2015 TESLA MODEL S Complaints

AFTER SOFTWARE UPDATE 2019.16.X LAST MAY, MY 2015 TESLA MODEL S 70D LOST AROUND 30 MILES OF RANGE. CHARGING TIMES WERE AFFECTED WITH THE CAR NOT BEEN ABLE TO CHARGE TO 100%. THE CHARGING AFTER 90% BECOMES EXTREMELY SLOW AND STOPS @97%. WHEN THE UPDATE WAS DONE THE VEHICLE WAS STATIONARY. I CONTACTED TESLA, BUT THEY REFUSED TO EVEN LOOK AT THE CAR, CANCELING MY APPOINTMENTS AND STATING THAT THIS IS NORMAL. AFTER LAST ATTEMPT TO QUESTION THE ISSUE I WAS TEXTED A MESSAGE THAT THEY ARE AWARE OF SOFTWARE ISSUE AND THEY ARE WORKING ON IT. THAT WAS ON JULY 24 2019.

WHEN OUR BATTERY CHARGES TO 100% CAPACITY, IT SUDDENLY SHOWS ONLY 219 RANGE MILES, WHEN EARLIER IN OCTOBER, IT SHOWED 267 MILES AT 97% CHARGED CAPACITY. (OVER THE 1.8 YEARS OF OWNING THIS CAR, 267-270 WAS THE USUAL RANGE WHEN 100% CHARGED.) THIS SUDDEN DROP IN MAXIMUM RANGE FOR "FULL" CHARGE HAS BEEN NOTED BY OTHER DRIVERS DURING 2019, AND IT LED TO A LAWSUIT REPORTED HERE: HTTPS://WWW.REUTERS.COM/ARTICLE/US-TESLA-BATTERY/TESLA-OWNER-LAWSUIT-CLAIMS-SOFTWARE-UPDATE-FRAUDULENTLY-CUT-BATTERY-CAPACITY-IDUSKCN1UY2TW AND HERE: HTTPS://CHICAGO.SUNTIMES.COM/2019/10/18/20919396/TESLA-BATTERIES-SOFTWARE-UPDATE-ELECTRIC-CAR-FIRES-RANGE-LAWSUIT-CONSUMERS-GUILLERMO-PEREZ-CHICAGO THE LATTER ARTICLE ALSO REPORTS THAT, AS OF OCT 18, "NHTSA HAS RECEIVED AT LEAST 25 COMPLAINTS" OF THIS SORT. THIS HERE IS MY STEP TO ADD TO THIS NUMBER. I SUSPECT THAT, LIKE FOR OTHER USER, AN OVER-THE-AIR TESLA-IMPOSED SOFTWARE UPDATE DURING OCTOBER CAUSED THIS SUDDEN LIMIT OF MAXIMAL ABSOLUTE CHARGING LEVEL (EVEN THOUGH DISPLAYING THE 100%). FOR TESLA S MODELS, BATTERY DETERIORATION IS ESTIMATED AT 1-3 MILES RANGE/YEAR. I AM ATTACHING A FILE THAT SHOWS THE TRIP INFORMATION RECORDED BY A SMARTCHARGE DEVICE WE HAVE IN OUR CAR (HTTPS://SMARTCHARGERHODEISLAND.FLEETCARMA.COM). IT SHOWS THE BATTERY AS CHARGED TO 96% CAPACITY THIS MORNING (WE CHARGED AT OUR HOUSE OVER NIGHT). NORMALLY THIS WOULD CORRESPOND TO A DISPLAYED RANGE OF 260 MILES, BUT THE DISPLAYED RANGE WAS ONLY 218 MILES (WHEN STARTING A SHORT <1-MILE TRIP AT 10:08AM).

IN EARLY JULY 2019 I NOTICED THAT MY 2015 TESLA MODEL S 85D WAS NOT CHARGING AS IT SHOULD BE. MY 85 KILOWATT BATTERY WAS CHARGING AT A GREATLY DIMINISHED RATE. I TRIED CONTACTING TESLA FOR SERVICE BUT WAS UNABLE TO GET THROUGH TO THEM. IT TOOK OVER 3 VERY FRUSTRATING WEEKS FOR ME TO FINALLY GET THROUGH TO SCHEDULE A SERVICE APPOINTMENT. MY SERVICE TECHNICIAN REPLACED SOME PARTS THAT HE BELIEVED WOULD REMEDY THE PROBLEM HOWEVER WHEN HE TOOK THE CAR TO THE TESLA SUPERCHARGE STATION THE PROBLEM STILL EXISTED. HE REACHED OUT TO THE ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT AT TESLA AND WAS INFORMED THAT MY CARS CHARGING CAPACITY HAD BEEN LIMITED AND RESTRICTED BY TESLA. I FILED A COMPLAINT WITH TESLA AND REQUESTED THAT MY BATTERY BE REPLACED UNDER THE FACTORY WARRANTY. IT TOOK 3 MORE WEEKS FOR ME TO GET A RESPONSE FROM TESLA WHICH RESULTED IN A DENIAL OF MY WARRANTY CLAIM. THEY TOLD ME THAT THERE WAS NOTHING WRONG WITH MY BATTERY THAT WOULD WARRANT REPLACEMENT. I THEN INSISTED THAT IF THERE WAS NOTHING WRONG WITH MY BATTERY THEN THEY SHOULD UN-RESTRICT MY ABILITY TO CHARGE AND RESTORE ME TO FULL CAPACITY. THEY SAID THAT THEY COULD NOT DO THAT AND IF I DID NOT LIKE THAT ANSWER THEN I COULD SUE THEM. I WAS ABSOLUTELY MORTIFIED. I HAVE SINCE LEARNED THAT TESLA HAS DISCOVERED THAT THERE IS A SERIOUS PROBLEM THAT EXISTS IN THE 85 KILOWATT BATTERIES AS IS THE ONE IN MY VEHICLE. THERE HAVE BEEN REPORTS OF FIRES THAT HAVE ERUPTED ON SEVERAL OF THESE VEHICLES AS A RESULT OF ISSUES RELATED TO OUR 85 KILOWATT BATTERIES. I BELIEVE THAT TESLA IS PARTICIPATING IN A COVER UP TO AVOID DEALING WITH THIS ISSUE IN A RESPONSIBLE WAY.

SOMETIME IN MAY OF THIS YEAR TESLA BY UPDATES REDUCED MY BATTERY RANGE BY 25 TO 30 MILES. MY VEHICLE WAS STATIONARY IN MY GARAGE. MADE AN APPOINTMENT WITH TESLA AND 3 DAYS BEFORE THE APPOINTMENT TESLA NOTIFIED ME THEY DID A REMOTE TEST ON MY BATTERY AND SAID IT WAS OK AND CANCELLED MY APPOINTMENT NOW THEY DON'T RESPOND TO MY INQUIRES

RE: NHTSA ACTION NUMBER: DP19005 - INVESTIGATION SUBJECT : BATTERY MANAGEMENT SOFTWARE UPDATES STARTING WITH A SOFTWARE UPDATE IN MAY 2019, TESLA CAPPED THE MAX VOLTAGE THE HIGH VOLTAGE BATTERY WOULD CHARGE TO. THEY CLAIM THEY DID THIS "OUT OF AN ABUNDANCE OF CAUTION" AFTER SEVERAL NON-CRASH FIRES HAPPENED TO THESE MODELS. TESLA TOOK ACTION TO DOWNGRADE HORSEPOWER AND RANGE ALONG WITH ALL OTHER ASPECTS OF PERFORMANCE THROUGH A TOTAL VOLTAGE CAP AFTER CLAIMING TO BE RELEASING A FIRE-SAFETY UPDATE, BUT OFFICIALLY NO SAFETY UPDATE WAS RELEASED. THIS CHANGE HAPPENED WHILE THE CAR WAS PARKED IN MY GARAGE AND STATIONARY. IS THIS CAR AT RISK OF NON-CRASH FIRE? IS IT SAFE TO PARK IN MY GARAGE? SINCE TESLA HAS REFUSED TO ANSWER ANY OF THE ABOVE QUESTIONS AND ONLY MADE VAGUE STATEMENTS IMPLYING A SAFETY RISK - TO THE PRESS, NOT TO ME - I SEEK DEFINITIVE ANSWERS FROM AN NHTSA INVESTIGATION.

WHEN I PURCHASED MY CAR LESS THAN A YEAR AGO, IT CAME WITH A 50,000 MILE, 4 YEAR "NEW CAR" WARRANTY ALTHOUGH IT WAS A USED CAR WITH APPROX 25K MILES. WITHIN 6 MONTHS, AN UPDATE CAME OUT OVER THE AIR AND CHANGED MY SOFTWARE, AND ULTIMATELY LEAD TO A RANGE LOSS OF APPROX 40 MILES AND AN INCREASE IN CHARGING TIME BY APPROX 3X BECAUSE TESLA, ADMITTEDLY THROUGH THEIR SERVICE TEXTS, HAS LIMITED THE CHARGING ON MY CAR TO "PRESERVE BATTERY LIFE." THIS IS AKIN TO SELLING ME A 8 CYLINDER CAR, AND LIMITING IT TO 6 TO NOT HAVE TO CHANGE ENGINE. THE CAR HAS BECOME ALMOST UNUSABLE AS IT TAKES 3 HOURS TO CHARGE WHEN IT USED TO TAKE 45 MINUTES. THE CAR WAS ABLE TO GET A FULL 116 KW FOR AN EXTENDED PERIOD OF TIME WHEN THE BATTERY WAS BELOW 15%-30% AND THE CHARGING WOULD GRADUALLY (OVER 45 MINUTES) DROP TO ABOUT 40KW. NOW IT STARTS AT AROUND 110 KW AND QUICKLY (WITHIN 5 MINUTES) DROPS TO BELOW 80KW. IT TAPERS OFF AND CHARGES AROUND AN AVERAGE OF 35-40 KW. TESLA SHOULD BE CHANGING THE BATTERIES AS THEY KNOWINGLY ARE DOING THIS TO STOP THE BATTERY FROM OVER HEATING AND STARTING ON FIRE. THIS IS A HAZARD AND TESLA, INSTEAD OF REPLACING THE PART WITH A WARRANTY, LIMITS THE PERFORMANCE OF THE VEHICLE WITHOUT TELLING THE OWNER.

STARTING WITH A SOFTWARE UPDATE IN MAY 2019, TESLA CAPPED THE MAX VOLTAGE THE HIGH VOLTAGE BATTERY WOULD CHARGE TO. THEY CLAIM THEY DID THIS "OUT OF AN ABUNDANCE OF CAUTION" AFTER SEVERAL NON-CRASH FIRES HAPPENED TO THESE MODELS. TESLA TOOK ACTION TO DOWNGRADE HORSEPOWER AND RANGE ALONG WITH ALL OTHER ASPECTS OF PERFORMANCE THROUGH A TOTAL VOLTAGE CAP AFTER CLAIMING TO BE RELEASING A FIRE-SAFETY UPDATE, BUT OFFICIALLY NO SAFETY UPDATE WAS RELEASED. THIS CHANGE HAPPENED WHILE THE CAR WAS PARKED IN MY DRIVEWAY AND STATIONARY.

TESLA REMOVED MILES FROM MY BATTERY CAPACITY BY OVER 25 MILES BY REMOTE DOWNLOADS THE VEHICLE WAS STATIONARY IN MY GARAGE I CONTACTED THEM AND THEY DID A REMOTE TEST AND SAID THE BATTERY WAS FINE AND THE DOWNLOAD WAS THE CAUSE AND THEY WOULD RETURN THE MILES THRU FUTURE DOWNLOADS . IT HASN'T HAPPENED AND THEY WON'T RESPOND ANYMORE

SINCE MAY SOFTWARE UPDATES, I DON'T KNOW THE REAL REASON WHY TESLA LIMIT MY CAR'S BATTERY: MAYBE TO SHUT OFF A SINGLE BATTERY MODULE LIKE THE ONE THAT CAUSED A CAR TO CATCH FIRE IN SHANGHAI (SAME YEAR MODEL AS MY CAR)... OR DECREASE THE BATTERY VOLTAGE TO REDUCE POTENTIAL FIRE...BUT IS IT RIGHT AND LEGAL THAT I PAID FOR A TOP OF THE LINE PERFORMANCE MODEL S P85D AND NOW TESLA LIMITED IT TO ONLY 68-69 KWH? I WOULD NOT MIND IF I PAID FOR 70 KWH AND BE LIMITED BY TESLA TO 68 KWH, BUT MY BATTERY IS 85 KWH AND LIMITED TO ONLY 68KWH! THE POWER ALSO SEEMED TO BE REDUCED AND CHARGING IS TAKING MUCH LONGER. WHAT MADE ME REALLY MAD IS THAT TESLA WENT BEHIND MY BACK AND CHEATED LIKE THAT USING OTA UPDATES.

STARTING WITH A SOFTWARE UPDATE IN MAY 2019, TESLA CAPPED THE MAX VOLTAGE THE HIGH VOLTAGE BATTERY WOULD CHARGE TO. THEY CLAIM THEY DID THIS "OUT OF AN ABUNDANCE OF CAUTION" AFTER SEVERAL NON-CRASH FIRES HAPPENED TO THESE MODELS. TESLA TOOK ACTION TO DOWNGRADE HORSEPOWER AND RANGE ALONG WITH ALL OTHER ASPECTS OF PERFORMANCE THROUGH A TOTAL VOLTAGE CAP AFTER CLAIMING TO BE RELEASING A FIRE-SAFETY UPDATE, BUT OFFICIALLY NO SAFETY UPDATE WAS RELEASED. THIS CHANGE HAPPENED WHILE THE CAR WAS PARKED IN MY GARAGE AND STATIONARY. 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