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Near annual replacement of 12V battery is typical according to Tesla Service Tech

thecloud

As rhythm raced inside, the ship came alive
Nov 24, 2014
1,769
1,623
Sunnyvale, CA
...on my 2014 S, I've never had to replace the 12V battery yet (knock on wood).
Same here. I wonder if it's a nature-or-nurture thing; i.e. is the difference simply that we got a "good" 12V battery in our particular Model S vintage, or is there something "good" we do that avoids battery wear and reduces the number of deep discharge cycles?
 

mrElbe

Active Member
Aug 17, 2014
1,713
1,133
Stouffville, ON Canada
3 years and over 172,000 km ( 107,000 miles ) and still on original 12V battery BUT my " vampire drain " has increased lately. Could that be due to the 12V battery being charged more often by the main battery and the end is neigh.
 
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zwede

2013 P85+
Jan 17, 2014
631
322
Plano, TX
After the recent SW updates I've noticed the contactors stay closed hours after shutting the car off in order to float the battery. This didn't use to be the case so Tesla has updated the 12V charging strategy. I have a battery tender and since the last couple months the tender will wait with doing anything because it's sensing the car charging. Eventually the car stops and the tender takes over.
 
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mknox

Well-Known Member
Aug 7, 2012
10,103
1,866
Toronto, ON
3 years and over 172,000 km ( 107,000 miles ) and still on original 12V battery BUT my " vampire drain " has increased lately. Could that be due to the 12V battery being charged more often by the main battery and the end is neigh.

You're lucky. I've had 3 or 4 12v replacements on my 2013 S with just under 100,000 miles (160,000 km). I noticed no difference in vampire loss after 12v replacement, and the last one was replaced "urgently" because of a 12v Battery error message.
 

AmpedRealtor

Well-Known Member
Jun 30, 2013
6,342
3,312
Phoenix, AZ
Tesla must have done something because I have not had a replacement in over 2 years. I had one replacement about 12-18 months into ownership, but at 71,000+ miles now and almost five years in with only one replacement needed.
 

sorka

Well-Known Member
Feb 28, 2015
7,618
5,645
Merced, CA
Tesla must have done something because I have not had a replacement in over 2 years. I had one replacement about 12-18 months into ownership, but at 71,000+ miles now and almost five years in with only one replacement needed.

Same here. My first battery went bad at 6 months but the replacement is 2.5 years old. I was really hoping it would fail again before the warranty expired.
 

Barry

Active Member
Aug 9, 2013
1,803
1,381
Colorado
Same here. My first battery went bad at 6 months but the replacement is 2.5 years old. I was really hoping it would fail again before the warranty expired.
Same here. My first one failed within a few weeks, and #2 going strong for 2 1/2 plus years.
 

eelton

Member
Sep 23, 2012
202
15
Chicago, IL
I've had one replacement and I just got a warning to replace again. Under 30K miles on a 2013 S85.

I suppose it makes sense that it's more about time than miles driven.
 
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JHawk

Member
Jan 1, 2017
58
41
Kansas
2013 P85 CPO purchased 02/03/2017 with 46k miles.

I got the 12v battery warning and had it replaced under warranty at the service center last week at 63k miles. I was on the list to have the air bag recall completed too. I don't know if they installed a new battery during the CPO process but I'm hoping I get more then 12mo on the new battery.
 

apacheguy

S Sig #255
Oct 21, 2012
5,071
1,238
So Cal
Has everyone that has had 12 V replaced done so because they received a warning? No warning on mine, but vampire losses are creeping up quite a bit.
 

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