Model 3 12v battery dead

[booruce]

I’m not sure why my post got moved into this thread because like my original post said my issue isn’t the 12V battery but now nobody’s gonna see it since it got moved here…

Anyway, SC has had it for a day now and they still don’t know exactly what’s wrong but it took them a lot of effort to get into my car since the 12v frunk release didn’t work.

 

[cybergates]

Ack - last night I started getting the dreaded "12v battery requires service" notice. And this morning, the car is dead in my garage. Will need to be towed, or get visited by a mobile tech. Yuck. Don't know if this is related to my previous issue.

Follow up - it was indeed the 12v battery that caused this. Everything's fine after a battery replacement.

having same issue - low miles 2019 model 3 but all sorts of errors include
12v battery requires service,
parking brake functions degraded
unable to charge
Electrical system power reduced,
Electrical system backup power unavailable.

will place a service request - hopefully just 12 v battery. Roadside said since car technically not stuck not an emergency. Appt is 6 days out. This sucks........ I don't feel safe driving it with those weird error messages. This should be considered an emergency. Car is undriveable.....

 

[phaii]

having same issue - low miles 2019 model 3 but all sorts of errors include
12v battery requires service,
parking brake functions degraded
unable to charge
Electrical system power reduced,
Electrical system backup power unavailable.

will place a service request - hopefully just 12 v battery. Roadside said since car technically not stuck not an emergency. Appt is 6 days out. This sucks........ I don't feel safe driving it with those weird error messages. This should be considered an emergency. Car is undriveable.....

Following.. 2018 Model 3 with 51k. I too, received the same exact errors.

Scheduled service but earliest is a week out. Ordered the Ohmmu lithium 12V and will be picking up and installing tomorrow since they local. Hopefully all the errors are associated to a weak 12V.

 

[cybergates]

Following.. 2018 Model 3 with 51k. I too, received the same exact errors.

Scheduled service but earliest is a week out. Ordered the Ohmmu lithium 12V and will be picking up and installing tomorrow since they local. Hopefully all the errors are associated to a weak 12V.

so they called me today, and I got an earlier appt they offered so 5 days downtime instead of 6 hopefully.

they said based on remote telemetry appears to be just a 12v battery issue. will post back an update after replaced tomorrow.

 

[Raylo]

Here is my story of a dead 12v battery. Last Saturday, went to the drive my 2018 Model 3 in the morning and nothing worked! Only the front passenger door was able to be opened. The car was plugged in at home and couldn't release the charging cable. Looked online (youtube and forums) about my symptoms and found the whole dead battery issue. Called AAA and got a battery tech over to see what they can do WITHOUT stating it was our Tesla. To my surprise when he arrived, they didn't service or replace Tesla batteries! He left did more research and I couldn't purchase the same battery anywhere! Called Tesla roadside assistance and they said it would have to be towed to a Service Center at my expense since it was out of warranty, but it did sound like a battery issue. The tech on the phone said it could be the battery, but it could be something else. Anyways all service centers close to my location in Southern California were closed on Saturday.

I next tried to jump start with a jump-starter from Costco. One of those small battery packs that I've used on my other ICE vehicles. That didn't work. So, I went back online and found videos showing how to replace the battery. I took the 12v battery out, after disconnecting the HV battery connector, and connected it to a trickle charger. I left it overnight and reconnected my now $60k paperweight and everything worked!!! This was Sunday. Monday, I drove it to the Irvine service center and they said they could look at it and give me a $100 Uber credit to get to where i needed to go. I asked it they would just sell me a new battery so I could install it myself and they said "yes" and charged me $91 for the brand new battery. Now I have a fully charged old battery and a new one in my M3.

Here's my question to you. How many miles were driven when your 12v battery died in your Model 3? My M3 battery died at roughly 59,800 miles. I had no error message about my battery as well. Sorry for my long winded story!

 

[MontyFloyd]

Every car, not just Tesla, is at risk of sudden failure of the 12V battery. Nothing unique about Tesla in this regard.

In my experience, not exactly.

With cars built before mid-2000 I would experience a tell-tale signs the battery was loosing capacity (harder to start, lights flicker more)
With cars built after mid-2000, it will suddenly die with almost no warning.

This makes sense with the overwhelming amount of electronics added. Even when shut down, the electronics (security, remote, etc), sucks power.

Would not be hard for Tesla to add a capacity meter for the 12v. Could be as simple as measuring V over time and note drop. As battery gets old, the V drop is faster.

 

[N54TT]

Here is my story of a dead 12v battery. Last Saturday, went to the drive my 2018 Model 3 in the morning and nothing worked! Only the front passenger door was able to be opened. The car was plugged in at home and couldn't release the charging cable. Looked online (youtube and forums) about my symptoms and found the whole dead battery issue. Called AAA and got a battery tech over to see what they can do WITHOUT stating it was our Tesla. To my surprise when he arrived, they didn't service or replace Tesla batteries! He left did more research and I couldn't purchase the same battery anywhere! Called Tesla roadside assistance and they said it would have to be towed to a Service Center at my expense since it was out of warranty, but it did sound like a battery issue. The tech on the phone said it could be the battery, but it could be something else. Anyways all service centers close to my location in Southern California were closed on Saturday.

I next tried to jump start with a jump-starter from Costco. One of those small battery packs that I've used on my other ICE vehicles. That didn't work. So, I went back online and found videos showing how to replace the battery. I took the 12v battery out, after disconnecting the HV battery connector, and connected it to a trickle charger. I left it overnight and reconnected my now $60k paperweight and everything worked!!! This was Sunday. Monday, I drove it to the Irvine service center and they said they could look at it and give me a $100 Uber credit to get to where i needed to go. I asked it they would just sell me a new battery so I could install it myself and they said "yes" and charged me $91 for the brand new battery. Now I have a fully charged old battery and a new one in my M3.

Here's my question to you. How many miles were driven when your 12v battery died in your Model 3? My M3 battery died at roughly 59,800 miles. I had no error message about my battery as well. Sorry for my long winded story!

what exactly happened when you tried to jump it with the battery pack? Was the pack fully charged? Does it have a force Start function? Alot of these small battery jumpers won’t turn on or give full power if the battery you connect it to isn‘t putting out enough voltage. Its a safety feature that if they don’t detect the battery they wont output power. So you have to activate force start or boost mode etc…for it to actually work.

 

[Raylo]

what exactly happened when you tried to jump it with the battery pack? Was the pack fully charged? Does it have a force Start function? Alot of these small battery jumpers won’t turn on or give full power if the battery you connect it to isn‘t putting out enough voltage. Its a safety feature that if they don’t detect the battery they wont output power. So you have to activate force start or boost mode etc…for it to actually work.

it is a simple battery starter. No buttons, just connect and crank. I don't think it was fully charged.

 

[Mfiles]

Here is my story of a dead 12v battery. Last Saturday, went to the drive my 2018 Model 3 in the morning and nothing worked! Only the front passenger door was able to be opened. The car was plugged in at home and couldn't release the charging cable. Looked online (youtube and forums) about my symptoms and found the whole dead battery issue. Called AAA and got a battery tech over to see what they can do WITHOUT stating it was our Tesla. To my surprise when he arrived, they didn't service or replace Tesla batteries! He left did more research and I couldn't purchase the same battery anywhere! Called Tesla roadside assistance and they said it would have to be towed to a Service Center at my expense since it was out of warranty, but it did sound like a battery issue. The tech on the phone said it could be the battery, but it could be something else. Anyways all service centers close to my location in Southern California were closed on Saturday.

I next tried to jump start with a jump-starter from Costco. One of those small battery packs that I've used on my other ICE vehicles. That didn't work. So, I went back online and found videos showing how to replace the battery. I took the 12v battery out, after disconnecting the HV battery connector, and connected it to a trickle charger. I left it overnight and reconnected my now $60k paperweight and everything worked!!! This was Sunday. Monday, I drove it to the Irvine service center and they said they could look at it and give me a $100 Uber credit to get to where i needed to go. I asked it they would just sell me a new battery so I could install it myself and they said "yes" and charged me $91 for the brand new battery. Now I have a fully charged old battery and a new one in my M3.

Here's my question to you. How many miles were driven when your 12v battery died in your Model 3? My M3 battery died at roughly 59,800 miles. I had no error message about my battery as well. Sorry for my long winded story!

66,400 miles on our 2018 M3 before the battery died away from home. Used the porthole method of opening the frunk, jumped the battery with my truck, drove home without headlights working, just the DRLs worked. Took it to Tesla SC the next day. They put in a new battery. In and out in 30 minutes. I was lucky.

 

[cybergates]

so they called me today, and I got an earlier appt they offered so 5 days downtime instead of 6 hopefully.

they said based on remote telemetry appears to be just a 12v battery issue. will post back an update after replaced tomorrow.

UPDATE: it was just a 12v battery issue - fixed in 10 minutes - just wish it could have been sooner by mobile rather than 5 days downtime

 

[EmOne]

In my experience, not exactly.

With cars built before mid-2000 I would experience a tell-tale signs the battery was loosing capacity (harder to start, lights flicker more)
With cars built after mid-2000, it will suddenly die with almost no warning.

This makes sense with the overwhelming amount of electronics added. Even when shut down, the electronics (security, remote, etc), sucks power.

Would not be hard for Tesla to add a capacity meter for the 12v. Could be as simple as measuring V over time and note drop. As battery gets old, the V drop is faster.

I'm with you in that I do not understand how it happens that so many seem to have these early failures. I have a 2011 BMW, cars which even then were notorious for having short batter life due to power suck when "off"; by using a tender most times, I am at 10 years and 50,000 miles with no sign of failing. Likewise have gotten 10 years out of a Jaguar, etc. If the BIG battery is conditioning the little guy, why is this happening? If it is isn't, can we use a battery tender on the 12? Maybe it has to do with being a cheap battery, as I noted that one fellow was able to buy replacement (from Tesla!) for only $91. If no insight from this inquiry, I might just do preventive maintenance by buying new every 3 years!

 

[boiler81]

I had herd these stories of leaving folks stranded in the middle of nowhere, so I proactively replaced my 2018 M3 battery last December before starting a 9K mile cross country road trip.
I now use the original M3 battery in my 2006 Mazda Miata (direct fit), and it's still going strong, albeit I leave it on a trickle charging, since with a M3, I don't drive the Miata that much .

So replace your battery pro-actively...$91 bucks is cheap insurance, and it's no more difficult to replace it yourself than an ICE vehicle.

 

[MontyFloyd]

by using a tender most times

Have a quick connection?
Where is the connection located?

 

[SigNC]

Another data point here. Feb 18 model 3 build. Battery went from fine to toast overnight. No warning, walked out to sulfer smell in the garage. Was able to pop the hood but no amount of 12v to the battery would allow the HV contactors to close. Off the the service center it went via a tow truck and dolly. Battery replaced and all seems fine except all settings having to be redone.

 

[Skione65]

Another data point here. Feb 18 model 3 build. Battery went from fine to toast overnight. No warning, walked out to sulfer smell in the garage. Was able to pop the hood but no amount of 12v to the battery would allow the HV contactors to close. Off the the service center it went via a tow truck and dolly. Battery replaced and all seems fine except all settings having to be redone.

How many miles?

Ski

 

[SigNC]

How many miles?

Ski

38k but I think it's more age and frequency of being driven than miles.

 

[CharleyBC]

We recently had a problem that at first looked like a weak 12V battery. So I bought a replacement at a service center we happened to be passing on a long road trip, but didn't install it until Tesla had a chance to run remote diagnostics. That showed a different problem, but when it was in Monday to fix that problem, I had them put in the new 12V anyway since the service guy said they usually have a 2-3 year lifespan, and we are just beyond 3. Reduce the risk of getting stuck somewhere...

 

[SigNC]

but you were out what $300 by doing that?

 

[GoergeJetson]

I have a 2019 M3P, been checking the battery voltage with a DVM to see if I can know ahead of time if the battery is dropping voltage.

September 2019 delivery

June 2020 13.84V
July 2020 14.32V
Sept 2020 14.2V
Aug 2021 13.92V

Car has 34k miles, so far so good. Will need to replace the OEM tires pretty soon.

 

[hamtonp]

I have a 2019 M3P, been checking the battery voltage with a DVM to see if I can know ahead of time if the battery is dropping voltage.

September 2019 delivery

June 2020 13.84V
July 2020 14.32V
Sept 2020 14.2V
Aug 2021 13.92V

Car has 34k miles, so far so good. Will need to replace the OEM tires pretty soon.

Are you checking the battery once the HV connector is disconnected? If not, then you are checking the battery when it is being charged which isn't the true voltage of the 12v battery.