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Model S battery replacement

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Bmouthrob

Member
Oct 3, 2021
11
0
Uk
#1
I have a couple of questions about what happen when a model s battery dies...

- Firstly, what is the general cause? Is it a few rogue cells causing a cell imbalance that can't be corrected by the BMS?

- Secondly, does anyone have an up to date UK price? I think they are only doing 90kwh packs now?

- Thirdly, does anyone know of you are able to keep the duff battery pack? I'm assuming it's yours to keep of you can transport it?

Cheers!
 
#2
Speculation on my part..
Age of pack might help stats re cause of failure, but I’ve heard of cases where just one or two cells in a brick went down and the effect was to take the brick out and possibly the next grouping above. More likely with a bad luck relatively new pack than general degradation throughout on an older pack - particularly one with lots of DC charging.
No idea of price but heard rumours around £20-£40K.
Tesla doesn't return dud parts - they claim to recycle/rebuild them.
In the US you might be able to find an independent that could rebuild a dud pack but doubt anyone doing that UK (yet). Don't know if that might be available Europe but might be worth a punt on, say, Tesla tips and Tricks Facebook to see if anyone doing it and relative costs. What tesla's attitude about indie rebuilds and whether that may affect charging rates is another concern

Edit. Since the pack warranty is 8yrseither this is an old model or Tesla are throttling the pack to the point where it's become a nuisance OR you're trying to swap out for a larger pack - not sure how possible that is with the S where the BMS isn't integral to the pack and might need extra hardware.
More info needed.
 
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#3
There are a number of companies around that strip down Tesla battery packs recovered from write-offs and use them in EV conversions (along with Tesla motors etc.). For example, see https://www.youtube.com/c/ZeroEV. I'm sure that some of them will be able to replace failed modules. An interesting discussion on battery modules here:
. The knowledge to fix Tesla's (and other EVs) is around and growing.
 
#4
Tesla US price is currently $14k for a refurbished pack or $22k for a brand new 90kWh 350volt pack using latest chemistry.

Given the massive price increase of the S/Y an older S/X with a $22k new pack is actually pretty reasonable.
 
#5
The original cars in the UK had 8 year unlimited mile warranties on the battery, there will be very very few cars out of warranty unless they're much much younger cars under the 150k mile warranty limit thats been in place for a year or 2, and those batteries will be different to the older cars. As a result, I'm not sure there will be anyone with real UK price knowledge.
 
#6
gangzoom said:
…Given the massive price increase of the S/Y an older S/X with a $22k new pack is actually pretty reasonable.
Click to expand...
I expect a full cottage industry to spring up for third party pack replacements everywhere considering how simple the swap is for pre 2021 S/X and how many currently exist. Frequently in the US a salvage car can be purchased for less than a new battery, and although you don’t get a warranty you fo get to keep the old battery.

Note to non air suspension 75/SR owners, choices are more limited as the more reputable shops will only upgrade that battery to 90/100 if you upgrade suspension.
 
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#7
Thanks for all the replies, some good info.

Apologies for lack of info... I have a 2014 P85+ with the 8 year warranty end on the horizon so was just trying to think forward.

That's a bit naughty of Tesla do keep the battery, in theory we've paid for the new one, I'm fairly sure selling the dud pack would recoup AT LEAST half the cost of a new / refurb one.... Or I could massively increase the capacity of my home battery. I could run the whole Street even with a degraded ~70kwh!

I've been on a bit of a YouTube marathon looking the electrified garage and Gruber.... Can't seem to find anyone similar in the UK, but as someone said it's supply and demand and as there is no demand at the moment due to warranty there's no supply. That will be a goldmine in a year or twos time though if/when lots of people start to get 10s of thousands of pounds of bills from Tesla!
 
#8
In principle it’s no different to an alternator exchange... instead of waiting for your pack to be rebuilt they swap it out for new and reprocess yours to new condition (as opposed to a pack that has just a dud brick exchange). The devil would be in the detail of the wording on any contract for said new/remanufactured/exchange pack.
In reality I'd guess they don't factory remanufacture your pack but just repair it and sell it to someone else as a repaired pack...
Despite the image they try to engender, Tesla aren't out to do anyone favours - it's all about the money. Build it as cheaply as possible and sell for as much as the market will bear. That may change as competition hots up.
 
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#9
Agree that core charges are pretty common. Think of it as a $30k battery that is only $20k plus $10k core refund. ish. So still expensive and all the more reason to find one cheap from a salvage or similar source.
pgkevet said:
…In reality I'd guess they don't factory remanufacture your pack but just repair it and sell it to someone else as a repaired pack...
Despite the image they try to engender, Tesla aren't out to do anyone favours - it's all about the money. Build it as cheaply as possible and sell for as much as the market will bear. That may change as competition hots up.
Click to expand...
I think they disassemble packs and match modules which they can only do in the US because of the large scale you would need. I would consider that remanufacturing.

Tesla isn’t a charity, so they make money on their cars. And that won’t change as competition heats up, but we will see cheaper cars due to economies of scale and competitive pricing. Tesla will make more cars and less money per car.

Luckily their business model hasn’t been to make money on service, so in that they have the dealer model flatly beat.
 
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#11
Bmouthrob said:
I've been on a bit of a YouTube marathon looking the electrified garage and Gruber....
Click to expand...

Gruber recently burnt down in a fire, and the guys who run electrified garage aren't inexperienced at having thermal run away get out of control on a car whilst its in the garage.

Tesla themselves have spent who knows how much on NDA and lawyers to sweep the 85 pack fire risk under the carpet.

The last thing I would want is a third party messing around with the pack. The $20k Tesla want for a new 90kWh 350volts pack is actually pretty reasonable. Put that in a RWD 85 and you have a car that has nearly as much range as a LR Model 3 but no where near the brand new cost of brand new S/X.
 
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#13
Yes, I took it to Cleevely when I got it to give it a once over, they seem like good guys. I've watched a bit of their stuff on YouTube too... Fingers crossed they have a Tesla battery fix in the works just in case anything happens!
 
#14
Small bump on this one. Does anyone know of anyone in the UK offering battery repair services? Cleevely have now stopped even leaf battery swaps by the looks of it. Or even battery preventative maintenance? I just saw a company in Finland was charging about 650€ to drop the pack, clean all the crap out, replace the valves and remove any moisture that has built up in it....

It's now at the point that if there battery does go it's almost going to be the cost of the car!
 
#15
@Bmouthrob Have you checked with Tesla UK pricing. US pricing for a new pack seems to be $11k fitted.

Even the US third party battery repair/swap companies are shutting down as Tesla seems to be undercutting them.

I'm going down a new battery pack route, £10-15k for a new pack on our X is still cheaper than buying a new X, especially when you cannot even get a RHD one. The new packs have 82kWh usable which is more than the original 90kWh packs. At 3 miles per kWh real life consumption that 240 miles of real life range, 40 more than what I currently get from our 75 pack.
 
#18
WannabeOwner said:
I presume that includes taking the old one in part-Ex? Just curious, as to what 2nd use Tesla will put them to or, if no Part-Ex, what YOU (I'm thinking of a lay-person) could do with one e.g. as a static battery
Click to expand...
I think Tesla actually uses old pack to make ‘new’ packs. @wk057 has suggested he had seen evidence even the Tesla ‘new’ 90kWh packs contains ‘used’ cells versus brand new ones.
 
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#20
Hi,

great thread.

I'm thinking about my 2015 Model S P85D+ battery in order to get faster super charging for road trips.

Would it be possible to get to 250kw, or am I stuck on 150kw even with a new battery?

Right now supercharging starts at 100kw if I'm at 5% but drops down to 50kw after around 10-15 minutes, so it's drive 2 hours, charge for 45 minutes.
 
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