With gas prices skyrocketing, many drivers may find themselves considering buying an EV. One woman recently purchased a Tesla Model S to save money on her commute.
Now she’s facing a $16,000 repair bill and wondering if she got scammed.
The woman recently contacted Alex, a car salesman who specializes in electric vehicles, to talk about her experience. Alex (@evautoalex) uploaded a snippet of their call on TikTok. It’s a cautionary tale for people in the market for a used EV.
The woman admits that she didn’t do enough research before buying the 2018 Model S. She says the car was “crystal clean” and in seemingly “pristine” condition. However, its odometer had hit the 110,000 mile mark, meaning that, unbeknownst to her at the time, the battery was no longer under the manufacturer’s warranty.
This turned out to be a $16,000 mistake.
Problems with the battery manifested almost immediately. Two days after buying the car, she charged the car to around 80-90%. However, after unplugging it, she saw its percentage dip to 60%. “Why is it losing so much power?” she wondered, before driving to work.
The commute resulted in a 20% loss, leaving her at only 40% capacity. After work, she headed to a Tesla dealership to use one of the manufacturer’s superchargers. Because she’d just purchased the vehicle, she had to spend an hour getting it registered in her name before she could even charge it.
Then the infotainment display flashed a series of messages giving the bad news: her battery was toast. At this point, it wouldn’t even charge.
Expired Tesla Warranty
In the clip, Alex asks the woman if she had the Tesla app on her phone. She says she does and that is how she realized the battery was no longer under warranty. According to Tesla, the Model S battery has an eight year or 150,000 mile warranty, whichever comes first. During this time period, the car’s lithium-ion module is guaranteed to have at least 70% capacity retention.
Because it’s a 2018 model, the woman’s Model X may have just passed the warranty window.
This turned out to be a costly mistake. Tesla quoted her $16,000 to fix the battery on a car that she can’t even drive until it’s fixed.
Alex tells the woman that her best option is to let the dealership “unwind the deal” and put her in a separate vehicle. It’s that or take them to court. But now she has reservations about financing another car through the dealership, as the other options resulted in a higher monthly payment. Alex counters that a higher car payment is better than paying to keep an undrivable car.
Should EV Drivers Fear Battery Woes?
InsideEVs reports that while battery replacements on electric vehicles are costly, most buyers, especially in newer EVs, shouldn’t worry about this expenditure.
This is because EV batteries are lasting longer than they did in years past. From 2011 to 2016, 8.5% of EV batteries had to be replaced. But for cars manufactured between 2017 and 2021, this rate dropped to 2%. Additionally, technological improvements in manufacturing processes have purportedly helped contribute to lower failure rates.
None of these statistics matter, however, to folks like the used EV buyer in Alex’s video.
That doesn’t mean she’s without options. Although third-party shops specializing in battery repairs and swaps are still not widely prevalent, customers do have more options than they did years ago. Gruber Motors, for instance, made headlines after isolating a faulty Tesla Model S battery pack to a single dead cell. The business replaced this unit instead of the entire pack for a fraction of what Tesla would have billed.
Commenters Weigh In
Reactions to the woman’s tale included plenty of finger pointing and a lot of EV bashing.
“That’s why you NEVER buy an EV,” wrote one. Another agreed, “Never ever buy an electric car; lease it. You don’t want the battery problem.”
Multiple commenters blamed the dealership or the previous owner, with one opining they “sold it knowing the battery was toast.”
Some blamed her for not doing her due diligence. “Did she buy it without doing the battery test first,” keithlatch05 said, adding two crying emojis. User Meat Sweats piled on, “How are people just clueless when they're spending this much money on a car? Especially an electric car that they've never owned before.”
At least a few were sympathetic. “Aw that poor woman. I love my EV but that is a nightmare situation,” wrote one.
Motor1 has reached out to Tesla via email and Alex via TikTok direct message for further comment. We’ll update this if either responds.
@evautoalex Sometimes the smartest move isn’t fixing it. It’s minimizing the damage and getting out. #tesla #electriccar #carwarranty #carbuying #batteryreplacement ♬ original sound - EV Auto Alex
