Tesla Model 3 Down: Won't Power Up, and is Inaccessible

[insaneoctane]

Not sure I follow. Both a mechanical pull, and the current emergency frunk release behavior, act exactly the same right now. They both don't care if the 12V is dead or alive.

The difference is as follows :

• Someone nefarious who wants to get into your frunk can with either system today
• If I want to get in, I need 12V source ... Think parking lot. With mechanical release, no 12V needed (again, think parking lot)
• If it worked as originally advertised (Only when car 12V too low) this checks nefarious peeps and makes inconvenience of 12V worth it IMO

 

[ölbrenner]

The difference is as follows :

• Someone nefarious who wants to get into your frunk can with either system today
• If I want to get in, I need 12V source ... Think parking lot. With mechanical release, no 12V needed (again, think parking lot)
• If it worked as originally advertised (Only when car 12V too low) this checks nefarious peeps and makes inconvenience of 12V worth it IMO

Point 1 - So we are in agreement, currently there is no difference between mechanical pull or current emergency frunk release behavior
Point 2 - Agree a mechanical release would be better in this case. However, it's already been established you don't necessarily need a 12V source to open the frunk (and it's easy to hide a 9V alkaline battery somewhere)
Point 3 - It's no problem for a thief to get in the frunk (or any other part of the car) without either a mechanical or 12V release. If they want in, they will get in.

But still, I wish they would have done the 12V low only implementation.

 

[atokosch]

I’ve only had the car back for a few days but so far so good.

Their conclusion was that most likely a wiring harness connection was loose. They reseated all the relevant connections and it’s been okay so far.

Okay, thanks for the info. Hopefully that or a software issue was the cause.
Hopefully I get my car back with 10.1, but we'll see. I have since purchased a jumper battery and put a 9V battery in my bag so that if this happens again I can at least try something without involving Tesla, kinda disappointed that I don't have my car, I already love that thing.

 

[atokosch]

Yeah, if we had the same issue, your firmware should definitely be high enough. It’s possible you have a completely different problem with the same symptom. Good luck!

Thanks, but ughh... still hoping that it is a software bug or something related to software, or as someone mentioned too, a loose connection. Really, hoping that it is a quick fix and they don't have to do any major replacement or parts on the car.

 

[MarkS22]

Sorry it has taken so long but I have a really compact solution for opening the frunk using a 23A battery and a few inexpensive parts from Amazon. It hides on the car perfectly. I’ll be posting a video explaining it all soon. (My car is getting wrapped right now.)

I believe this could make not having a mechanical release a non-issue.

 

[atokosch]

Just wanted to give a little update on my car.
Heard from Tesla service center yesterday (Monday, 3/26), the drive unit on my car had a fault and according to the advisor blew the fuse on purpose, so that is why my 12V battery died. The service center worked with engineering pretty much all day yesterday to verify that this was the issue. Really love that the service center was texting me and providing me with as much detail that they had at the time, AWESOME customer service!
As for as I know, this is the 3rd drive unit failure that has occurred on a Model 3. They are replacing the drive unit today (Tuesday, 3/27), thankfully they had one in stock, and I should be able to pick up my car sometime today or tomorrow as long as everything goes well and engineering releases it.
They will be sending the original drive unit back to Tesla in CA and the engineers will complete a teardown to determine root cause, a ticket was put in for the engineers to notify me when they discover what happened.
What I find very odd is that my car was stationary when this all happened. I drove to work and parked without an issue.

 

[mongo]

Just wanted to give a little update on my car.
Heard from Tesla service center yesterday (Monday, 3/26), the drive unit on my car had a fault and according to the advisor blew the fuse on purpose, so that is why my 12V battery died. The service center worked with engineering pretty much all day yesterday to verify that this was the issue. Really love that the service center was texting me and providing me with as much detail that they had at the time, AWESOME customer service!
As for as I know, this is the 3rd drive unit failure that has occurred on a Model 3. They are replacing the drive unit today (Tuesday, 3/27), thankfully they had one in stock, and I should be able to pick up my car sometime today or tomorrow as long as everything goes well and engineering releases it.
They will be sending the original drive unit back to Tesla in CA and the engineers will complete a teardown to determine root cause, a ticket was put in for the engineers to notify me when they discover what happened.
What I find very odd is that my car was stationary when this all happened. I drove to work and parked without an issue.

It may have failed the isolation test during system power up (done to assure no leakage from HV to chassis). If it did fail, it may blow the fuse for safety.

 

[gregd]

What I find very odd is that my car was stationary when this all happened.

The motor is used for heating, as well as mobility. It could have been heating the battery... How cold was it?

 

[atokosch]

The motor is used for heating, as well as mobility. It could have been heating the battery... How cold was it?

Sorry, just realized my post was quoted... It was about 40 degress F out that day. I was under the impression that the motor was used for heating when the car was moving or/and it was stationary and there was excess heat that could be used. Unless the motor is going to draw less power from the battery than the 7kw? heater. But to me, also seems like using the motor to heat when stationary is a bad idea...

 

[mongo]

Sorry, just realized my post was quoted... It was about 40 degress F out that day. I was under the impression that the motor was used for heating when the car was moving or/and it was stationary and there was excess heat that could be used. Unless the motor is going to draw less power from the battery than the 7kw? heater. But to me, also seems like using the motor to heat when stationary is a bad idea...

The 3 only has the motor/drive unit for battery heating, the separate battery heater of the S/X does not exist on the 3. It is capable of generating heat without creating motor rotation.

 

[atokosch]

The 3 only has the motor/drive unit for battery heating, the separate battery heater of the S/X does not exist on the 3. It is capable of generating heat without creating motor rotation.

Just looked it up, you guys are right. I forgot that they dropped the external heater in the 3. Not sure if that was when the issue happened, but haven't heard anything from Tesla, so I am going to assume that I never will...

 

[Relayer]

Well, it happened to me.
Drove a couple hours away to do some work on a property, the car sat and charged nicely for a few hours.
Started the AC remotely (warm day for Oct) and when I got in to shift to D, got the dreaded message.
"Vehicle systems are powering up Shift into D or R after message disappears" - which of course wouldn't go away, even after reboots.
Eventually it showed "Cannot maintain vehicle power" instead. There was an attempt to jump the 12v by a towtruck driver, while a tech was monitoring the charge - and it was only charging when I was sitting in the car and it was "active". Completely bizarre and a definite bummer. Had to get towed 2 hours to the Svc center, then take an Uber home (paid via Tesla). So far I've only been told "parts are arriving 10/10, the next update will be when your parts have arrived and service is in progress."
Not entirely pleased at the lack of an offer for a loaner, as I did ask but they've been mum..

 

[ChrisH]

Well, it happened to me.
Drove a couple hours away to do some work on a property, the car sat and charged nicely for a few hours.
Started the AC remotely (warm day for Oct) and when I got in to shift to D, got the dreaded message.
"Vehicle systems are powering up Shift into D or R after message disappears" - which of course wouldn't go away, even after reboots.
Eventually it showed "Cannot maintain vehicle power" instead. There was an attempt to jump the 12v by a towtruck driver, while a tech was monitoring the charge - and it was only charging when I was sitting in the car and it was "active". Completely bizarre and a definite bummer. Had to get towed 2 hours to the Svc center, then take an Uber home (paid via Tesla). So far I've only been told "parts are arriving 10/10, the next update will be when your parts have arrived and service is in progress."
Not entirely pleased at the lack of an offer for a loaner, as I did ask but they've been mum..

How many miles on your 3?

 

[Relayer]

How many miles on your 3?

1098 mi.

 

[ChrisH]

1098 mi.

Ugh. Sorry to hear. When did you take delivery? I’ve got 940 as of this morning.

 

[Relayer]

Ugh. Sorry to hear. When did you take delivery? I’ve got 940 as of this morning.

Sept 13th, about a month ago.
Took it on that exact trip a couple times previously - but I was glad I didn't have my family with me this time!
One thing that I thought about - I did have one of those coffee-warming mugs plugged into the 12v. However, I had used it before with no problems. Also, the 12v shuts off when the car does, and if anything it should only blow the circuit for the 12v (not the whole car). I know some folks have had the 12v shut off while using air compressors.
So I do wonder if the circuitry on the controller board is up to snuff with standard car items like that. The whole thing is making me skittish.
Waiting for word today.

 

[ChrisH]

Sept 13th, about a month ago.
Took it on that exact trip a couple times previously - but I was glad I didn't have my family with me this time!
One thing that I thought about - I did have one of those coffee-warming mugs plugged into the 12v. However, I had used it before with no problems. Also, the 12v shuts off when the car does, and if anything it should only blow the circuit for the 12v (not the whole car). I know some folks have had the 12v shut off while using air compressors.
So I do wonder if the circuitry on the controller board is up to snuff with standard car items like that. The whole thing is making me skittish.
Waiting for word today.

Keep us posted. I don’t understand how this happens to multiple people. Many on here attack me for statements like this, but $55,000 cars should not be leaving multiple people stranded at 1000 miles.

 

[mongo]

Keep us posted. I don’t understand how this happens to multiple people. Many on here attack me for statements like this, but $55,000 cars should not be leaving multiple people stranded at 1000 miles.

Price of the car dose not impact statistics, early part failure is a real thing. With 100k 3's built, a 0.1% failure rate is still 100 cars and counting. If there were only 400 (made up) components per inverter, the individual component failure rate must be 0.00025% (2.5 part per million) to achieve a 0.1% module failure rate. (the AP micro alone is 300 + solder joints). Only way around early failures is to test each car/ component for 1k miles (or time/ cycle equivalent) and then deliver them.

 

[Relayer]

Keep us posted. I don’t understand how this happens to multiple people. Many on here attack me for statements like this, but $55,000 cars should not be leaving multiple people stranded at 1000 miles.

Agreed. I'm a huge supporter of Tesla and its goals, and feel that it's been too long to get good electric cars on the roads.
But that suuucked. At least I was in a safe place and not driving.

Another thing - coming from being a Lexus owner, I'm not impressed about the Devon service reps so far.
I should have had a loaner offered immediately along with valet service. The fact that it hasn't been offered is irking me more by the day, but I'll give one more before become the proverbial "complaining customer".

 

[ChrisH]

Agreed. I'm a huge supporter of Tesla and its goals, and feel that it's been too long to get good electric cars on the roads.
But that suuucked. At least I was in a safe place and not driving.

Another thing - coming from being a Lexus owner, I'm not impressed about the Devon service reps so far.
I should have had a loaner offered immediately along with valet service. The fact that it hasn't been offered is irking me more by the day, but I'll give one more before become the proverbial "complaining customer".

Yeah I don’t get how you didn’t get offered a loaner. Maybe they’ve run out because they haven’t scaled appropriately.