CharleyBC
Active Member
It wasn’t as grisly as I’d feared. Poor deer. Poor Tesla. Poor you!Unfortunately, that's all I could get before the car was towed awayto the Authorized Tesla body repair...
Good luck, and keep us posted.
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Hit a dead deer last night and car is out coolant :(
- Thread starter narenravi88
- Start date
Good luck, and keep us posted.
Tesla didn't do that because of some elaborate data collection effort. They did that because the accidents that punctured the battery were getting a lot of bad press.
Garlan Garner
Banned
I don't know that any of that is true.
I'll have to see the research and data. ( especially about having a battery pack having to be replaced ).
I'm not a person that believes something to be true just because "its stated".
Lastly...concerning "the cost of repair". There are a lot of things that Tesla requires concerning repair that other manufacturers don't. The requirements to repair a Tesla does not exist across the board.
Daniel in SD
(supervised)
Here's a thread: M3 $15K in damage from hitting a rock to the underbody?
I think there are others. Here's a picture of where it can break and require pack replacement.
Garlan Garner
Banned
hmmmmm…….I just don't know.
It does not look like battery pack damage. Now.....Labor and Time might be high if they had to drop the battery pack, but not if they just have to replace that hose adapter.
Anyway......
AlanSubie4Life
Efficiency Obsessed Member
Unfortunately, that's all I could get before the car was towed away
I'm moderately optimistic that the lump of deer just pushed up the aero shield, and broke a coolant fitting below one of the motors. (This would not result in the feared battery replacement.) I don't have any pictures of that area under the motors, without those aero shields in place, so not sure where the vulnerable points are.
But anyway, keep us updated.
AlanSubie4Life
Efficiency Obsessed Member
Looks pretty obvious to me they could not replace that fitting without opening up the battery pack. It has been hypothesized that Tesla has a very strict policy regarding doing any "repairs" to battery packs. So even if you could just pop the top off the pack and access the fitting from the inside and replace it, they would likely not allow that at the service center. The risk is just too high for Tesla, and I don't blame them for being conservative on that point, really. (Please distinguish this from my other opinion that I do think they shouldn't make these fittings so vulnerable.)
So, new pack from the factory!
Daniel in SD
(supervised)
They do not repair battery packs at the service centers. Look carefully and you can see the plastic piece coming out of the battery pack is broken and can only be replaced by opening the battery pack.
If this happened to my own car I would probably just glue it back on or try to mount a different fitting. It's pretty poor design IMHO.
Garlan Garner
Banned
We aren't talking about replacing the battery pack. We are talking about repairing a part inside of the battery pack - that requires the removal of the pack.
That's labor labor labor by someone that knows what they are doing - with the correct equipment and training - which makes it easy for them. That port can be replaced without destroying the battery pack via removing the 4 screws and replacing the port.
Its not a poor design. Its a great design.
Tesla's aren't built for the average "gorilla glue" enthusiast to exercise their skills. <------ and I like it that way.
AlanSubie4Life
Efficiency Obsessed Member
How do you figure? That looks physically impossible to do without disassembling the pack (I guess upon re-reading that's what you're saying they would do). It's clearly pulled in from the inside using those bolts, not pushed down from the outside! (There's no plate on the outside!) And even if there were, there is likely going to be an internal connection to something, on the other side, that would probably need to be undone.
There's no way that particular damage would be touched at the service center as it does require pack disassembly - I guess we both agree on the disassembly part. If they have the pack out they're going to put in a new or factory-refurbished one. I'm still hopeful the OP's damage will prove to be more accessible and more easily addressed.
Daniel in SD
(supervised)
Yes, Tesla charges $15k to replace that plastic fitting by replacing the entire battery pack. Removing the battery pack is not nearly as easy as it was on the Model S/X and opening a Tesla battery pack is a destructive process that requires new parts to reassemble (which Tesla will not sell you!).
Are you referring to this photo? Tesla's support said coolant levels look low (according to the logs they can see on their end).
I asked if they mean the battery and he said yes. Front motor definitely took a hit.
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Daniel in SD
(supervised)
youngmcdonald
Member
Shouldn’t be any at all. This should qualify as a comprehensive claim, not collision.
... so much misinformation out there. Hitting an animal is not covered under collision coverage; only comprehensive. If you, say, swerved to avoid hitting a deer and instead hit another car or a light pole, *that* would be collision.
But a deer and only a deer? Comprehensive.
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C141medic
Active Member
CharleyBC
Active Member
Regardless whether it's collision or comprehensive for OP's auto insurance, I hope the deer had life insurance.
Garlan Garner
Banned
I've been inside of the battery pack AT the service center. Maybe not ALL service centers do that kind of work, but I've seen it. Maybe some service centers replace the entire pack, however I've seen it done. The battery packs won't have to be touched.
Its really not that difficult. Just a lot of work.
Oh well......
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