Stranded. Feeling like George Clooney.

[walla2]

So I got a battery swap yesterday and the car will return 260 miles in a few days. I don't know what battery (refurbished a, b, c, d, or new) I got but glad it's drivable again. Hoping for a b or newer with 257 rated miles minimum since that's what I gave them. Anyhow, super impressed with ranger service from Tesla.

 

[brianman]

So I got a battery swap yesterday and the car will return 260 miles in a few days. I don't know what battery (refurbished a, b, c, d, or new) I got but glad it's drivable again. Hoping for a b or newer with 257 rated miles minimum since that's what I gave them. Anyhow, super impressed with ranger service from Tesla.

So is your car and life back to awesome again?

 

[walla2]

So is your car and life back to awesome again?

Tesla must now return the car 260 miles to me by trailer. Also requested alignment to be checked given my rapid continental destruction at around 3500 miles. Lucky driver gets a bottle of wine again.

 

[Zextraterrestrial]

So I got a battery swap yesterday and the car will return 260 miles in a few days. I don't know what battery (refurbished a, b, c, d, or new) I got but glad it's drivable again. Hoping for a b or newer with 257 rated miles minimum since that's what I gave them. Anyhow, super impressed with ranger service from Tesla.

that seems like a lot of 'A' batteries that have failed somehow. It kind of concerns me since I have no cell phone and drive in some pretty lonesome hills where your car will be demolished if it is left out overnight.

 

[apacheguy]

As an update, I got the car back with what looks like a refurbished "A" battery. It drives again as it always has and service was excellent. Still have one issue remaining that I prefer not to discuss yet here but perhaps will someday.

Bummer. If so, then those are used cells in the pack. Tesla doesn't ship A batteries any more and the only reason they would have stuck it in your car is if they repaired someone else's A pack. I'm surprised that they didn't give you a new one. Does it still achieve the same max range SOC?

 

[NigelM]

Mod Note: discussion on appropriateness of NHTSA reporting went here - When-to-report-NHTSA-issues

 

[Larry Chanin]

Bummer. If so, then those are used cells in the pack. Tesla doesn't ship A batteries any more and the only reason they would have stuck it in your car is if they repaired someone else's A pack. I'm surprised that they didn't give you a new one. Does it still achieve the same max range SOC?

When I visited our local service center last week they had a stack of new batteries. Half were A type and half were B type.
Larry

 

[brianman]

When I visited our local service center last week they had a stack of new batteries. Half were A type and half were B type.
Larry

Did you put "Please don't do this" stickers on all the A batteries? Or at least "To be rerouted to Solar City for static storage"?

 

[apacheguy]

When I visited our local service center last week they had a stack of new batteries. Half were A type and half were B type.
Larry

Yes, but I'm quite certain that those A packs are refurbished meaning that they suffered some sort of failure. Somewhat concerning that all the service centers have these A packs on hand now. Must mean there really has been a high rate of failure.

Did you put "Please don't do this" stickers on all the A batteries? Or at least "To be rerouted to Solar City for static storage"?

Ha! Nice one.

 

[jerry33]

Yes, but I'm quite certain that those A packs are refurbished meaning that they suffered some sort of failure. Somewhat concerning that all the service centers have these A packs on hand now. Must mean there really has been a high rate of failure.

They could also have been "practice" ones while the factory was ramping up or ones that failed quality control and they're just now getting around to refurbishing them.

 

[gg_got_a_tesla]

Shouldn't folks have an option to refuse an A pack install in a pack replacement situation? Even if they did have an A to begin with? Installing only a 90 kW-capable pack in 2012 is one thing but, knowingly doing so in 2014 isn't cool...

 

[dsm363]

Shouldn't folks have an option to refuse an A pack install in a pack replacement situation? Even if they did have an A to begin with? Installing only a 90 kW-capable pack in 2012 is one thing but, knowingly doing so in 2014 isn't cool...

Agree. They should be using only B packs and above at this point.

 

[apacheguy]

Shouldn't folks have an option to refuse an A pack install in a pack replacement situation? Even if they did have an A to begin with? Installing only a 90 kW-capable pack in 2012 is one thing but, knowingly doing so in 2014 isn't cool...

I (obviously) agree with you. They should be using the refurbished A packs for grid storage at superchargers since Elon mentioned they plan on being partially grid independent (i.e. Able to function in a zombie apocalypse).

 

[C-NRG-GO]

Not happy. My car was cruising along today fine. Then suddenly I got a ton of warnings saying the car was shutting down. Got close to my house but now it is "unable to drive." Also getting 12 V warning. Needs service. The battery port is red and won't allow plugging in. I just had my 12 V replaced roughly 3 weeks ago and a full service. Tesla service can't tell what's wrong so they are coming 250 miles to get the car tomorrow morning. Likely gone at least a week given the range. They were going to bring a loaner but don't have any to loan. Service was thorough and thoughtful, but my car is sitting lonely about a 1/4 mile from my house until 11 am. Ugh.

My P85 did the same thing about a month ago - only I was 70 miles from home. I called tech support from the car after I had pulled over and they had me go through a re-boot of the 2 displays and shutting off the car. After the reboot the tech examined the car's data (in real time) and said everything looked fine. I took off and nervously drove the 70 miles. The next day the SC called and arranged to have the car picked up. They swapped the main battery and told me that the 12V was not getting charged. My car was manufactured in June 2013, but I don't know what version of the battery it had. It has not had any issues since then. I am concerned that the car may have "over-reacted" to the situation. According to the tech, the 12V was fully charged, so there would be no reason to do a full shut down of the car while I'm driving (on the freeway, in the rain, at night, in heavy traffic). I had less than 1 minute from the warnings before the go pedal turned into the stay pedal.

 

[landover]

When my car is ready the end of March I will be making sure that I have a D pack battery or I will be refusing deliver.

 

[FlasherZ]

When my car is ready the end of March I will be making sure that I have a D pack battery or I will be refusing deliver.

I have flashbacks to a conversation I had very early on in this forum. I was concerned that Tesla might try to screw me, after all, that's what every other car manufacturer does. Bonnie (the wonderful woman that she is, and no she didn't pay me for this) encouraged me by telling me stories about her service experience with Tesla on her Roadster. In the 15 months I've gotten the car, I can say that I certainly understand why she raved the way she did about the experience. Now it's my time to pay it forward: Tesla has always been very straightforward with me, even if communications challenges have been somewhat frustrating.

You are highly likely to get a "D" pack, given that your car will be brand new. So there's a .0001% chance you should be worried.

However, even if today you were to get a rev. B pack, I can assure you that Tesla would stand behind you with the same service experience, and that you would get everything that is promised to you the day you purchased your car.

You would have an argument if your car were built with a refurbished "A" pack, but the chances of that are nil or better, considering that no one has reported a "B" pack replacement with "A", and the highest known VIN with pack "A" is < 10,000.

I will only suggest that you not overly stress yourself. Don't worry yourself about "deal-breakers" or stuff like that, you'll just be stressing yourself. Just trust the fact that 99% of current owners would buy their car again, by far the best car surveyed. #2 is the Porsche Boxter at 95%, #3 is a tie between Volts and 911's at 91%.

Don't worry, it'll help your stress level... I promise.

 

[bonnie]

Oh wow. Look what happens when I randomly open a thread. FlasherZ saying nice things . Thanks, I needed that.

And he's right. There's a reason so many Roadster owners now own a Model S and/or have a reservation for an X. And why so many Model S owners have a second Model S and/or a reservation for an X. Or bought a used Roadster.

I never expected to be driving electric. Then I took a Roadster out on a test drive. I assumed I'd always have an ICE in the garage. Then Tesla Customer Service got ahold of me. Now I'm just waiting for my X and I'll be 100% electric. Who knew?

 

[apacheguy]

And he's right. There's a reason so many Roadster owners now own a Model S and/or have a reservation for an X. And why so many Model S owners have a second Model S and/or a reservation for an X. Or bought a used Roadster.

Just not a Sig X, right? I know, I know, you've already made up your mind.

I haven't ruled out the X, but if I go for it, I will most certainly not be messing around with Sigs and early production models. I've learned my lesson.

 

[FlasherZ]

Just not a Sig X, right? I know, I know, you've already made up your mind.

I haven't ruled out the X, but if I go for it, I will most certainly not be messing around with Sigs and early production models. I've learned my lesson.

I'm going Sig on the X as well. Diff'rent strokes for diff'rent folks.

 

[bonnie]

Just not a Sig X, right? I know, I know, you've already made up your mind.

I haven't ruled out the X, but if I go for it, I will most certainly not be messing around with Sigs and early production models. I've learned my lesson.

I've reserved Sig X #2. And I have every reason to believe that if something isn't right, Tesla will make it right.