Will Tesla disable my supercharging?

[David99]

A salvaged car just has damages greater than it's value. It makes financially no sense to repair that car, but it doesn't mean it is broken, has structural damages or is unsafe. If I get in a minor accident scratching both sides of my car, the damages will be more than my car is worth right now and the insurance would call it a total loss. But the car has absolutely nothing wrong with any safety features, electrical systems. So there is no reason for Tesla to automatically disable Supercharging. If they have good evidence that the car is unsafe they should probably disable it entirely. Driving it is far more dangerous than Supercharging. So disabling Supercharging or software updates doesn't really make any sense.

 

[Xminus6]

Perhaps not instantly, but certainly painfully and within a few minutes.

Haha. I've spilt gasoline on myself more times than I care to remember as a motorcyclist. Don't recall it every stopping my heart instantly or spontaneously combustible on me.

 

[S100D]

Long story short -- I own a salvage title Tesla. Have driven it around 10K miles without any issues. Accident happened about 15K miles ago. The Tesla still supercharges and gets updates. Wouldn't be able to tell it is a salvage title car if I didn't tell you. Car is not re-certified by Tesla.

This weekend I am going on a 7 hour drive. There are superchargers along the way, BUT technically Tesla can disable my supercharging privileges at their pleasure. It's a gamble but with gas prices this high, I REALLY do not want to take my ICE.

What would you do? As of now, I am planning on taking the Tesla regardless but I would hate to get stuck half way.

If I were you, I would stop telling people that you have a salvage Tesla and you can still use Superchargers.

 

[henderrj]

Comparison doesn’t work as well because last I checked, nobody died instantaneously from touching gasoline.

I did have to laugh! Of course you are correct, you can't die instantly from touching gasoline. But I think your fears are completely ungrounded (pun intended). If a battery pack was so damaged, in any of the electric cars on the road today, that power went to the frame of the car, you couldn't drive it at all. Neither could you salvage it. I know you don't mean it, but this sounds more like fear-mongering than reality.

 

[Xminus6]

A salvaged car just has damages greater than it's value. It makes financially no sense to repair that car, but it doesn't mean it is broken, has structural damages or is unsafe. If I get in a minor accident scratching both sides of my car, the damages will be more than my car is worth right now and the insurance would call it a total loss. But the car has absolutely nothing wrong with any safety features, electrical systems. So there is no reason for Tesla to automatically disable Supercharging. If they have good evidence that the car is unsafe they should probably disable it entirely. Driving it is far more dangerous than Supercharging. So disabling Supercharging or software updates doesn't really make any sense.

I don't agree that Tesla should have to wait for proof that the car is unsafe. What if that car catches on fire next to you at a SC station because Tesla just assumed the car was safe to charge?

Tesla had a system to check the safety of those cars and they offer it to customers. If those customers are unwilling to pay to ensure that their cars are not a danger to themselves OR others then they don't deserve the privelege of pulling hundreds of watts of juice into their car next to people who have cars known to be safe and an expectation that the cars around them are safe as well.

 

[Xminus6]

I did have to laugh! Of course you are correct, you can't die instantly from touching gasoline. But I think your fears are completely ungrounded (pun intended). If a battery pack was so damaged, in any of the electric cars on the road today, that power went to the frame of the car, you couldn't drive it at all. Neither could you salvage it. I know you don't mean it, but this sounds more like fear-mongering than reality.

Not really fear mongering as I've owned five EVS so I'm certainly not trying to paint them in a bad light. I have no idea the path energy would take in a severely damaged battery pack hooked up to a supercharger and I hope to never need to find out.

 

[scole04]

I bet Tesla is reading this forum trying to figure out which car it is right now.

 

[MP3Mike]

I would take my Chademo adapter with me and route with those locations as Plan B.

We have word that Tesla disables all DC charging when they disable features on a salvage vehicle.

 

[MP3Mike]

Can you fast charge with a CHAdeMO adapter if Supercharging is disabled? Weren't Supercharge-less S60's back in the day not able to even fast charge via CHAdeMO unless Supercharging was enabled?

You can if it isn't disabled as well. Back with the S60s you could pay $1,900 to enable just CHAdeMO charging or $2,500 to enable Supercharging and CHAdeMO charging.

 

[scottm]

How the heck would Tesla company know the disposition of any car after its initial sale unless you told them? Resold, written off, or otherwise? Supercharging is enabled on the car and stays that way. If the car has a free supercharging for life deal... so long as it can plug into a supercharger and charge, you win.

 

[MP3Mike]

How the heck would Tesla company know the disposition of any car after its initial sale unless you told them? Resold, written off, or otherwise? Supercharging is enabled on the car and stays that way. If the car has a free supercharging for life deal... so long as it can plug into a supercharger and charge, you win.

It depends if they pull DMV reports on all Teslas looking for salvage title cars occasionally. (Or if Insurance companies notify them.)

 

[Jpballer88]

I paid a fraction of a price for my Tesla and it does everything your guy's car does. I can't be mad no matter how much fear mongering you continue to promote about salvage Tesla's. 20K miles with no issues, I am cool with it!

Have a good memorial weekend guys, hope I don't park next to a supercharging stall next to one of you guys as my Tesla can explode any minute

 

[David99]

I don't agree that Tesla should have to wait for proof that the car is unsafe. What if that car catches on fire next to you at a SC station because Tesla just assumed the car was safe to charge?

Driving it is by far more dangerous than charging it. So you are saying they should permanently disable the car until it is re-certified? The energy is in the battery and powering all parts of the car. Supercharging isn't the dangerous part. The entire car is.

 

[Yaro]

Driving it is by far more dangerous than charging it. So you are saying they should permanently disable the car until it is re-certified? The energy is in the battery and powering all parts of the car. Supercharging isn't the dangerous part. The entire car is.

Lmao how is the car dangerous?

 

[Xminus6]

Driving it is by far more dangerous than charging it. So you are saying they should permanently disable the car until it is re-certified? The energy is in the battery and powering all parts of the car. Supercharging isn't the dangerous part. The entire car is.

You really have no idea if that's true or not. And choosing to drive a car that may be compromised is a personal choice. Other people at a Supercharger don't have the choice as to whether or not that car is charging next to them.

 

[Xminus6]

I paid a fraction of a price for my Tesla and it does everything your guy's car does. I can't be mad no matter how much fear mongering you continue to promote about salvage Tesla's. 20K miles with no issues, I am cool with it!

Have a good memorial weekend guys, hope I don't park next to a supercharging stall next to one of you guys as my Tesla can explode any minute

No need to be sarcastic about it. If you're getting it for free, then bully for you. If they turn it off, then that's what was supposed to happen. If that happens and you decide to have it re-certified then it's still cheaper than a non-salvage one. I personally don't care, but I also don't think Tesla owes anything to owners of Salvage vehicles other than the opportunity to have it certified as safe and able to access the Supercharging network.

 

[roblab]

From what I read, the pay-for-charge is about what you'd pay for electricity at home. Where I live, that's about half what I'd pay for gasoline to go the same miles.

IF you started on your 700 mile trip and had to supercharge, let's say 3 times (I'm assuming you have charging at the end of trip), you might pay $20.

For reference, I charged my 3 during a 400 mile trip. Started full, recharged at halfway point, cost was near $4. I think they charged me like 25 cents per kwh which takes me near 3 miles. Gas would cost 40 cents.

Chedemo is more than that, as I recall.

 

[Yaro]

No need to be sarcastic about it. If you're getting it for free, then bully for you. If they turn it off, then that's what was supposed to happen. If that happens and you decide to have it re-certified then it's still cheaper than a non-salvage one. I personally don't care, but I also don't think Tesla owes anything to owners of Salvage vehicles other than the opportunity to have it certified as safe and able to access the Supercharging network.

It was sold with the car.

 

[Az_Rael]

We have word that Tesla disables all DC charging when they disable features on a salvage vehicle.

That seems like serious overkill on Tesla’s part. I get not letting salvage cars use their proprietary network, but turning off DC charging too?

Salvage Teslas on the road is just going to be more and more common as the fleet ages. Do they mess this much with original roadster owners who decide to restore a salvage title car?

 

[David99]

Lmao how is the car dangerous?

That is exactly my point. If you argue that, on a car that was in an accident, Supercharging is so dangerous that it has to be disabled, then how can you, at the same time, make the call driving the car safe? That makes no sense. Either Tesla decides that the car is unsafe or it is not. If it is not safe only disabling Supercharging is random. There is way more power going through the entire HV system while driving than from a Supercharger.