[themaninthedark]

>>Soon, a body shop found a quarter-size hole in the undercarriage he hadn’t seen before, which led to revelations of deeper issues inside. “The high-voltage battery pack is damaged and could cause extreme safety concerns,” a Tesla technician texted him. Because the hole was “exterior damage,” it wasn’t covered by the warranty, which meant a $13,078.58 repair bill.

Looks like selective quoting to me, the quarter sized hole was under the battery pack, which was damaged.

Since the hole was punched upward from the ground, it counted as exterior damage.

So $13,078.58 to fix the hole and battery pack issue.

[t0mas88]

That 13k to fix the battery pack is the main problem. Repairs on a Tesla are a lot more expensive than repairs on an average car.

That makes a used Tesla a less attractive option, and makes any Tesla more expensive to insure. In the long term that also makes new Tesla's less attractive. Low resale value and high insurance costs both increase the monthly cost of owning one, which is the number the majority of consumers will look at.

[themaninthedark]

How much does a battery pack cost to manufacture? How much does it cost at retail? Also there is the under armor which was damaged as well.

What else is required to remove and reinstall?

I could see a new pack costing about 10k retail, probably 7 mfg costs.

To remove and install a new one:

0: Lift car on Jacks.

1: Disconnect old pack connector at car.

2: Discharge old pack

3: Remove old under-armor panel

4: Remove old pack from car

5: Install new pack in car

6: Install new under-armor panel

7: Reconnect new pack to car

8: Run diagnostic tests

That looks like a 3 to 4 hour job minimum, with specialized equipment dealing with high voltage to me.

I think 13k is not a bad price at all.

[t0mas88]

Yes, 13k may be a perfectly fine price for the issue.

But that means a Tesla does not have as low a cost of ownership as people originally thought. It doesn't need oil changes, but now you have to deal with a low resale value and high insurance costs. The savings on fuel and mechanical maintenance may be lost to that.

[paulddraper]

IDK if people are buying Teslas for their cost of ownership, but yeah if they are they are in for a shock.