Tesla Reman Replacement HV battery failure trend?

[NV Ray]

Based on my personal discussion with at least a dozen BMS-u029/018 Tesla REMANUFACTURED replacement pack casualties, there seems to be a growing trend that Tesla REMAN replacement packs are failing in less than 2 years.

Tesla still offers a 4 year/50k mile warranty on both their REMAN and NEW replacement packs.

Same observation not present, so far, in either Tesla NEW replacement packs or 3rd party REMAN replacement packs.

Based on Recell's webpage, they offer a 2 year/25k mile extended warranty on their REMAN replacement packs. Based on "way back machine" research, Recell offered, as recently as May 2023, a 4 year/50k mile extended warranty. 057Tech appears to be the same 2 year/50k mile.


@Recell @wk057 @racevpr

 

[NV Ray]

Clarification - Tesla still offers a 4 year/50k mile warranty on both their owner paid/out of pocket REMAN and NEW replacement packs.

 

[Recell]

An important bit of background on our extended warranty program

Our extended warranty has always been contingent on the condition and capacity of your existing pack. However, despite our goal of offering an all-inclusive warranty with additional core credit for owners with low mileage packs, we actually ended up causing more confusion.

Plus, we found many owners were happier to pay a lower price in lieu of any warranty at all.

So, this past May we lowered our prices further, and simplified our extended warranty program to a standard 2 yrs / 25,000 miles, for owners that want that option.

Lower prices, same build quality, with easier to understand warranty options. Our goal has always been to offer best value and consumer choice.

 

[Chris TX]

Got a reman pack a few weeks ago. Absolute *sugar* show. They replaced all the modules except two, and it's only getting ~205 miles of range at "100%". Opened a ticket and spoke to someone that claimed "Oh, it's showing only 205 miles because we find a pack that matches your range before the pack failed." WTF???

Additionally, the voltage difference is damn close to my old pack and I don't trust it to strand me on the side of the road. It's like they really don't want me to utilize my car's lifetime Supercharging. Additionally, there's a MASSIVE road tar splash on the bottom of the battery. Mine was in great shape, aesthetically.

 

[NV Ray]

Got a reman pack a few weeks ago. Absolute *sugar* show. They replaced all the modules except two, and it's only getting ~205 miles of range at "100%". Opened a ticket and spoke to someone that claimed "Oh, it's showing only 205 miles because we find a pack that matches your range before the pack failed." WTF???

Additionally, the voltage difference is damn close to my old pack and I don't trust it to strand me on the side of the road. It's like they really don't want me to utilize my car's lifetime Supercharging. Additionally, there's a MASSIVE road tar splash on the bottom of the battery. Mine was in great shape, aesthetically.

View attachment 1022771

Reman from Tesla? In or out of warranty replacement? Does the label say 400 or 350 volts. As you probably know 400v=16 modules, 350v=14 modules.

 

[Chris TX]

Reman from Tesla? In or out of warranty replacement? Does the label say 400 or 350 volts. As you probably know 400v=16 modules, 350v=14 modules.

Reman from Tesla. Out of warranty replacement ($15k). It's an old 400V pack (see top of picture I posted). It's like they found the crappiest battery to give me.

 

[stopcrazypp]

Got a reman pack a few weeks ago. Absolute *sugar* show. They replaced all the modules except two, and it's only getting ~205 miles of range at "100%". Opened a ticket and spoke to someone that claimed "Oh, it's showing only 205 miles because we find a pack that matches your range before the pack failed." WTF???

Under warranty isn't that exactly what they are expected to do? This avoids people purposely abusing their existing to get it over the threshold in hopes of getting it replaced under warranty (as they get a pack back that is similar in degradation).

"*For warranty claims specific to Battery capacity, the replacement Battery will be in a condition appropriate to the age and mileage of the vehicle sufficient to achieve or exceed the minimum Battery capacity for the remainder of the warranty period of the original Battery."
https://digitalassets.tesla.com/tes.../tesla-new-vehicle-limited-warranty-en-us.pdf

Seeing you paid out of pocket however, that's a bit different. I'm not sure what the policy would be in that case. You may need to read the fine print in whatever paperwork you have if they ever explained what the difference is between picking a reman pack vs a new pack. It's possible they confused the warranty vs non-warranty policy.

Additionally, the voltage difference is damn close to my old pack and I don't trust it to strand me on the side of the road. It's like they really don't want me to utilize my car's lifetime Supercharging. Additionally, there's a MASSIVE road tar splash on the bottom of the battery. Mine was in great shape, aesthetically.

View attachment 1022771

 

[NV Ray]

Reman from Tesla. Out of warranty replacement ($15k). It's an old 400V pack (see top of picture I posted). It's like they found the crappiest battery to give me.

To me, the "because we find a pack that matches your range before the pack failed" does apply to in warranty pack replacement, not out of warranty. Further, most folks I've talked to that paid Tesla for a reman replacement 85 kWh pack have gotten 240ish miles. For me I opted for a new pack when I wrote the check to Tesla but that doesn't help you.

 

[danielk04]

@ Texas Chris,
Can I trouble you to repeat and post your TM-SPY results at another pack charge level?
Almost empty, say 5%. I have found the 5% (or less) level to be the most telling indicator of battery imbalance health.
In the meantime, look at your current TM-SPY readings.
Full high voltage pack capacity of 61.7 (stinko) kwh.??
My newly installed warranty replacement remanufactured 90 shows 74kwh, 70 kwh usable, a virtual duplicate of my failed pack and 260 miles range.
Happy customer.

 

[Recell]

we always recommend taking a snapshot at the 80% level.

you can get some fairly large divergence out at the ends of the curve.

(not to suggest that 100 mV just disappears, but 80% gives you a much more reliable view of the actual delta)

 

[Chris TX]

To me, the "because we find a pack that matches your range before the pack failed" does apply to in warranty pack replacement, not out of warranty. Further, most folks I've talked to that paid Tesla for a reman replacement 85 kWh pack have gotten 240ish miles. For me I opted for a new pack when I wrote the check to Tesla but that doesn't help you.

This was out of warranty. I paid a shirtton of money for this piece of garbage pack.

 

[NV Ray]

This was out of warranty. I paid a shirtton of money for this piece of garbage pack.

Some folks have had luck with their grievances by talking to the site's service manager or through Tesla's arbitration channels. Also, could you provide picture of this recent pack label so that we can help you further? Thx.

 

[Chris TX]

Replacement replacement pack is in. They did two diagnostics on the first replacement pack and said they would get another one, without saying the first one was bad. The new pack is showing it to be used but all the modules suspiciously line up rather well with very little variance. 97% charge (on the dash) shows 258 miles of range, now. MUCH better. Interestingly enough, there is no reman QC sticker on next to the main label near the right, front wheel. I'll put it through a few charge cycles to see how it settles out. Whoever buys this car from me should be pleased with it and its 4yr 50k warranty.