Replacement battery question?

[stew18]

Hi there,

Let me start off by saying I love my 2021 Tesla Model 3 LR with 85k. A couple weeks ago a had a message on my screen that said, "maximum charge level and range may be reduced". It suggested I make a service appointment. I also noticed that overnight my maximum charge level and range was significantly reduced. Fast forward a week and I had my battery replaced with a refurbished battery all under warranty.

Here is my concern and questions.......

Prior to my battery replacement I could charge my car to 100% and it would give me about 335 miles. Of course I didn't do this often but I am using it as a reference. After my battery replacement if I charge my car to 100% I get 314 miles. I messaged my Tesla service rep about this and the response was, "it will take some tie for the new battery to calibrate and understand your driving habits, also it is normal to have a more conservative estimate range during colder months".

I feel like the service reps response was a line of BS but that is why I am here asking you all what you think. I feel like I got a battery that was not as good as the one I had in there before. Should I be concerned?

Thank you very much for all of your help.....

 

[Tam]

Hi there,

Let me start off by saying I love my 2021 Tesla Model 3 LR with 85k. A couple weeks ago a had a message on my screen that said, "maximum charge level and range may be reduced". It suggested I make a service appointment. I also noticed that overnight my maximum charge level and range was significantly reduced. Fast forward a week and I had my battery replaced with a refurbished battery all under warranty.

Here is my concern and questions.......

Prior to my battery replacement I could charge my car to 100% and it would give me about 335 miles. Of course I didn't do this often but I am using it as a reference. After my battery replacement if I charge my car to 100% I get 314 miles. I messaged my Tesla service rep about this and the response was, "it will take some tie for the new battery to calibrate and understand your driving habits, also it is normal to have a more conservative estimate range during colder months".

I feel like the service reps response was a line of BS but that is why I am here asking you all what you think. I feel like I got a battery that was not as good as the one I had in there before. Should I be concerned?

Thank you very much for all of your help.....

It reasonable for the BMS to do the calibration but its maximum mile display has nothing to do with "driving habits." It is an EPA number regardless how you drive.

It is true that you get a lower mile display during colder months. Thus, you should compare numbers with same ambient temperature (summer to summer, winter to winter).

Since they guarantee you 70% capacity, and now you are above that, not much you can do.

 

[stew18]

It reasonable for the BMS to do the calibration but its maximum mile display has nothing to do with "driving habits." It is an EPA number regardless how you drive.

It is true that you get a lower mile display during colder months. Thus, you should compare numbers with same ambient temperature (summer to summer, winter to winter.)

Since the guarantee you 70% capacity, and now you are above that, not much you can do.

I would agree that maximum mile display has nothing to do with driving habits that's why I thought their comment was odd. Even in the winter months my Tesla would charge to 335 at 100%.

I had no idea they only guarantee you 70% capacity for a replacement battery. That would make sense if you were below that to start with but I was way above that. Seems like a rip off. They should have replaced it with a new battery? They failed to mention the 70% but I assume it was in the small print

 

[jjrandorin]

I would agree that maximum mile display has nothing to do with driving habits that's why I thought their comment was odd. Even in the winter months my Tesla would charge to 335 at 100%.

I had no idea they only guarantee you 70% capacity for a replacement battery. That would make sense if you were below that to start with but I was way above that. Seems like a rip off. They should have replaced it with a new battery? They failed to mention the 70% but I assume it was in the small print

No, @Tam is quoting the general battery warranty. If you need a replacement, they are supposed to replace it with a battery that has at least the same amount of range left as yours did before the error.

They should have replaced it with a new battery?

Nope, there is nothing at all, anywhere, that says that a battery replacement under warranty needs to be new. The warranty states it can be new or refurbished, at Teslas discretion, which means in practical terms it will be refurbished unless they have no other options.

If you have proof of a 100% charge showing 335 miles of range not that long before you got the battery errors, then you may have a case with Tesla. Otherwise, you likely dont have much of a case.

FWIW I also agree with you and @Tam that charge at 100% doesnt have anything to do with how you drive. It could have a bit to do with BMS balancing however. You can try the BMS calibration stuff mentioned around the site here ( making sure you park it at a few different states of charge long enough for it to go to sleep) and see if it changes.

Unless you have some proof of 335 miles of charge at 100% somewhat recently before the failure however, you are likely out of luck as far as disputing anything.

 

[zoomer0056]

70%

What @Tam meant was the 8year battery guarantee of 70% battery retention or better. Though you may be below your initial mileage with the replacement, it is still above the 30% degredation mentioned in the 8yr guarantee.

 

[Tam]

...I had no idea they only guarantee you 70% capacity for a replacement battery...

Here's the webpage that says:

"8 years or 120,000 miles, whichever comes first, with minimum 70% retention of Battery capacity over the warranty period."

That would make sense if you were below that to start with but I was way above that. Seems like a rip off.

You could wait until the car would leave you stranded on the road due to battery failure (that would be definitely below 70%).

I would prefer replacement before the car is stranded in the middle of the road.

They should have replaced it with a new battery?

No. Warranty works don't require new parts. It only requires working parts, new or used.

 

[jjrandorin]

Here's the webpage that says:

"8 years or 120,000 miles, whichever comes first, with minimum 70% retention of Battery capacity over the warranty period."



You could wait until the car would leave you stranded on the road due to battery failure (that would be definitely below 70%).

I would prefer replacement before the car is stranded in the middle of the road.


No. Warranty works don't require new parts. It only requires working parts, new or used.

You are quoting the part of the warranty that lead to the OPs battery replacement. The part that is relevant to the replacement battery itself is here:

https://digitalassets.tesla.com/tesla-contents/image/upload/tesla-new-vehicle-limited-warranty-en-us.pdf

 

[jjrandorin]

Tesla service centers are not re arranging battery pack modules.

 

[T061]

I feel like the service reps response was a line of BS

That seems about right.

 

[EarlyM3Owner]

Tesla service centers are not re arranging battery pack modules.

Some actually do, most dont. Thats why if a module fails, it gets automatically swapped with a new or refurbished pack - your old pack gets sent to one of the locations in the region that can do the HV module fix, and then it puts the battery back into circulation.

I would agree that maximum mile display has nothing to do with driving habits that's why I thought their comment was odd. Even in the winter months my Tesla would charge to 335 at 100%.

Maybe check your settings to see if you are set to ideal vs rated range?

 

[jjrandorin]

Some actually do, most dont. Thats why if a module fails, it gets automatically swapped with a new or refurbished pack - your old pack gets sent to one of the locations in the region that can do the HV module fix, and then it puts the battery back into circulation.




Maybe check your settings to see if you are set to ideal vs rated range?

Model 3s dont have "ideal vs rated" range displays.

 

[EarlyM3Owner]

Model 3s dont have "ideal vs rated" range displays.

ah ok. I drive on percentage so I didnt even know thats not a thing anymore...