Welcome to Tesla Motors Club
Discuss Tesla's Model S, Model 3, Model X, Model Y, Cybertruck, Roadster and More.
Register

New 85kWH battery for my 2013 P85+

This site may earn commission on affiliate links.
To recap and update my saga:

My car (2013 Model S with 43K miles) has been at the service center three times in the past couple of months for what seems to be the same problem, reflected in error messages "car may not restart--needs service" and then "unable to drive--voltage too low."
  • The first time, they said it was the battery coolant heater, which was replaced (I paid for that one).
  • The second time, they said it was the HV battery, which was replaced (under warranty, with a remanufactured unit).
  • The third time, apparently after some deliberation, they decided to replace the drive unit (under warranty, although along the way they found that the rear toe links needed replacing, which I am paying for). They haven't sent me the invoice yet, so I'm not sure whether the drive unit is also remanufactured.
I'm picking it up tomorrow. I hope it's fixed--I'm not sure what additional parts there are to replace.
 
To recap and update my saga:

My car (2013 Model S with 43K miles) has been at the service center three times in the past couple of months for what seems to be the same problem, reflected in error messages "car may not restart--needs service" and then "unable to drive--voltage too low."
  • The first time, they said it was the battery coolant heater, which was replaced (I paid for that one).
  • The second time, they said it was the HV battery, which was replaced (under warranty, with a remanufactured unit).
  • The third time, apparently after some deliberation, they decided to replace the drive unit (under warranty, although along the way they found that the rear toe links needed replacing, which I am paying for). They haven't sent me the invoice yet, so I'm not sure whether the drive unit is also remanufactured.
I'm picking it up tomorrow. I hope it's fixed--I'm not sure what additional parts there are to replace.
would be interesting to see what you paid for "authorized parts" and what they are going to charge you for "un-authorized parts"
 
would be interesting to see what you paid for "authorized parts" and what they are going to charge you for "un-authorized parts"
I'm not sure what you mean by authorized and unauthorized, but I guess I should feel lucky that they replaced the drive unit at no charge, as expected (covered under the 8 year warranty, using a remanufactured part), but also didn't charge me to replace the 12V battery (I believe this is the 5th one the car has had in 43K miles).

They did charge me $160 for the rear toe links, and $87.50 for "general diagnosis," which is apparently 50% of their usual $175 diagnostic fee. I'm not sure how to feel about that--did they give me half off, or did they charge me for finding a problem I didn't ask about?

At any rate, the car is running OK, at least for now.
 
I'm not sure what you mean by authorized and unauthorized, but I guess I should feel lucky that they replaced the drive unit at no charge, as expected (covered under the 8 year warranty, using a remanufactured part), but also didn't charge me to replace the 12V battery (I believe this is the 5th one the car has had in 43K miles).

They did charge me $160 for the rear toe links, and $87.50 for "general diagnosis," which is apparently 50% of their usual $175 diagnostic fee. I'm not sure how to feel about that--did they give me half off, or did they charge me for finding a problem I didn't ask about?

At any rate, the car is running OK, at least for now.
in your post you said, I think, you were not asked about them charging out some parts,....you called it unauthorized....thats what I meant.....
 
Guess I was wrong, car is dead again, problem with the refurb pack that was installed, on a flatbed going back to the service center now, I asked for a new battery this time not a refurb as I dont want to repeat this again... not holding my breath. Refurb pack lasted 544 miles before giving up!

Saddens me greatly and huge inconvenience to my family again.
View attachment 601450



Update:
So I have gone from sad to elated and hopeful now. My 2013 S85 is going to be ready for pickup tomorrow. Fingers crossed that this is the final fix for a while. Tesla did their best to make it right getting me a rental that could fit 5 kids while this issue was sorted out. In looking at the invoice different parts were changed for this battery swap vs the last one and correct me if wrong but this looks like the newer 85 pack part #. Will be able to confirm more after pickup tomorrow.
Screenshot_20201109-231119_Gallery.jpg
 
  • Like
Reactions: SmartElectric
Update:
So I have gone from sad to elated and hopeful now. My 2013 S85 is going to be ready for pickup tomorrow. Fingers crossed that this is the final fix for a while. Tesla did their best to make it right getting me a rental that could fit 5 kids while this issue was sorted out. In looking at the invoice different parts were changed for this battery swap vs the last one and correct me if wrong but this looks like the newer 85 pack part #. Will be able to confirm more after pickup tomorrow. View attachment 607063


Just a final update on this (hopefully):

I got the car back home last night, did a quick inspect of the underside before leaving the SC and battery looked fully bolted in this time so all good there. As for range on the new pack it looks to be around 254mi fully charged which I am happy with for this new pack, nothing amazing but good. Also it came with it's own 4yr warranty so that was awesome news as before my understanding was it would only carry the remaining warranty from the 8yr original warranty which would have been another 11 months on my Oct built 2013 car.
 
nothing amazing but good

1. Pack has same range as from factory 7 years ago, so you have 0 degradation now compared to us other 2013 owners
2. Tesla warranty extended 4 more years (on an already 7 year old car!)

"nothing amazing".

Ok...LOL, sorry, I thought of "that'll do pig" from movie "babe", when I read your post. Just having fun with you, thanks for the post. :)
 
@Knightowl , do you have documentation for the warranty?

I asked for that in writing and was referred to the new parts warranty terms listed on their site, I dont have the link handy but have read and seen it before and it has been linked to elsewhere on the forums. I had the same Incredulity about it when he told me that as I was going over the car lol.

Also FWIW here is the pic of the new battery's label
Screenshot_20201111-110629_Gallery.jpg
 
  • Informative
Reactions: SmartElectric
I asked for that in writing and was referred to the new parts warranty terms listed on their site, I dont have the link handy but have read and seen it before and it has been linked to elsewhere on the forums. I had the same Incredulity about it when he told me that as I was going over the car lol.

Ok, then your warranty hasn't been extended. The parts warranty only applies to parts you pay for outside of warranty coverage. (The original warranty document clearly states that parts replaced under warranty keep the same warranty period/terms as the part they replaced. Which means if you have a part replaced the day before you warranty expires it has all of a single day warranty.)
 
  • Like
Reactions: ucmndd
Actually the larger capacity is almost perfectly suited to match the original 85 battery's factory range if they limit the capacity about 10%. A fact that didn't go unnoticed by victims of batterygate.

If the problem is bigger than we have been told these new 90+ kwh packs could be badged "85" to avoid the confusion caused by safety oriented voltage capping.
 
That is the new 85 battery- I bet your range will be around 285 if you charge it up

That would be nice but does not appear so. When I picked up the car it was cold soaked at 40 degrees and with a 97% charge showed 250 miles, guess I will see what it ends up at next summer for a warmer temp range reading. I will have to do more research on just what the difference is between the 85kwh 400v older packs and the newer 85kwh 350v packs, not found a whole lot up to this point for a side by side comparison.
 
That would be nice but does not appear so. When I picked up the car it was cold soaked at 40 degrees and with a 97% charge showed 250 miles, guess I will see what it ends up at next summer for a warmer temp range reading. I will have to do more research on just what the difference is between the 85kwh 400v older packs and the newer 85kwh 350v packs, not found a whole lot up to this point for a side by side comparison.


So far in researching based on the teardowns of the original 85kwh and the new 100kwh packs and that the new 85 is a 100 with 2 modules removed and with the estimated cell avg of 11.36wh ea

1088815-01-A
85kWh pack consists of 16 modules of 444 cells for 7,104 total cells
real capacity of 80.7kwh -4kwh buffer =76.7kwh usable capacity

1597780-01-A
85kWh pack consists of 14 modules of 516 cells for 7,224 total cells
real capacity 82.06kwh -4kwh buffer =78.06kwh usable capacity

If cells ave 12.4wh ea based on the 100kwh pack teardown then 89.57kwh -4kwh for 85.57kwh capacity
 
Last edited:
  • Helpful
Reactions: SmartElectric
Ok, then your warranty hasn't been extended. The parts warranty only applies to parts you pay for outside of warranty coverage. (The original warranty document clearly states that parts replaced under warranty keep the same warranty period/terms as the part they replaced. Which means if you have a part replaced the day before you warranty expires it has all of a single day warranty.)

This is the new parts warranty piece I was referred to by the Tesla SC rep:

Screenshot_20201112-062018_Drive.jpg
 
  • Informative
Reactions: Chaserr
The fact that this particular battery is not giving. 285 range is interesting. Maybe it’s been software locked to bring in line with other 85s? Maybe it’s just an inferior pack (should get canbus data). Interesting