Just in case anyone else runs into this, I thought I would share my story. I have a brand new (picked up August 31st) Model 3 AWD. It has been driven almost constantly and accumulated over 4000 miles by October 8th (so it has not sat idle for any extended period of time).
I am a management consultant so I travel almost constantly for work but on most weekends I live on Seal Beach Navy Base (I am also in the Air Force Reserve). Seal Beach is near a pretty large wildlife preserve and has a huge population of rabbits that frequent the base. I don't have a garage for my Model 3 so it is always parked outside in a paved parking lot and is usually plugged in overnight.
Well - turns out there are a few things with the Model 3 that make it a little more susceptible to rodent chewing. For one - many manufacturers are switching over to soy based (vs petroleum based) insulation for wiring. Apparently the soy wiring is cheaper and more eco-friendly but it also smells faintly like vanilla when it becomes warm. This has been well documented in high volume car manufacturers (Toyota and Honda) and there have even been a few class action lawsuits brought against manufacturers for the issues. The Model 3 apparently has this same soy wiring insulation.
But - ICE cars typically run warm when the engine is running and become completely cold about an hour after shut off (which also meas those wires stop giving off that nice vanilla smell). Unfortunately your Tesla doesn't work that way. Once you stop driving your vehicle and plug it in to charge the vehicle will keep the battery and internals warm as part of the charging process. The areas around your battery and motors will provide a nice warm habitat complete with yummy food for any critters out there.
Welp, I was recently bitten (literally) by this. Temps overnight in Southern California are starting to drop now and critters are looking for warm places to hide at night. I normally start charging my Tesla with 50-70% on the battery so it only stays warm for 2-4 hours (so not past midnight when the rabbits get really active) but recently i took an extended trip and plugged in on the night of the 8th at 8PM with only 15% SOC. This meant the car would need to charge for a full 8 hours (well into the morning). I got in my car the next day to drive to San Diego and was greeted with a warning that "power is reduced". Since this is a dual motor car it did not suffer a huge reduction in performance but it was noticeably slower in acceleration.
We called Tesla and ran some diagnostics over the phone. The issue persisted. We set up a SC appointment for that Friday and I was told it was ok to drive until then. Got the car into the SC and after a significant amount of software updates, diagnostics, etc. They determined the front motor was not communicating and would need to be replaced. 5 days later they received the new motor, went to install it and found droppings and a chewed up motor wiring harness. Now we will be waiting 4 more days for a new wiring harness.
The SC is being super cool about it and working with me to get the car back on the road but this is definitely concerning given how much more susceptible our cars can be to chewing and intrusion due to the soy wiring and being kept constantly warm during charging.I am really starting to reconsider my initial excitement over owning a Tesla.
TLDR: your vehicle stays warm all the time and has wires that smell like vanilla. It is far more enticing to critters chewing on wires than your previous cars (especially if you park outside).
I am a management consultant so I travel almost constantly for work but on most weekends I live on Seal Beach Navy Base (I am also in the Air Force Reserve). Seal Beach is near a pretty large wildlife preserve and has a huge population of rabbits that frequent the base. I don't have a garage for my Model 3 so it is always parked outside in a paved parking lot and is usually plugged in overnight.
Well - turns out there are a few things with the Model 3 that make it a little more susceptible to rodent chewing. For one - many manufacturers are switching over to soy based (vs petroleum based) insulation for wiring. Apparently the soy wiring is cheaper and more eco-friendly but it also smells faintly like vanilla when it becomes warm. This has been well documented in high volume car manufacturers (Toyota and Honda) and there have even been a few class action lawsuits brought against manufacturers for the issues. The Model 3 apparently has this same soy wiring insulation.
But - ICE cars typically run warm when the engine is running and become completely cold about an hour after shut off (which also meas those wires stop giving off that nice vanilla smell). Unfortunately your Tesla doesn't work that way. Once you stop driving your vehicle and plug it in to charge the vehicle will keep the battery and internals warm as part of the charging process. The areas around your battery and motors will provide a nice warm habitat complete with yummy food for any critters out there.
Welp, I was recently bitten (literally) by this. Temps overnight in Southern California are starting to drop now and critters are looking for warm places to hide at night. I normally start charging my Tesla with 50-70% on the battery so it only stays warm for 2-4 hours (so not past midnight when the rabbits get really active) but recently i took an extended trip and plugged in on the night of the 8th at 8PM with only 15% SOC. This meant the car would need to charge for a full 8 hours (well into the morning). I got in my car the next day to drive to San Diego and was greeted with a warning that "power is reduced". Since this is a dual motor car it did not suffer a huge reduction in performance but it was noticeably slower in acceleration.
We called Tesla and ran some diagnostics over the phone. The issue persisted. We set up a SC appointment for that Friday and I was told it was ok to drive until then. Got the car into the SC and after a significant amount of software updates, diagnostics, etc. They determined the front motor was not communicating and would need to be replaced. 5 days later they received the new motor, went to install it and found droppings and a chewed up motor wiring harness. Now we will be waiting 4 more days for a new wiring harness.
The SC is being super cool about it and working with me to get the car back on the road but this is definitely concerning given how much more susceptible our cars can be to chewing and intrusion due to the soy wiring and being kept constantly warm during charging.I am really starting to reconsider my initial excitement over owning a Tesla.
TLDR: your vehicle stays warm all the time and has wires that smell like vanilla. It is far more enticing to critters chewing on wires than your previous cars (especially if you park outside).
