Tesla OTA Update 2019.16.x Reduces Range & Supercharging Speed?

[Pushmi-Pullyu]

There is a new controversy reported on the Tesla Motors Club forum, where some Model S and Model X owners have reported up to 10% loss of range, and a significantly longer time when Supercharging, after a recent OTA software update. It has been speculated this is in response to a battery pack fire in China, where a Model S sitting in a parking garage caught fire for no visible reason. Speculation is that Tesla has reduced the usable capacity and maximum charging speed of one particuar older variety of Model S/ Model X battery pack to reduce or eliminate the risk of fire.

Tesla claims this reduction in range and supercharging speed affects only a small number of older cars, and says it's working on a solution.

InsideeEVs News report here:

"Tesla Model S Shanghai Fire, Range, And Charge Issues Seem Connected"

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[bwilson4web]

I've seen the reports and it makes sense. Those affected are needless to say, are unhappy.

What no one has reported, yet, if they've made warranty claims on their battery. It would be neat if they get a brand new battery to replace the slow charge rate ones.

Bob Wilson

 

[Pushmi-Pullyu]

Well, I hope this is just a temporary situation and that Tesla is working on a more sophisticated fix which will not reduce the usable capacity, nor the charging speed, by as much. If Tesla can't do that, then for the benefit of public relations, they ought to replace the battery pack of everyone who's complaining about it, if the number affected really is as small as Tesla claims it is.

As far as warranty claims... frankly I doubt any Tesla customer would be able to claim a replacement under warranty. Supercharger charging speed isn't covered by warranty, and even the 10% drop in usable capacity which at least one Model S owner is claiming probably still wouldn't be sufficient to qualify for a replacement under warranty.

At least one person commenting on the InsideEVs News article about the subject claims that only the Model 3's warranty specifies an actual percentage of original capacity as being the threshold for replacement, and that's 70%. Even if Tesla were to apply the same percentage to the Model S, I seriously doubt any of those complaining about the loss of usable capacity have seen their usable battery capacity drop to that low a level.

Keep in mind that a 3rd party survey of loss of capacity in the Model S over time showed at the very most a 15% drop, and that was only a single data point out of hundreds. Nearly all the data points showed less than a 12% drop in capacity at total mileage up to 220,000 km (136,700 miles). So getting to a 30% loss is probably something we're not going to see in Tesla cars for some years, except in cars with some sort of malfunction in the battery pack. Even the Tesloop cars, used hard and charged at Superchargers every day for years, don't show anywhere near a 30% loss of capacity.

Tesla really has designed their battery packs very well to "baby" the battery cells so they will hold up quite well over time. Let's not let a few people complaining on the Tesla Motors Club forum cause us to forget that reality!

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