Earlier quoted context omitted.
Is that a fail-safe or the opposite of a fail-safe? I can't decide...
Consider a battery failure while parked on a hill
Doesn't it have a handbrake?
Tesla responds to "bricking" issue
131–140 of 249 posts
Re: Tesla responds to "bricking" issue
#132Here's one of the problems that I have with this whole thing: My iPod goes dead all the time, so does my phone, so does my laptop, my camera, my remote, my everything. I think that every single battery-powered device I've ever owned has, at some point, gone "dead" (as in it won't power on). NONE of these things have ever been completely incapacitated because of this. I've never had to replace my laptop because I let…
You missed the part where they say that it's fine if you plug it in in less than 30 days.
I've had plenty of devices nearly bricked (only working with an external power source, battery lasts seconds/minutes) by leaving them unattended for months. My 1st gen iPod dies in less than an hour after being left at 0% charge for a few weeks.
Re: Tesla responds to "bricking" issue
#133Am I the only one face palming from reading "Here is why the rumor is unfounded" followed by the first two paragraphs confirming exactly what the blog stated? That batteries must be kept charged, and that if they get too low will contact Tesla HQ?
The rumour is unfounded because you have to try really hard to get to that state. You can leave your car in storage or at the airport for weeks as long as it has enough charge to hold, and even if you get to 0% charge you still have 30 days to plug it in before all is lost.
Re: Tesla responds to "bricking" issue
#134Earlier quoted context omitted.
Is that a fail-safe or the opposite of a fail-safe? I can't decide...
Consider a battery failure while parked on a hill
Park usually does two things--it slips a fixed tooth (pawl) into a gear on the output shaft of the transmission, effectively locking the driven wheels (i.e. front wheels on a front wheel drive car.) It will also unload the gears of the transmission the same as the neutral setting. This is why on some AT cars, the idle speed will creep up a tiny bit after put in PARK or NEUTRAL.
Re: Tesla responds to "bricking" issue
#135Tesla, what's the cost of bundling a solar trickle charger in with your vehicle? Either build it into the roof (next generation, obviously) or just buy one that sits on the dashboard and throw it in with purchase. "Please to be using this when leaving vehicle at airport. Thank you much, Tesla." Maybe there's some reason this won't work, but... you need to work with your customers' expectations. Some of them are going…
30 watt drain. You will need 720 watt hours per day which will be around a square meter of solar cells.
Won't work in the parking garage, snow, or Seattle. Just don't leave your tesla at the airport of 12 weeks. That's expensive all by itself.
Re: Tesla responds to "bricking" issue
#136Earlier quoted context omitted.
Yes, it is entirely different. Running an early fuel-injected vehicle out of gas didn't result in a repair bill that is approximately half the purchase cost of the car. Secondly, you could leave your fuel injected car idle for months on and end without having to worry about the car slowly slurping the fuel down and then leaving you an empty. So it is much easier to run a EV out of battery power and far more expensive…
I really don't see the problem. Tesla clearly states in the manual that completely depleting the battery and then leaving it without charging it will cause damage to the car. This would be completely analogous to running a brand-new early car without oil, destroying the engine. It's a serious neglect of your maintenance duties. I mean, yes. You can "destroy" your car by not charging it. You can also destroy it by acc…
The problem is that this isn't common knowledge yet and it needs to be.
Is this Tesla's fault? Not entirely. But let's be honest, a small warning in the middle of the owners manual is not good enough.
I'm sure they feel it would be stupid to advertise something that to the general public looks like a defect with the technology. But I think it would have been better for them in the long-run if they were more informative. Now they are doing damage control, and a number of people have probably been turned off due to this whole saga.
tl;dr This information needs to be common knowledge amongst owners, Tesla could have avoided this if they handled it upfront instead of waiting for it to leak out on a blog.
Re: Tesla responds to "bricking" issue
#137[deleted]
Re: Tesla responds to "bricking" issue
#138Even if it is in the owner's manual - and even if it is prominent in the manual - how many of you have ever actually read the manual when you get a new car? I know I have only ever looked when I actively needed something: the meaning of a warning light, how to operate the disc changer, something like that. It is entirely conceivable for someone to own a relatively new car for years without needed to look in there.
edit: and yes, I realize it would probably make sense to check it out when buying a type of car that is relatively new, but that doesn't mean even a significant minority of new owners will.
Re: Tesla responds to "bricking" issue
#139Why is this thread so filled with hate? This all sounds very reasonable to me. They clearly acknowledge that the battery must be maintained properly and they seem to be doing to the right things to minimize the risk. They then show very clearly that the total amount of maintenance is less than that of a gasoline vehicle, w/ oil and scheduled maintenance. There are a bunch of things like breaking your timing belt that will break a gasoline engine. This all sounds very reasonable to me. Why is everyone freaking out?
Re: Tesla responds to "bricking" issue
#140This is PR mastery. Nowhere in the release does Tesla refute that owners have "bricked" their batteries. Nowhere in the release do they say that the battery can not be bricked by leaving it for a long period without a recharge. All they say is that it would take a period of weeks for a Tesla roadster to reach 0% charge, and that the Model S has battery disconnect technology that can extend this to several months. The…
If it is PR mastery (not convinced) it's in the tone of the writing. It reminds me of a notice of late payment I received from The Economist magazine some years back. It was so darn polite and diplomatic, I kept it in a shoebox ever since. Now, whenever there's an outstanding payment issue with a client, I read the letter for inspiration.
I'd love to read that letter! Any chance you could scan it or type it up?