Reliability of Drive Unit and Battery, and cost of replacement?

[randvegeta]

My 2014 Model S is still technically under warranty in the US, but since I am living and driving it in Lithuania, I practically cannot claim on it.

Are there any reliable stats on the reliability of batteries and drive units?

Or perhaps there are certain factors that affect both? i.e. fast acceleration, or consistently high power will burn it out or something?

And has anyone actually PAID to replace either the battery or DU?

 

[Rytis]

Considering that you can service a US car in Canada, I do not see why they'd not service your car in Germany (probably closest to LT). The batteries and drive units will be standard anyway.

(Labai džiugu matyti aktyvų lietuvį forume ).

 

[Tam]

Are there any reliable stats on the reliability of batteries and drive units?

There a poll in this forum

Drive Unit Replacement Poll

 

[Tam]

Or perhaps there are certain factors that affect both? i.e. fast acceleration, or consistently high power will burn it out or something?

Tesla warns about wears & tears for those who loves ludicrous

 

[randvegeta]

Considering that you can service a US car in Canada, I do not see why they'd not service your car in Germany (probably closest to LT). The batteries and drive units will be standard anyway.

(Labai džiugu matyti aktyvų lietuvį forume ).

Labas Rytis! Do you ever think people are saying hello to you when they are really saying good morning to others .

Any more Lithuanians on the forum?

I could go to Germany or anywhere else in Europe, but my warranty isn't valid in Europe (as far as I know). Tesla are not very open about the repair prices unless you actually need a repair.

As you live in Kaunas, I think you must know Gintaris! I think he mentioned around 5,000 EUR for a (second hand) replacement batter and 3,000 EUR for a drive unit, plus another 1,000 or so for the labor (for each job). So basically 6,000 and 4,000 respectively.

Not bad if true, but it was just an estimate. Wanted to get some real world figures.

 

[randvegeta]

Tesla warns about wears & tears for those who loves ludicrous

Interesting. Since mine is not a performance model, and only has the small 60kwh battery, I assume then my car would be at less risk of wearing out the motor given the output power is considerably less than an 85. Let alone a P85.

 

[Tam]

And has anyone actually PAID to replace either the battery or DU?

David Noland quoted new MS 85 kWh battery as $50,000.

I read somewhere that a Limousine owner who did not buy extended warranty in the early days (2014) and was quoted $18,000 for a Drive Unit.

It created such a storm that Tesla decided to cover Drive Unit the same warranty as main battery.

 

[randvegeta]

$50k for a battery? Crazy expensive. Much more than the estimated 20k that I got from 'the guy' in LT for a new 60KWH batter.

I hope the motor will never fail, and my battery will last a long long time... HOPE

 

[ChadS]

The battery is not $50k. An 80kWh Roadster battery, which includes ton of extra labor, is only $29k and that includes shipping and installation. Tesla apologized for the price being so high but said labor costs are far higher for the Roadster than for the Model S.

Somewhere near 2 years ago battery replacement prices were quoted at $25k for 85kWh and $20k for 60kWh - retail staff training included those numbers. I think that was shortly before they introduced the 70kWh pack.

Keep in mind that's if you need a full pack. A few years ago I had a piece go out inside my Roadster pack. At the time, a replacement 56kWh pack was $39k, but they only charged me a tenth of that because they only swapped out the whole thing for expediency - I didn't need the whole thing replaced.

I don't see why they won't do the same thing with the drive unit, which includes the motor, the reduction gear, and the electronics - they may give you a whole new unit, but they will probably only charge you for the piece you need.

 

[Tam]

...a battery..

Updated battery price from today's article 1/30/2016:

$190/kWh x 60 kWh =$11,400


Electric vehicle battery cost dropped 80% in 6 years down to $227/kWh – Tesla claims to be below $190/kWh

 

[randvegeta]

Nice. When the time comes, I hope to be able to buy a 100kwh battery! I don't need the extra speed/power, but the added range (60% increase!) would be very welcome indeed.

If I'm lucky, the batteries will not only be cheaper per KWH, but the energy density of the batteries themselves will be greater, so I won't ave any significant weight added (if at all).

$190/kwh x 100 = $19k. I could swallow that in 5 or so years. But maybe it will be $100/kwh... $10k sounds sweet!

 

[scottm]

Curious about the warranty not being honored.

Grey market car?

 

[Tam]

...warranty not being honored...

Some owners buy a Tesla where it isn't doing business there yet such as the Philippines.

Warranty is country specific. Once out of that location, your car is no longer covered.

Some countries may not allow exceptions so if you buy from those and export out to another place, you just need to ship it back to those countries for warranty service.

This thread is an owner from Lithuania and the owner needs to ask whether it's covered or not.

 

[randvegeta]

This thread is an owner from Lithuania and the owner needs to ask whether it's covered or not.

I have had different answers from different people in Tesla.

When I was calling Tesla shops in Germany, they told me that there will be no warranty cover for a US import car. But when I called the service centre in the UK, they said they WOULD cover it.

I read somewhere (I believe on the Tesla website) that the warranty is REGION specific. So all EU cars are covered under EU warranty. All US cars covered under US warranty. So an EU car should not be covered in the US and visa-versa.

With that being said, if there is a recall due to some fault, e.g. brakes or airbag problem, then they will still fix it.

It seems like they have written their warranty policy with the intention to discourage exporting out of region, but to some degree may still support the vehicle. The UK service centre person told me that they would cover the battery/drive unit because it was the same as those in EU cars, but if I had a problem with something that was US specific (charger for example) then I would need to cover those cost.

The UK service centre person also told me that if I broke down in the UK, then I could also call their breakdown assistance.

The thing is, living in Lithuania, it would be quite costly to take my car to any service centre, so for anything small, I wouldn't bother trying to claim, even if I was covered under warranty.

Anything less than $2,000 in repair costs just doesn't make sense to get covered under warranty as it would probably cost me at least $1,000 just to transport my car to the nearest Service Centre. Not to mention the time I would need to actually take care of it.

If the damage is problem is the battery/drive unit, and would cost in the $10s of thousands, then it would be totally worth while! Even if I need to ship it back to the US to get these fixed!

 

[Tam]

I have had different answers from different people in Tesla....

Very good information! Thanks for sharing.

 

[evp]

There seem to be a goodly number of battery packs available underneath totalled Teslas. I don't recall @wk057 mentioning how he acquired the one he now powers his house with, but maybe he would share the cost with us.