Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Tesla responds to "bricking" issue

teslamotors.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

171–180 of 249 posts

Re: Tesla responds to "bricking" issue

#171

Post by glomph »

droithomme wrote: post #157
jm4 wrote: post #144

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I disagree. You buy a car that only needs maintenance once a year, but you have to plug it in at least once every few weeks. They are willing to go well above and beyond what most would expect in order to remind you of that. I think that's a pretty good deal. Responsible owners do not let the battery charge reach zero. The consequences are serious enough that owners with unusual usage patterns that make this difficul…

I screwed up once and my car ran out of gas. Had to walk 3 miles. Didn't cost $40,000 to fix.

That isn't the same as leaving your car for weeks without doing any upkeep.

Re: Tesla responds to "bricking" issue

#173

Post by nknight »

ugh wrote: post #160
nknight wrote: post #121

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And plugging in the damned car is part of the daily routine of owning an EV. You're only making his point for him.

But it’s new and unusual. If there are really only these vague warnings in the manual (manuals tend to have all kinds of crazy warning that you usually don’t have to take all that seriously) then this is absolutely Tesla’s fault and they have to own up to it.

First of all, the warnings in the manual are anything but vague.

Second, again you're proving the point. If EVs were the norm and suddenly internal combustion engines burst onto the scene, people would be breaking those because they're not used to what you can or can't do.

Re: Tesla responds to "bricking" issue

#174

Post by InclinedPlane »

seanos wrote: post #115
cynicalkane wrote: post #112

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As a few dozen people pointed out, these batteries can become bricked even with a physical disconnect. They're not bricking because of being drained, they're bricking because they're drained and then left for months. Do this to any other Li-Ion device and the same thing will happen. More generally, you jumped to conclusions based on personal anecdotal evidence, ignored the entire preceding discussion, then pretended…

Except that for the Tesla it's days after reaching zero charge, not months. From the manual "Important! Caution: If the battery’s charge level falls to 0%, it must be plugged in immediately. Failure to do so can permanently damage the battery and this damage is not covered by the New Vehicle Limited Warranty."

Of course the manual is going to say that. If the manual said it took weeks or months for the battery to discharge then people would dilly dally and forget and suddenly there would be a lot more bricked batteries out there.

If you tell people to plug their cars in IMMEDIATELY then maybe they won't let it sit around for more than a week or two.

Re: Tesla responds to "bricking" issue

#175

Post by nknight »

droithomme wrote: post #162
cuu508 wrote: post #142

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Such condition would be tempting to abuse. Warranty expires in 6 months--drive to 0%, wait a month and call dealer. Instead manufacturer could make it very clear in on webpages, in owner manuals, PR materials etc. the importance of keeping batteries charged. Make it common knowledge. Then they would be morally right to treat bricked batteries same as running with no oil or with flat tires.

I never heard of a battery warranty that wasn't prorated over the life of the battery. You know, if it fails 1 month before the end of a 5 year warranty, you get a credit for 1/60 the replacement value, often redeemable only as a credit towards purchase of a new battery of the same brand from an authorized dealer. I am sure you have heard of prorated battery warranties and are familiar with them, aren't you? Granted…

> I am sure you have heard of prorated battery warranties and are familiar with them, aren't you?

I'm not. I've never heard of any such thing. Perhaps it is you being misleading?

Re: Tesla responds to "bricking" issue

#176

Post by veyron »

nknight wrote: post #175
droithomme wrote: post #162

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I never heard of a battery warranty that wasn't prorated over the life of the battery. You know, if it fails 1 month before the end of a 5 year warranty, you get a credit for 1/60 the replacement value, often redeemable only as a credit towards purchase of a new battery of the same brand from an authorized dealer. I am sure you have heard of prorated battery warranties and are familiar with them, aren't you? Granted…

> I am sure you have heard of prorated battery warranties and are familiar with them, aren't you? I'm not. I've never heard of any such thing. Perhaps it is you being misleading?

It's actually more common with tires, but there are battery manufacturers like Interstate that give prorated battery warranties (of course there are all kinds of stipulations on the warranty protecting them from negligence claims)

Re: Tesla responds to "bricking" issue

#177

Post by InclinedPlane »

aero142 wrote: post #139

Why 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…

Tesla is a corporation, they make money by selling things. Sometimes those things have limitations or imperfections. By the rules of anti-capitalist internet logic that makes Tesla an evil Robber Barron trying to scam people.

Re: Tesla responds to "bricking" issue

#178

Post by cuu508 »

droithomme wrote: post #162
cuu508 wrote: post #142

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Such condition would be tempting to abuse. Warranty expires in 6 months--drive to 0%, wait a month and call dealer. Instead manufacturer could make it very clear in on webpages, in owner manuals, PR materials etc. the importance of keeping batteries charged. Make it common knowledge. Then they would be morally right to treat bricked batteries same as running with no oil or with flat tires.

I never heard of a battery warranty that wasn't prorated over the life of the battery. You know, if it fails 1 month before the end of a 5 year warranty, you get a credit for 1/60 the replacement value, often redeemable only as a credit towards purchase of a new battery of the same brand from an authorized dealer. I am sure you have heard of prorated battery warranties and are familiar with them, aren't you? Granted…

Hadn't heard of prorated battery warranties, but yes, makes sense. This fixes intentional abuse. But I imagine with free brick replacement, people would more easily and frequently forget to keep the battery charged. Without the risk of $40K, brick rate would probably go up.

Re: Tesla responds to "bricking" issue

#179

Post by ssmoot »

I can't remember ever saying this before, and it's not even really plausible considering how relatively small HN is, but some of the comments here feel like they're directly from the mouth of Tesla.

I mean seriously. Cost doesn't matter? Time doesn't matter? Equating going on vacation without your car to never changing your oil?

Just because someone says it's neglect, or even has a contract that defines it that way, doesn't mean it's reasonable or even anywhere near the realm of common sense. That's just lawyer speak that is.

Re: Tesla responds to "bricking" issue

#180

Post by droithomme »

lamnk wrote: post #26
vidarh wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> (which, no matter how loud they are, would be hard to hear from across the country, if you've left it in an airport parking lot). Which is presumably why they're doing this: > Starting with Roadster 2.0, owners can also elect for their car to contact Tesla headquarters once the state of charge falls below a specified level, and we can then contact the owner.

Well, why don't they just let the car contact the owner directly then?

Same reason Apple doesn't let you copy individual files from your iPad to your iMac, you have to let Apple servers be the intermediary.
Post reply on HN