Poll: How many are still using original 12V Battery that came with the car?

[SMAlset]

I voted Yes today but my 9/2018 LR AWD Model 3’s battery just yesterday put up an alert and mobile is coming out today to replace with new and do my rear seat harness recall (just got notified that part came in and I could schedule). So almost 5 years. Battery estimate was $120.96 ($113.20 with 7.76 in taxes). Had seen a number of 2018 owners post awhile ago that their batteries needed replacing so figured mine was due any time now.

Have had mobile out a couple of times over the years and Love having mobile service available. My Model 3 has been a fabulous car. First electric I’ve owned (husband has had his MS year before mine) and love it just as much as when I got it. Still fun to drive and still loving the looks of it.

Just got text from mobile tech that he’s about 20 minutes out. Scheduling and response has been great.

 

[mspohr]

I replaced the battery in my 2015 Model S after 6 years when I finally got the "replace 12v battery warning" (but it didn't fail).

 

[Electrph]

9/2019 model 3 .. i received notice on my phone app at 12:30am of the 12 volt needing replacement ( last day of a 10 day trip ~ 300 mi from home of course ) made an appt right then on app for mobile ranger / coming out next week covered on warranty so no charge I agree with above love the mobile rangers for repairs
Car ran perfect way home even though we were bit nervous ... what i may have missed in forums some functions of car such as all usb ports and dashcam are shutdown to conserve 12volt power .. also car will not sleep, that I was aware of from forum

 

[Resist]

I still haven't had to install the new 12 volt battery, still no warning. I'm kind of hoping the original battery dies soon, so I can install the new one. It cost $85, with tax came to $92.44. For a small battery, I was surprised at how heavy it is.

I'm wondering if those that had to replace their battery so soon like within the warranty period, if your cars were kept unplugged at home? Unless there was a defect with the battery manufacturing process, I could see early failures caused by their discharging state. Modern ICE vehicles have such a high demand of batteries as it is with all the electronics that are active in the background with the engines off and our Tesla's it might even be higher when you consider Sentry Mode and such. But I could be way off on this.

 

[UncleCreepy]

3.5 years, 110,000 km and counting... knock on wood

 

[alexgr]

I still haven't had to install the new 12 volt battery, still no warning. I'm kind of hoping the original battery dies soon, so I can install the new one. It cost $85, with tax came to $92.44. For a small battery, I was surprised at how heavy it is.

I'm wondering if those that had to replace their battery so soon like within the warranty period, if your cars were kept unplugged at home? Unless there was a defect with the battery manufacturing process, I could see early failures caused by their discharging state. Modern ICE vehicles have such a high demand of batteries as it is with all the electronics that are active in the background with the engines off and our Tesla's it might even be higher when you consider Sentry Mode and such. But I could be way off on this.

Don't know how many cars you had before Tesla, but I had to replace a battery in every car I had pretty much every 3-4 years. Tesla's battery died at 3.5 years telling me it's time to replace it soon. I schedule the service at home and in a day someone came (I'wasn't home) and replaced the battery under the warranty. Normally, I'd had to get a battery from Costco or Autozone, and install it myself. At these days, anything under $100 is really a bargain.

 

[UncleCreepy]

Don't know how many cars you had before Tesla, but I had to replace a battery in every car I had pretty much every 3-4 years.

The longest I've ever used a battery was 12 years. It was in a VW Lupo 3L TDI I had from 2000 to 2012. That's funny, because start/stop was pretty new at that time and every self-proclaimed "expert" told me the starter and battery won't last with the car turning the engine off at every stop. When I sold the car, it was still working fine at >200,000 kms.
Looks like FUD existed before they made Teslas

 

[wwu123]

You could be the record holder!

Our Feb 2018 M3 LR RWD was still on the original 12V, so slightly longest here. That said, we just pre-emptively replaced it, at 62 months, so will certainly be passed soon.

We only pre-emptively replaced it as mobile service was already out to replace the original 12V on our Model S, which finally got the 12V warning after 6.5 years...

 

[Electrph]

The longest I've ever used a battery was 12 years. It was in a VW Lupo 3L TDI I had from 2000 to 2012. That's funny, because start/stop was pretty new at that time and every self-proclaimed "expert" told me the starter and battery won't last with the car turning the engine off at every stop. When I sold the car, it was still working fine at >200,000 kms.
Looks like FUD existed before they made Teslas

do you recall if that was an AGM or other "advanced" lead -acid battery back then? They usually now equip cars with start/ stop with these or similar. In my experience these last family / friends 8 years plus .. where as conventional lead acid maybe 4-5 years tops .. many other factors of course

 

[UncleCreepy]

do you recall if that was an AGM or other "advanced" lead -acid battery back then?

I'm not 100% sure but I think it was a regular lead acid battery. It was maintenance free though, I remember that much.

 

[alexgr]

The longest I've ever used a battery was 12 years. It was in a VW Lupo 3L TDI I had from 2000 to 2012. That's funny, because start/stop was pretty new at that time and every self-proclaimed "expert" told me the starter and battery won't last with the car turning the engine off at every stop. When I sold the car, it was still working fine at >200,000 kms.
Looks like FUD existed before they made Teslas

Yes, there is FUD, and then there is statistics. Even though you might find your original battery in your car working after 20 years, statistically its lifetime is much shorter. While FUD is common about new technology, lead batteries are hardly a new tech.

 

[UncleCreepy]

Read what you quoted. I never said that lead batteries are new tech.
Since this is off-topic, I'll just leave it to that. If anyone has follow-up questions or comments just send a PM.

 

[alexgr]

Read what you quoted. I never said that lead batteries are new tech.
Since this is off-topic, I'll just leave it to that. If anyone has follow-up questions or comments just send a PM.

And you can read my quote where I never said that you said that lead batteries are new tech.
Edit: Please note, I was basically still replying to the OP regarding the battery time of life.

 

[android04]

I was planning on keeping my 12v battery until I got the message to replace it (or until it died). However, I replaced it at 5 years and about 112,000 miles because I bought a bluetooth battery monitor for the battery and noticed that my car would wake up every 4 hours to charge the battery. Other Tesla owners on the forums with the same battery monitor had their car wake up 2x or 3x less often to charge the 12v. I decided that due to the reduced capacity increasing the wear and tear on my high voltage battery contactors every time it wakes up to charge, I would instead replace the relatively cheap 12v battery. If I had to replace the high voltage contactors, that would not be cheap nor a DIY job.

By the way, I opened up the OEM 12v battery before I returned it to be recycled and it is not AGM. It is just a maintenance-free flooded lead acid. And I could see the lead plates because the electrolyte was at a low level (probably at half or less).

 

[Electrph]

I was planning on keeping my 12v battery until I got the message to replace it (or until it died). However, I replaced it at 5 years and about 112,000 miles because I bought a bluetooth battery monitor for the battery and noticed that my car would wake up every 4 hours to charge the battery. Other Tesla owners on the forums with the same battery monitor had their car wake up 2x or 3x less often to charge the 12v. I decided that due to the reduced capacity increasing the wear and tear on my high voltage battery contactors every time it wakes up to charge, I would instead replace the relatively cheap 12v battery. If I had to replace the high voltage contactors, that would not be cheap nor a DIY job.

By the way, I opened up the OEM 12v battery before I returned it to be recycled and it is not AGM. It is just a maintenance-free flooded lead acid. And I could see the lead plates because the electrolyte was at a low level (probably at half or less).

that may be my fault i brought up AGM and far as u have read tesla has never had AGM or any other "advanced tech" lead acid in model 3

 

[frodebh]

A friend is still running the original 12v in her launch Model X.

 

[patrick40363]

I changed my 12V on my model S after 7 1/2 years. It never failed and I was just being pro-active.

 

[Resist]

I changed my 12V on my model S after 7 1/2 years. It never failed and I was just being pro-active.

I can say that I've never proactively changed out a 12 volt battery in any vehicle I've ever owned and don't ever plan to. In ICE vehicles you can tell when it's time to change it as starter motor will turn over the engine a bit more slowly. But in an EV we don't get that kind of warning, so it's good that we at least get a notification in our Tesla now. I'm still going to carry a portable battery jump starter as a precaution. Just like a carry a tire plug kit, small air compressor and small jack.

 

[Electrph]

I can say that I've never proactively changed out a 12 volt battery in any vehicle I've ever owned and don't ever plan to. In ICE vehicles you can tell when it's time to change it as starter motor will turn over the engine a bit more slowly. But in an EV we don't get that kind of warning, so it's good that we at least get a notification in our Tesla now. I'm still going to carry a portable battery jump starter as a precaution. Just like a carry a tire plug kit, small air compressor and small jack.

I must be unlucky or not as in tune with my starters … last few ICE cars I had when my battery went out I couldn’t start it at all … no warning … I admit I‘ve never proactively replaced a starter battery either, which is interesting since I have always been very anal about car / home etc preventative maintenance
I also started carrying one of those jump starters few years before my first Tesla not just for myself, I like ability to help others without risking jumper cables connected to my car (and with Tesla only option to help others)

 

[wwu123]

I must be unlucky or not as in tune with my starters … last few ICE cars I had when my battery went out I couldn’t start it at all … no warning … I admit I‘ve never proactively replaced a starter battery either, which is interesting since I have always been very anal about car / home etc preventative maintenance
I also started carrying one of those jump starters few years before my first Tesla not just for myself, I like ability to help others without risking jumper cables connected to my car (and with Tesla only option to help others)

Up until the Tesla, I've always replaced the 12V batteries myself since I was a teenager. Mostly never proactively so long as I had a friend or family with another car that I'd be able to rely if I got stranded, though I never recall needing to as they always seem to die overnight at home. Yeah, most of the time it's abrupt and just won't crank at all once it gets low.

On my previous car, a BMW SUV with an OEM AGM battery, I used the original battery til about 9 years in. It was dying for about two years though, when it wouldn't start I'd throw the trickle charger on it overnight, and it would come back to life. Part of my reluctance to change that one out, is that the BMW had a complex algorithm for charging the AGM battery, and kept a log of how old the battery was to adjust the charging cycle downwards over time. Changing out the battery also required the BMW tech to use their electronic tools to "reset" the battery age in the car's computer - IIRC, it was going to be like $800 to change out the 12V. Hence why I just shrug and chuckle now when Tesla's mobile service will come and swap out 12V batteries for only $100-150....

I eventually found a third-party (Interstate brand) AGM battery compatible with the BMW, still cost $250, and swapped it myself and didn't bother to reset the BMW computer. I figured even if the battery life was shortened due to non-optimal charging cycles since the car thought it was 10 years old, I'd happily swap out a new 12V battery every two years forever, and still be ahead rather than paying BMW to reset the computer...