“It’s A Brick” – Tesla Motors’ Devastating Design Problem

Tesla Motors’ lineup of all-electric vehicles — its existing Roadster, almost certainly its impending Model S, and possibly its future Model X — apparently suffer from a severe limitation that can largely destroy the value of the vehicle. If the battery is ever totally discharged, the owner is left with what Tesla describes as a “brick”: a completely immobile vehicle that cannot be started or even pushed down the street. The only known remedy is for the owner to pay Tesla approximately $40,000 to replace the entire battery. Unlike practically every other modern car problem, neither Tesla’s warranty nor typical car insurance policies provide any protection from this major financial loss.
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vdiv - 2/24/2012 9:59:46 AM

+3 Boost

Self-destructing $110,000 cars, brilliant!

I think this will be a giant lawsuit and can lethally damage Tesla. It will also hurt other EVs even though they are not impacted by this.

I was always wondering why the Prius and the Volt have an auxiliary 12V lead-acid battery that is required to start the car when they have a much larger traction battery. Well, now we know why.

BondMI6 - 2/24/2012 11:11:40 AM

+3 Boost

Oh this is good.......

Always wanted a car that could do 0-60 in 0.

-Bond

g2ok - 2/24/2012 12:04:24 PM

+2 Boost

Yeah, where's that auto self-destruct button when you need it.
Time for Musk to do the right thing or quit making cars.

holmstar - 2/24/2012 1:55:08 PM

+4 Boost

Sounds like Tesla is going out of their way to try to prevent it from happening though. (Remotely monitoring battery charge state and contacting owners if it is in danger of discharging completely)

Still, it seems like it should be setup to completely shut down the car if the battery get's too low. It could automatically put it in tow mode and then cut off the battery completely. It would HAVE to be towed, or plugged in at that point, but it's a lot better than having the battery go kaput.

quizz - 2/24/2012 11:57:11 PM

+3 Boost

This report is FALSE.

http://www.itworld.com/it-managementstrategy/252452/false-scare-tesla

A little better reporting and some research, please.