Re: nhtsa action number: dp19005 - investigation subject : battery management software updates
I have a 2013 tesla model s85. three days ago while driving on i 70 between columbus, ohio and indianapolis, in, the car lost power abruptly just 40 miles outside indianapolis. it was towed to the dealer and the problem was identified as a failed drive train. my wife was driving and she could pull off the road safely fortunately, although the regenerative braking in the car does not give you much time to pull over. now looking on line, i see that this is a common occurrence and some drivers have had to change drive trains on multiple occasions. this is a safety concern since it is not easy to pull off the road when the car has regenerative braking. has there been any accidents due to the power train failure? should this be a recall item?
On or about june 24, 2019, my parked car's software was forcibly updated without my prior knowledge, without any prior notification and without my authorization. this forced software update reduced the nominal capacity of my battery by 16.02%. on june 23, 2019, my 100% state of charge (soc) would charge each cell in my battery pack to 4.2 volts, resulting in a rated range of 256 miles. upon entering my parked car on june 24, i discovered that tesla "capped" the battery such that each cell would only charge to approximately 4.09 volts, resulting in a rated range of 215 miles at a 100% soc, or a rated range loss of 41 miles. they also slowed the charging rate by over 50%. four tesla cars that were parked recently caught fire. after the fourth fire, tesla issued an over the air (ota) software update preventing the full charging (e.g., to 4.2 volts for each cell) of the battery pack, limited the amount of current that can be "pulled" from the battery pack at any one time, resulting in a loss of acceleration. tesla stated the update was "out of an abundance of caution" after the occurrence of several non-crash fires. tesla unilaterally took this action of issuing a "fire-safety update" without informing the car owners of the reason for the update, why said update should be installed and the effect on the car once the update was installed. in my case, the update was forced on my parked car via an ota update on june 23 (or 24) without prior notification to me nor requesting my approval nor informing me of the consequences of installing the update (reduced range, power, etc.), tesla said that they were releasing a fire-safety update, but officially no safety update was released. see, for example: https://www.theverge.com/2019/5/16/18627746/tesla-fire-battery-software-update-model-s-x https://jalopnik.com/tesla-is-updating-battery-software-after-a-model-s-catc-1834794877
Door handle problems the handle fails every 6months should be a recall drive train issues
I was driving my tesla model s early in the morning in a quiet neighborhood when was slowly approaching to four-way stop sign intersection by gradually step on the brake. at the very beginning, i can feel the car decelerated, suddenly there was unintended acceleration that i felt. there was a jerking forward of the car, so i was not able to make a full stop at the stop sign. then the speed drops down significantly, almost to zero. i pressed the flashing light because there was a line of cars behind me and i was in the middle of the road. the car was in almost zero speed, so i tried to move the car to the side of the road and pressed the acceleration pedal a little. the car didn't accelerate, instead, it turned into a stop situation. i realized i lost driving power of this car. i pressed the "p" button, then all four mode letters "p", "n", "r", "d" turned red, blicking. the car stopped close to the curb but partially in the middle of the road. i was able to get out of the car and called tesla roadside assistance. they checked some log and responded with towing service to send the car to the service center. the overall situation could have turned very severe safety issue if ever this happened on the highway, or there was human being walking across the street while i was not able to fully stop the car, neither control it. i am waiting for official service report but the car is confirmed not in drivable condition. and i feel extremely unsafe to drive it now and even not comfortable to drive it after what just happened this morning. the entire drive unit was maintained and changed to a new one in 2015, so its life only about 3 years in this car. plus, i just had the car service at the tesla service center month ago. it is worrisome they can't even prevent such issue and detect it in an early stage, perhaps a design issue to address?
On 4/15 2016 my wife was driving the car on a one lane road and the "power plant" failed (per the tesla service invoice) and the car immediately lost all power. the care was towed to the service center in rocklin california. there test results states "confirmed rear drive unit will need replacement due to internal failure" a very dangerous situation for the drive when it happens at speed in traffic.
Tl* the contact owns a 2013 tesla s 985. the contact stated that he was experiencing several failures with the vehicle. there were various shifting issues when using reverse. in addition, unintended acceleration occurred only when driving in extremely cold temperatures. the vehicle was taken to an authorized dealer where the computer system was reprogrammed but the failures recurred. the vehicle was not repaired. the approximate failure mileage was 200. the vin was unavailable. ..updated 04-16-14 *bf updated 04/17/14*lj the consumer stated after the re-flash, he no longer was able to put the vehicle in reverse. updated 05/20/14