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Infinite Mile Battery Warranty [Now] Being Honored By Tesla [Issue Resolved]

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This is good news for Tesla owners, and a long overdue change in Tesla corporate policy. I bought a P90D in 9/2015 and a few months later they found the main battery was defective. I asked how long it would take to get a replacement, and was told that was not how Tesla did it. They refused to give me a new battery months after I'd taken delivery of a $120,000 car. Instead, they said that they would put a 85Kw loaner battery in, and send my battery from the east coast to the west coast to be re-manufactured, then send it back, remove the loaner battery and install my battery. I said that was completely ridiculous, twice as much work for them, and please just give me a new battery. No. They explained that they wanted to keep each car with its original components.

I asked how long it would take and they said 4 to 6 weeks, "depending on how badly backed-up the remanufacturing process is". Every month I called to get the status of my battery and there was no info. Finally, at the end of 6 months I got a call saying it was being shipped, so I took my car in and they made the switch, but they couldn't release the car to me. Turned out that when they inserted it in my car they ran some diagnostics and found that it was defective in another way, as it wouldn't hold a charge. Why they didn't run the diagnostics before shipping the battery leaves me speechless.

By now after waiting 6 months I was furious and demanded a new battery versus their initial plan to re-manufacture it a 2nd time. People in the service center were terrific, but it required the service manager having to deal with management in CA and get the equivalent of a papal dispensation to have them send a new 90Kw battery. By now I was so skeptical, I wondered if it was a new unit or someone else's old battery. But, as it turned out it was indeed a new battery because it's design had changed and to put a new style battery in my car required an adapter kit which they'd forgotten to send, so that took more days.

With all that said, it's really good to hear that they finally came to their senses and are now simply replacing defective batteries without subjecting owners to any hassle.
In the spirit of not hijacking this wonderful thread I should think Tesla would be satisfied with just properly documenting any and every warranty hardware change rather than "they wanted to keep each car with its original components."
 
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Glad the OP was able to get Tesla to acknowledge a battery fault under warranty.

Not trying to derail the thread at all, but there were two incidents last year of Model 3's losing 17+ miles of range (>5% range) nearly overnight in the Model 3 TeslaFi thread, a "step function" loss of range:

TeslaFi - Battery Degradation Reports (upload your data)

No one was saying those were normal, but neither reported conclusively with an acknowledged battery fault or any clear resolution. BMS was not suggested as the issue per se, but more of "range recalibration", in one case possibly after a software update. Both were trying to calibrate back to normal using deep charge and discharge cycles, and one seemed to get at least half the lost range back from recalibration. I'm just curious how those two ended up.
 
What happened here is what I expected all along; Tesla eventually got confirmation that a battery which was exhibiting apparent signs of failure actually was failing and replaced it under warrantee. I personally feel that the OP's ALL CAPS hysteria was non-productive, irritating, harsh and unjustly acrimonious toward Tesla.

What ought to have been a tribute to the utility, vitality and endurance of his Model S, and testimony to Tesla's reliability and integrity, was unnecessarily turned into strident criticism. I am glad that he received fair treatment and can expect even more fantastic long-term value from his vehicle, as I hope to from mine, but I am saddened and soured by his approach and presentation.
 
What an entertaining thread from beginning to the end, lol.

Beginning: OP was YELLING at us about his frustration, lol. :p

Middle: Ridiculous debate about the battery and how 10% degradation over a few weeks is normal :rolleyes:

End: A happy ending with OP getting the new battery he deserves :D

Waiting on that Easter egg: What exactly was the fault?!


As a #tbt to the how the OP posted: GLAD TESLA IS REPLACING THAT BATTERY OF YOURS! ENJOY!!!
 
Well I received my refurbished 85 battery today. They lent me a loaner for the day it took to replace my battery to answer the above question. I did ask what caused the fault but the best answer I could get from the Tesla representative was there was an imbalance between the firmware and the hardware. Not to play devil's advocate but I could have told them that when I initially brought the car in with the battery at 0% and the range displaying 16 miles left.
Thanks again for all of those with helpful advice during this ordeal and to Tesla for finally replacing the battery. I hope this helps others in the future. CAP MAN OUT!!!