51K flood had a Certificate of Destruction from Florida (supposed to keep it from ever being registered again). I seem to remember one or two of them having a clear title.

 

[Chris TX]

Otmar,
I applaud your efforts and look forward to seeing your Vanagon plugged into its first Supercharger, someday!

 

[rabar10]

FYI, Otmar's project has been briefly written up in Outside magazine's online edition:
Uber-Gearhead Creates the Ultimate Freak Adventure Machine | The Footprint | OutsideOnline.com


Also, I highly suggest reviewing Otmar's blog posts on the project:
Stretchla Blog | Stretched Vanagon Westfalia shell on a Tesla platform

 

[GSP]

What an awesome project. Otmar, thanks for sharing your journey with us.

GSP