Ugh, Model X 12V battery failure in Santa Fe, NM

[Pale_Rider]

Well our road trip from Houston to Colorado hit a snag on day 3. Woke up this morning and the car wouldn’t respond to the fob it app. Roadside had someone come open the car manually so that I could try to reboot the touchscreen. That didn’t work so now they are arranging for a tow to Littleton, which is about an hour and a half from where the cabin we’ll be going to tomorrow is. They are still figuring out alternate transportation and things like that. They did teach me a new trick to get the frunk open though on a bricked car. That’s where all our beer, wine and fishing equipment was, you know the important stuff. Lol. Hopefully we can get back on the road and not miss too much time enjoying ourselves.

I think I dread driving the rest of the way without autopilot more than anything else. Lol

 

[Kuhz]

What was your SOC?

 

[Pale_Rider]

85%

 

[IdaX]

Let us know what the problem was once they've got it figured out!

 

[ecarfan]

They did teach me a new trick to get the frunk open though on a bricked car.

I’m sorry to hear about your car problem. However, if you parked the car last night with the SOC at 85% the car is not “bricked”. That term is used when an EV battery is run down so low that the car will no longer move or take a charge. It was possible to brick a Tesla Roadster if it was left unplugged for weeks or months at a very low SOC. However more modern Teslas have greatly improved firmware that makes bricking much less likely, in fact almost impossible.

Your car certainly has a serious problem, but it is very unlikely that is due to a SOC of close to zero.

 

[Big Earl]

Dead 12 volt battery, perhaps?

 

[Pale_Rider]

Yeah, we had not been getting any 12v battery messages, but the last tech I talked to said the voltage was around 12.6 instead of 13 so that is my thought. They put us in a rental and I’m waiting for the tow truck that will take it to Colorado. Hopefully it will be ready by the time we plan on heading back from our trip next Friday. The SC is a couple of hours from where we will be but overall this is working out about as well as could be expected.

 

[Pale_Rider]

I’m sorry to hear about your car problem. However, if you parked the car last night with the SOC at 85% the car is not “bricked”. That term is used when an EV battery is run down so low that the car will no longer move or take a charge. It was possible to brick a Tesla Roadster if it was left unplugged for weeks or months at a very low SOC. However more modern Teslas have greatly improved firmware that makes bricking much less likely, in fact almost impossible.

Your car certainly has a serious problem, but it is very unlikely that is due to a SOC of close to zero.

Yeah I was using the term bricked with respect to other electronics, ie, as good as a brick and totally non-functional. Lol

 

[Big Earl]

Let's not turn another thread into a discussion of the term "bricked." Please and thank you.

 

[petecrayton]

Let's not turn another thread into a discussion of the term "bricked." Please and thank you.

Well, Earl, it looks like you threw ice water on this party...

 

[ecarfan]

Let's not turn another thread into a discussion of the term "bricked." Please and thank you.

The term has a well accepted meaning in the EV world. My concern is that people who are actively against EVs, or simply misunderstand them (no one in this thread) inaccurately portray EV batteries as susceptible to total failure, and a very expensive failure. They sometimes talk about how easily EVs are “bricked”, when in fact it is quite rare and in the case of Teslas due to leaving a car with a very low SOC unplugged for a long time. As near as I can tell, the issue described by @Pale_Rider was not due to his Tesla becoming “bricked”, and he has now acknowledged that. But someone reading this thread who knows little about EVs or Teslas could get the idea that this is not an uncommon occurrence.

 

[Big Earl]

The term has a well accepted meaning in the EV world. My concern is that people who are actively against EVs, or simply misunderstand them (no one in this thread) inaccurately portray EV batteries as susceptible to total failure, and a very expensive failure. They sometimes talk about how easily EVs are “bricked”, when in fact it is quite rare and in the case of Teslas due to leaving a car with a very low SOC unplugged for a long time. As near as I can tell, the issue described by @Pale_Rider was not due to his Tesla becoming “bricked”, and he has now acknowledged that. But someone reading this thread who knows little about EVs or Teslas could get the idea that this is not an uncommon occurrence.

I couldn’t agree more. Just hoping it doesn’t become another lengthy discussion back and forth about it, as other threads have.

 

[ohmman]

I, for one, would love to talk endlessly about the definition of “bricked” in the context of EVs.

 

[Big Earl]

I, for one, would love to talk endlessly about the definition of “bricked” in the context of EVs.

Alright, carry on. Forgive my intrusion.

 

[jboy210]

I had something similar happened on day 3 of ownership. No amount of rebooting would help.

The system got into a mode where it ought there was something was wrong with the battery, but could not disconnect/reconnect from the battery. The tech walked me through what he did to fix it. It was to manually disconnect (DO NOT CUT LIKE DIAGRAM SHOWS!!!. Follow the wire to the clip) the 1st responder wire in the frunk. Wait 30 seconds and reconnect it. Car cold rebooted and came back to life.

I hope your fix is just as simple.

 

[Pale_Rider]

I had something similar happened on day 3 of ownership. No amount of rebooting would help.

The system got into a mode where it ought there was something was wrong with the battery, but could not disconnect/reconnect from the battery. The tech walked me through what he did to fix it. It was to manually disconnect (DO NOT CUT LIKE DIAGRAM SHOWS!!!. Follow the wire to the clip) the 1st responder wire in the frunk. Wait 30 seconds and reconnect it. Car cold rebooted and came back to life.

I hope your fix is just as simple.

Yeah me too. The car is on its way to the Littleton, CO service center. I’m crossing my fingers it’s something simple and we can just pick it up on our way tomorrow afternoon. But if not I’m sure they will have it sorted by the time we leave the state next Friday. For what it’s worth I can still contact the car while it’s on the flat bed. Had to turn off Sentry Mode, he was apparently driving down the road with it going off. Lol

 

[petecrayton]

I had something similar happened on day 3 of ownership. No amount of rebooting would help.

The system got into a mode where it ought there was something was wrong with the battery, but could not disconnect/reconnect from the battery. The tech walked me through what he did to fix it. It was to manually disconnect (DO NOT CUT LIKE DIAGRAM SHOWS!!!. Follow the wire to the clip) the 1st responder wire in the frunk. Wait 30 seconds and reconnect it. Car cold rebooted and came back to life.

I hope your fix is just as simple.

Wait, wait. wait...what? You can't just throw Disconnect the "1st Responder wire" out and then mosey on off....is there a memo I didn't get? Or a manual?

 

[Akikiki]

That was clickbait like using the word bricked.

 

[ecarfan]

That was clickbait like using the word bricked.

I do not think that was the intent of the OP. He has explained his usage and I understand it. My intent was to clarify and explain the meaning of the term as it is used in the EV community.

Yeah I was using the term bricked with respect to other electronics, ie, as good as a brick and totally non-functional. Lol

 

[jboy210]

Wait, wait. wait...what? You can't just throw Disconnect the "1st Responder wire" out and then mosey on off....is there a memo I didn't get? Or a manual?

Nothing in the manual I ever saw. The tech walked me through it when I asked how he "fixed" my car so quickly. Fortunately I have never had to use this "fix" or had a repeat of the issue.