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Tesla Model 3 Charging Issue

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Hey y'all, hope this finds you well. I've got a situation and was hoping this community can provide insight.

(The car is a 2018 Tesla Model 3 LR, still under full warranty)

I went on a month long business trip last month and came back to find my car completely dead while it was plugged into the 110v outlet (yes the outlet worked and the charger was lit). I left the car at 60% SoC and plugged in, thinking that was the right process. However, it just so happened that the 12v and the big kahuna battery were both dead. Let me explain. I called roadside right away and they came within a few hours to tow the car. The towing guy was amazing and had great knowledge. He tried to jump the 12v, but it somehow wasn't communicating with the big battery. Mind you, the charger is still plugged in and it won't come out since the vehicle is locked. So at this point, I can't open the doors, unlock the charge port, jump the 12v, or charge the big battery.

There was never a warning where the car told me I needed to replace the 12v battery, no warning signs on the screen as well.

Whats the next best option, ask a mobile technician to come take a look. Few hours go by, mobile technician declines the service and asks the towing company to haul it in. The issue here was that the car was parked, meaning the electronic parking brake was engaged. If they towed the car, they would literally have to drag the car. The towing company was against it but Tesla said they wouldn't send someone. Left me with no choice but to tow by dragging. So then the towing company put it on the bed of the truck, RIP my brand new tires, with the charger still plugged into the car.

So far, its been a week and Tesla has told me they don't know what the issue is and have engaged the engineers in Fremont. We don't know anything else.

Right now, they are only giving me Uber credits ($100 a day) but its not cutting it because of the work I have to do along with all of the surcharges and distances I have to cover. I've asked for a loaner, but all of the loaners are out. I'm in a new city for work so its not like I have friends and family to borrow cars from either.

Do y'all know what the issue could be?
 
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Hey y'all, hope this finds you well. I've got a situation and was hoping this community can provide insight.

(The car is a 2018 Tesla Model 3 LR, still under full warranty)

I went on a month long business trip last month and came back to find my car completely dead while it was plugged into the 110v outlet (yes the outlet worked and the charger was lit). I left the car at 60% SoC and plugged in, thinking that was the right process. However, it just so happened that the 12v and the big kahuna battery were both dead. Let me explain. I called roadside right away and they came within a few hours to tow the car. The towing guy was amazing and had great knowledge. He tried to jump the 12v, but it somehow wasn't communicating with the big battery. Mind you, the charger is still plugged in and it won't come out since the vehicle is locked. So at this point, I can't open the doors, unlock the charge port, jump the 12v, or charge the big battery.

Whats the next best option, ask a mobile technician to come take a look. Few hours go by, mobile technician declines the service and asks the towing company to haul it in. The issue here was that the car was parked, meaning the electronic parking brake was engaged. If they towed the car, they would literally have to drag the car. The towing company was against it but Tesla said they wouldn't send someone. Left me with no choice but to tow by dragging. So then the towing company put it on the bed of the truck, RIP my brand new tires, with the charger still plugged into the car.

So far, its been a week and Tesla has told me they don't know what the issue is and have engaged the engineers in Fremont. We don't know anything else.

Right now, they are only giving me Uber credits ($100 a day) but its not cutting it because of the work I have to do along with all of the surcharges and distances I have to cover. I've asked for a loaner, but all of the loaners are out. I'm in a new city for work so its not like I have friends and family to borrow cars from either.

Do y'all know what the issue could be?

Something similar happened to my 2018 P3D in June of 2021. At first, I thought the 12v battery was dead and had to be replaced. It turns out the issue was not the 12v battery but rather the MCU had to be replaced.

If I recall correctly, the first day the service center gave me Uber credits. But then when it became apparent the repair would take a few days, they covered the cost of a rental car at my local Enterprise Rental Car office.

Good luck!
 
Something similar happened to my 2018 P3D in June of 2021. At first, I thought the 12v battery was dead and had to be replaced. It turns out the issue was not the 12v battery but rather the MCU had to be replaced.

If I recall correctly, the first day the service center gave me Uber credits. But then when it became apparent the repair would take a few days, they covered the cost of a rental car at my local Enterprise Rental Car office.

Good luck!
Thanks! Do you know what the rental limit is? I'd gladly go do that but they never presented that option and its been a week now with 0 diagnosis
 
Hey y'all, hope this finds you well. I've got a situation and was hoping this community can provide insight.

(The car is a 2018 Tesla Model 3 LR, still under full warranty)

I went on a month long business trip last month and came back to find my car completely dead while it was plugged into the 110v outlet (yes the outlet worked and the charger was lit). I left the car at 60% SoC and plugged in, thinking that was the right process. However, it just so happened that the 12v and the big kahuna battery were both dead. Let me explain. I called roadside right away and they came within a few hours to tow the car. The towing guy was amazing and had great knowledge. He tried to jump the 12v, but it somehow wasn't communicating with the big battery. Mind you, the charger is still plugged in and it won't come out since the vehicle is locked. So at this point, I can't open the doors, unlock the charge port, jump the 12v, or charge the big battery.

There was never a warning where the car told me I needed to replace the 12v battery, no warning signs on the screen as well.

Whats the next best option, ask a mobile technician to come take a look. Few hours go by, mobile technician declines the service and asks the towing company to haul it in. The issue hre was that the car was parked, meaning the electronic parking brake was engaged. If they towed the car, they would literally have to drag the car. The towing company was against it but Tesla said they wouldn't send someone. Left me with no choice but to tow by dragging. So then the towing company put it on the bed of the truck, RIP my brand new tires, with the charger still plugged into the car.

So far, its been a week and Tesla has told me they don't know what the issue is and have engaged the engineers in Fremont. We don't know anything else.

Right now, they are only giving me Uber credits ($100 a day) but its not cutting it because of the work I have to do along with all of the surcharges and distances I have to cover. I've asked for a loaner, but all of the loaners are out. I'm in a new city for work so its not like I have friends and family to borrow cars from either.

Do y'all know what the issue could be?
I would take a look at the charging history using the Tesla app on your smartphone, it gives you a 30 day history. I normally do not leave my M3 plugged in while parked in the garage; however, the car has been plugged in for the past several days. On day three I noticed a red "T" which indicates an error. I did not look up what the error was. I unplugged the UMC2 from the 14-50R and plugged it back in. The error cleared itself and a test charge worked fine. I am not sure if it would have cleared the error without intervention? If not, the car would not charge even though it was plugged in.
 
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Yeah, that charge port release cord is important to know about but OP wouldn't have been able to get the trunk open to reach it without successfully jump starting it first.

Sounds like a textbook case of a dead 12V battery. Your HV battery should be fine and still at 60% but it won't power the car without the 12V battery running. It sounds like your tow driver was knowledgeable enough to get the frunk open but not knowledgeable enough to use a volt meter or to know that these cars are much harder to "jump start" than one might expect. The portable jump starters often fail to get Teslas going and even classic cables to a running truck don't always work for whatever reason.

I bet it would have started right up had the driver disconnected one battery terminal and used jumper cables from a non-running truck to directly power your car without your battery in the way. Don't worry about the tires, a few yards of skidding won't even leave a mark (other than the new stripes on your driveway).
 
Just had my model 3 towed today. It stoped working on Sunday without notice. Tow came today and jumped the frunk open, but couldn’t jump the main battery. Next, Tesla mobile came by and put in a new 12v and still the car wouldn’t start up. Finally, another tow arrived and it was towed on rails just this evening. No idea what’s going on, but a new battery wasn’t able to wake up the car… I wonder if you have a related issue as I do. Hopefully I hear more once the service center takes a look tomorrow AM.
 
Omg same thing just happened to my 2018 LR Model 3 on Friday - 2 wks after my warranty expired! Was charging my car overnight, when in the morning I got a bunch of back to back alerts saying my parking brake functions were degrading, my electrical system power was reduced & vehicle was shutting down, schedule service to replace my lv battery, and vehicle may not restart! So I immediately scheduled service for that morning and then went out to the car only to find it completely dead. I called roadside assistance and they were able to jump start the car and drive my car down my driveway to street level, load it to the truck and haul it to the service center. They replaced the battery but says that didn’t fix all the issues so further diagnostics are needed. I am wondering if the latest software update that was just installed a few days before the incident is what caused these problems? If so then Tesla should be fixing them on their dime! So far the estimate is only for the replacement of the battery at $130 but Im nervous waiting & dreading on what the final bill might be!!
 
Omg same thing just happened to my 2018 LR Model 3 on Friday - 2 wks after my warranty expired! Was charging my car overnight, when in the morning I got a bunch of back to back alerts saying my parking brake functions were degrading, my electrical system power was reduced & vehicle was shutting down, schedule service to replace my lv battery, and vehicle may not restart! So I immediately scheduled service for that morning and then went out to the car only to find it completely dead. I called roadside assistance and they were able to jump start the car and drive my car down my driveway to street level, load it to the truck and haul it to the service center. They replaced the battery but says that didn’t fix all the issues so further diagnostics are needed. I am wondering if the latest software update that was just installed a few days before the incident is what caused these problems? If so then Tesla should be fixing them on their dime! So far the estimate is only for the replacement of the battery at $130 but Im nervous waiting & dreading on what the final bill might be!!
Hmm. We have the same model 3 variant … odd timing. Did they run any diagnostics to see what the system is saying about what caused this?
 
Hmm. We have the same model 3 variant … odd timing. Did they run any diagnostics to see what the system is saying about what caused this?
What version of firmware was installed a few days ago? Was the 12V battery the original. If so, it would be over four years old. I believe the 12V battery many times fails, after a firmware update, because it must run many 12V components for a fair amount of time during the update. I see the lowest voltages using my 12V bluetooth monitor during firmware updates.

Best of luck let us know how it goes!
Regards
 
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What version of firmware was installed a few days ago? Was the 12V battery the original. If so, it would be over four years old. I believe the 12V battery many times fails, after a firmware update, because it must run many 12V components for a fair amount of time during the update. I see the lowest voltages using my 12V bluetooth monitor during firmware updates.

Best of luck let up know how it goes!
Regards
It was v2022.12.3.16. Yes it was the original battery. Still waiting to hear back from Tesla re the results of the diagnostics.
 
Just had my model 3 towed today. It stoped working on Sunday without notice. Tow came today and jumped the frunk open, but couldn’t jump the main battery. Next, Tesla mobile came by and put in a new 12v and still the car wouldn’t start up. Finally, another tow arrived and it was towed on rails just this evening. No idea what’s going on, but a new battery wasn’t able to wake up the car… I wonder if you have a related issue as I do. Hopefully I hear more once the service center takes a look tomorrow AM.
Did you hear back yet on what is causing your issues?
 
I have been following numerous threads with horror stories over failure of the 12v battery. I think if mine is still OK at 36 months, I will very happily replace it at my expense to avoid the problems that a hard failure creates.
Battery problems are not unique to Tesla. My 2017 Abarth 124 has the so-called “Advanced Entry System “ common to Mazda. If you should have the battery in your fob get too low, the *sugar* hits the fan. A lousy $2 battery will pretty much immobilize the car! I replace mine annually when I do the smoke detectors in our home.
And this is progress?