Crashnburn80's Tesla Model 3 Performance Longer Range Build

Doing a custom harness and making it plug and play, if the ECU cooperates, does not seem remotely difficult.

 

W.T.F.


Right as I was getting on the highway for an hour long drive this evening, the car threw multiple errors it may randomly shut off unexpectedly and be unable to restart.


With an important evening on the line, a rigid timeline, temps in the high 30s, heading out on a limited access 2 lane highway and still being right next to home, I chose to abort. The errors cleared and systems were green as we exited the highway, but we continued to circle back for the Tacoma.

We’ll see if the errors repeat, some indications point to a possible 12v battery failure which is semi-common (not unlike Tacoma’s) or a high voltage regulator. Annoyed.

You can pull up error history under:
Controls->Service->Notifications

 

I’m not confident in the ECU cooperating with anything, and with regular over the air updates the ECU is a constant moving target. This is a vehicle I won’t be rewiring or modifying the ECU. That didn’t work out so well last time.

 

Would you have lost power to brakes and steering if it had shut off? Good call on the abort. Lucky you were still near home

 

what happens when you let a bunch of software go?

 

Are you about ready to take back your 2nd gen?

 

Lost power yes, but they will still operate mechanically like if an ICE car lost engine power. However due to the electric motor design with no transmission I think the car would stop pretty quickly with a power loss and not coast like an ICE car in neutral.

This seems like a system fault I want to have looked at, vs a software bug to send off to Tesla.

It occurred again on the way to work this morning, so I again circled back and grabbed the Tacoma. The app made it super easy to schedule service and already had the error logged to you just needed to check the toggle for what the service is for. Interestingly the app listed the fault with the 12v battery, whereas the car and manual did not explicitly state that. So hopefully it is just a defective 12v battery and simple fix. Service scheduled for Monday.

 

I hope you’d at least be able to come to a controlled stop as opposed to it essentially slamming the brakes.

 

Monday? WTF.

 

Now I'm beginning to get annoyed. The car has only 2k miles, showing errors that it could shut down without warning and issuing warnings to stop driving immediately and I'm being asked to bring the car to a service appointment 20 miles away via freeway. Google searching shows it is often less than 15 minutes from receiving this warning to a full system brick failure. So if they say no to towing, do I drive it till it bricks, then call in a road side service call that is fully covered under warranty? TBD on how Tesla responds, but there is only one correct answer.

 

Tow it with the first Gen.

 

You mean sell the Tesla and buy a 3rd gen, right??

First the Gladiator, now this. Can’t catch a break.

 

Tesla's are supposed to be flat-bedded like any AWD vehicle, you cannot traditionally dolly tow like a 2wd. Weight of the proper tow equipment plus the car would likely put the tow rating at/over capacity for the 1st Gen. Regardless, I should not be forced to put my truck in harms way to warranty a 1 month old car. If they deny towing, I will drive the car continually around the block till the fault occurs again, which is typically ~10min, park on the street and hit the road side assistance emergency button for a tow.

 

Ah, yeah, over by about 1000, not something you’d want with precious cargo.

If you only had a friend with a 7200 lb towing capacity

ETA: I suspect the gladiator could tow it

Yep, 7600 lbs.

 

Yeah, if only that guy would move closer. However, I'm a big fan of having manufactures own their mistakes, which means they should eat it when they screw up. It should not be on the end consumer to come up with creative ways to get warranty coverage.

Sure, the Gladiator could tow it theoretically, if it didn't have holes in both sides of the block.

 

Yep. Service team got back to me today and said to just request a road side assistance tow in the app.

 

Off to service it goes.