Refurbished Battery Dying already?

[cchc99]

All -

You may have seen my post where I had indicated my battery was being replaced by Tesla. They didn't indicate what they found out - however my symptoms were reduced power regardless of how charged the battery was, or how long the car had been driven. Also it would seem that I was only able to access around the mid 50 kw in my pack. I charge my car to 90% daily and the end value for 90% was erratic when the failures started. For the longest time it was solid +/- 1-2 miles of range.

The car was returned with the refurbished battery a couple of weeks ago. I had some concerns about it as somehow it matched the 90% of the vehicle when it was returned, and half the time my service center seemed like they didn't know they were doing a battery replacement.

I've driven the car since it's been returned and have been noticing an erratic 90%. I've ranged as high as 225 and as low as 211. This morning it was at 215. I'm concerned that the refurbished battery pack is already failing.

Has anyone had their refurbished battery pack fail?

 

[Electric700]

Are you using rated range or ideal? Have you tried charging to 100% at all? Once a year should be fine at 100%, but drive it immediately after the charging completes.

 

[gaswalla]

Does not sound like "failure".. maybe changes based on ambient temperatures?
Try 3 days of 100% charging, and see what happens.. should be back to 225ish

 

[tomas]

Agree, that much variation in 90% is unusual. Seems to me, either:

1) They refurbished your battery, but that wasn't the problem. There are many other components of the charging system, maybe something else is out. (Highest probability)
2) They didn't refurbish your battery properly, maybe did the wrong cells? (Low probability)
3) They didn't refurbish your battery at all. (Very low probability)

Did they refurbish at the Service Center or send to Fremont? If Fremont, I doubt #2.

I'd strongly suggest if this keeps up, you go to another service center. It's weird, I've never encountered anything other than deep competency and good service at the 3 centers I've used, but the stories seem to indicate that is not consistent.

 

[cchc99]

The battery was the "second" one that was sent from California. The first one was damaged by the carrier and was unusable according to Cleveland.

The driver who returned my car pointed out the refurbished sticker on the side of the battery pack.

My car is charged in an insulated garage. It gets no colder than 45 degrees at night, so I'm not sure that the ambient temperature change should be an issue.

The initial issues were related to power output, and that the car would run from 90% to less than 15% in my round trip 120 mile drive. With this new battery, I'm finishing my day with roughly 20% range. Car has 86k miles on it, currently running 19" rims with Nokian WRG3s, and averaging about 350 kwh round trip. Cabin kept at 69 degrees, exterior temperature roughly 65 degrees on average.

To whit, I turned off the climate control, headlights, radio and did a 7 mile run starting at 636 ft above sea level ending at 650 ft above sea level at 55 mph and couldn't break a low of 330 kwh. Temperature was 70 degrees, no wind.

 

[tomas]

Hmmm. 350 wh/mi not so terrible. What kind of driving? The fact you are having similar results with 2 batteries says this may be more down to characteristics of your commute and driving style than a failure of your battery. What was your wh/mi when your car was operating well in your opinion?

 

[cchc99]

My commute is mostly highway. When my car was operating correctly it was in the 330 kwh range - mind you that was last fall. This winter it got up into the 400s. Prior to the failure.

 

[cchc99]

213 was 90% this morning. Drove a total of 2x5 miles, 2x7 miles and 1x10 miles yesterday. All under 45 mph. Somehow the car ended up at 120 miles of range starting from 215. I'll charge it to 100% tonight and drive off. And before anyone asks about if the battery is warm, I usually start my commute within 15 minutes of the charge done indication on the app.

That being said there has been a couple of times where the app has pinged it was done charging, and it was still charging when I went into the garage.

 

[Lasttoy]

What warranty did u get?
This is very important. They have no clue what my new warranty is on my new motor?

 

[tomas]

213 was 90% this morning. Drove a total of 2x5 miles, 2x7 miles and 1x10 miles yesterday. All under 45 mph. Somehow the car ended up at 120 miles of range starting from 215. I'll charge it to 100% tonight and drive off. And before anyone asks about if the battery is warm, I usually start my commute within 15 minutes of the charge done indication on the app.

That being said there has been a couple of times where the app has pinged it was done charging, and it was still charging when I went into the garage.

The data you are posting may be meaningful to you but it is useless for purpose of anyone trying to help you with diagnosis. If you really want help, post outdoor temp, miles travelled, wh/mi, and start/end miles shown on car. It is clear that you are concerned, but not clear you actually have a problem.

 

[cchc99]

What warranty did u get?
This is very important. They have no clue what my new warranty is on my new motor?

I have the old CPO warranty. 4/50, unlimited on the battery for 8 years.

 

[cchc99]

The data you are posting may be meaningful to you but it is useless for purpose of anyone trying to help you with diagnosis. If you really want help, post outdoor temp, miles travelled, wh/mi, and start/end miles shown on car. It is clear that you are concerned, but not clear you actually have a problem.

That day the temperature fluctuated from 65 to 72 degrees. No wind. All very short drives. Traveled a total of 34 miles. Started at 213. Ended at 120.

 

[swegman]

The short trips are a killer for your battery range. When I do trips of just a few miles, my energy consumption ranges from 450 wh/mi to as high as 710 wh/mi, depending on external conditions such as temperature, wind, elevation, need for battery heating/cooling, etc. The energy consumption does not fall to the low 300 wh/mi range until I’ve been driving at highway speeds for probably 20 minutes.

 

[tomas]

That day the temperature fluctuated from 65 to 72 degrees. No wind. All very short drives. Traveled a total of 34 miles. Started at 213. Ended at 120.

Hmm... that sounds pretty bad. Would be interesting to know if that is result of high wh/mi while driving or excessive vampire drain while car is sitting between trips. The 350 wh/mi you posted earlier didn’t sound unusual, but this does.

Personally, I’d take pictures of IC with trip meter up at every stop/start and log details for a few days, then send that in to Tesla. They can pull their logs for last 2 weeks and analyze. I’d talk to service manager in advance to arrange remote diagnosis, which is usually done in Fremont.

 

[cchc99]

Hmm... that sounds pretty bad. Would be interesting to know if that is result of high wh/mi while driving or excessive vampire drain while car is sitting between trips. The 350 wh/mi you posted earlier didn’t sound unusual, but this does.

Personally, I’d take pictures of IC with trip meter up at every stop/start and log details for a few days, then send that in to Tesla. They can pull their logs for last 2 weeks and analyze. I’d talk to service manager in advance to arrange remote diagnosis, which is usually done in Fremont.

This will seem odd, but there may be something out of whack in the BMS. Per the local ranger, I charged my car to 100% over the weekend, and allowed it to sit for more than 24 hours. I drove it to work today, it was 48 degrees, internal cabin temperature 69 degrees. There was a slight tailwind of ~ 5mph. For the inbound portion of my commute which is 57 miles, the car ran at 320 kwh for my normal drive even though it was colder than normal. Started at 241 ended at 169. We will see what happens tonight on the journey home and the subsequent charge to 90%.

I've been in contact with Fremont, and have sent them screen captures of the notice of end of charging from my phone and they are researching as well.

 

[tomas]

Why would you charge to 100% and let sit?

Don’t do that often, it is the only thing you can do that accelerates degradation!

Hope they figure it out.

 

[cchc99]

I don't know why my response didn't post, but the 100% and let it sit was per the local ranger. He wanted it to sit for at least 24 hours after hitting 100% which is contrary to general forum advice to hit 100% and drive off immediately.

They haven't been able to figure it out. They are saying my 90% wandering +/- 6-10 miles is perfectly acceptable.

 

[Electric700]

I don't know why my response didn't post, but the 100% and let it sit was per the local ranger. He wanted it to sit for at least 24 hours after hitting 100% which is contrary to general forum advice to hit 100% and drive off immediately.

They haven't been able to figure it out. They are saying my 90% wandering +/- 6-10 miles is perfectly acceptable.

Are you using the Rated Range setting?

Also yes, as others have stated it's better for the battery to stay at 90% or less. You can charge to 100% infrequently (e.g. once a year), but drive it immediately after the charging completes. This will also balance the battery.

 

[darinmcleskey]

I don't know why my response didn't post, but the 100% and let it sit was per the local ranger. He wanted it to sit for at least 24 hours after hitting 100% which is contrary to general forum advice to hit 100% and drive off immediately.

They haven't been able to figure it out. They are saying my 90% wandering +/- 6-10 miles is perfectly acceptable.

How has your battery held up in the last 2 years? My battery is getting a replacement with the same 1088815-01-B pack you got, while I was really hoping for 1014116-00-A... the improved 350v version...

 

[Lasttoy]

My refurbished (Nov 2020) pack died on me Friday. It littlerly cut off, gear indicator turned red. I coasted to a stop. I call and got Call Center in Montreal Canada, not Draper. Lady said ""battery fault, take to SC"". I asked what is the fault code or problem? The SC is 45 miles away on the interstate. Very dangerous to get on interstate with car that dies. Her comment was unbelievable, she don't worry about it.
Does anyone know the warranty on replacement pack??? I heard it was 2 years?? But unable to find that in writing??