Tesla owners fuming as they get £17,000 bill to fix car after 'driving in rain'
Johnny Bacigalupo and Rob Hussey have been hit with a £17,000 bill to fix their Tesla after it was damaged in the rain - they have been told to pay even if they say it's not their fault
Wasn't like... a huge deal made about how the Teslas are so waterproof they could double as a boat? I mean they can in fact ford much deeper than ICE cars because they don't need air, but also there's definitely tweets about this.
Edit: he said it about both the cybertruck - loads of stories about this - and the model S: https://www.popularmechanics.com/cars/hybrid-electric/a21421/elon-musk-model-s-boat/
This is entirely separate of course from the much more basic issue that a car that breaks because of some fucking precipitation is not fit for purpose and this damage report would be indefensible just about anywhere in the world. Precedent for manufacturers taking responsibility for bad products was first established in Britain centuries ago.
And not to mention it was water ingress into the bloody batteries, they're lucky (or maybe unlucky in this case) that the car didn't burn down from the Lithium...
Yeah... that's the one part you need to waterproof, more even than the passenger cabin. Everything else except the ECU is water-agnostic. Those battery cells will discharge and die if you leave them submerged. The pack itself is fine for short spells under water if it is properly made.
This is not as easy, I mean they're are some things that makes it easier than ICE, but electronical components also cannot get wet and those big boats run on fossil fuel after all.
But what's ridiculous is that rain could damage it (from article doesn't sound like car was flooded, as that would be understandable).
Yesterday I saw comment: imagine that the typical home printer was your car. That's the experience of typical Tesla owner.
This seems to match the article.
Except most BEVs absolutely can ford shallow rivers. They're better at it than ICE cars because of the intake issue.
And the electronics on any vehicle needs to be water proof too. Although I've seen an iffroad tesla mod where they actually said that opening holes in the bottom of the ECU waterproofing was essential to allow water to flow out, rather than sealing it up completely like Tesla had done. That was the problem that killed their first motherboard in that project.
Also note there's a difference between electronics and electrics. The electric motors dgaf about water, they work flooded or dry. The logic circuits are the really vulnerable part.
Yesterday I saw comment: imagine that the typical home printer was your car. That’s the experience of typical Tesla owner.
Can you expand? I live in a wealthy liberal area, the cross section of people who want to show their wealth with fancy cars and also want to virtue signal that they care about the environment, so there are a bunch of Teslas around here. I also have a few close friends and family that have them. I've heard overwhelmingly good things about the cars from these people. All of the complaints have been minor quibbles.
Well, what if I never had a problem with a printer? I realize I might be just lucky, but I never got the fuss about broken printers.
Now if we're talking 3D printer, yeah, that shit needs constant repair.
Edit: Holy shit dudes, never expected to get into the negative score for stating objective facts. Get help, pretty please.
Yeah it’s Lemon Law, it exists in many places
The OptiGrab!
All BEVs will have similar problems. The battery pack is huge and cannot come into contact with water.
The battery pack is supposed to be watertight because that is an expected hazard for an outdoor vehicle. It absolutely can come in contact with water, which apart from some minor corrosion and discharge over time due to electrolysis, should not in the short term damage it. The ability to ford shallow rivers is absolutely normal in most BEVs.
Please me all the articles about BEVs dying in wet weather
An AI tool was used to add an extra layer to the editing process for this story.
For crying out loud, stop that!
Translation: this story was written by AI but we sorta skimmed it to make sure it wasn't too insane.
And the readers can do the proof reading for us.
*to make sure it was insane enough.
It's The Mirror we're taking about.
And it's the fucking Daily Mirror -- a tabloid.
Here's an alternative link for people that don't want to give traffic to that trash site. Or want a story that's not click-bait garbage and has actual context.
Okay so for starters this article is clearly just a dig at Elon. If it wasn't they would never have mentioned him but Elon makes headlines.
Second, I don't buy it. We're getting one side of the story here. They've been selling these cars by the millions for years at this point. If the cars were failing "while driving in the rain", it would be a much bigger deal.
The " Elon Musk could buy everyone in the world a Tesla if he wanted to." line makes it clear that this is just more Elon/Tesla clickbait.
We’re getting one side of the story here.
Yeah, what most readers don't know is that the Cannonmills / Edinburgh area has been flooding a lot for the past 2-3 weeks. It's not only happening right now with Storm Babet but it was also happening with a different storm the 7th into the 10th...which is when the car came up damaged.
It's a pretty safe bet that the car was submerged at some point. It wouldn't be the first time the guy has suffered flood loss in the area either.
Man if only he has a boat! https://www.popularmechanics.com/cars/hybrid-electric/a21421/elon-musk-model-s-boat/
Elon Musk could buy everyone in the world a Tesla if he wanted to.
Well, that would be $ 314 562 157 350 000. in other words, 3 times the global yearly GDP. But one can hardly expect a common sense from a tesla owner :D /s
He wouldn't buy them from himself at full MSRP, only cost.
Let's deduct the average per-car profit of $9500, not pay any taxes, since it's a gift... we're at $ 153 207 089 787 600. Still a few billions above the yearly global GDP.
And I'm using this bullshit fake base price per car that's not even real. Seriously, read the text behind the asterisk, this is outright scam.
Doesn’t surprise me with those panel gaps.
This whole thread is a perfect example of "feeding the troll" :D
John said he pressed representatives of Tesla on whether he or Rob were at fault for the damage, to which he claims he was told that it was a weather issue. He added: "They said that the battery is effectively submerged in water. How can that be our fault?
The car got flooded, then? That's an insurance problem not a repair problem.
Due respect and support for Elon hatred, but this story is stupid. No one gets water ingress on a tesla battery from driving through puddles. The family didn't want to pay for it, the horrible "newd" organization (I refuse to even name them) knows mentioning Elon makes better news, and this whole thing is an insurance issue and somehow Elon is mentioned.
Quick, without looking, who is the CEO of Toyota, Honda, Chevrolet, or Ford?
Even if you know, who cares? Exactly.
Incredible. I clicked to read the article, but there was no article! A title and a sentence.
But they were FUMING!
Fucking clickbait everywhere.
There is an article. It talks about how they were driving in the rain in Scotland and apparently the damage caused by the rain wasn't covered under the warranty.
Nelson voice, points finger, Haha!!
Guinea pigs.
I have zero sympathy for anyone that bought anything connected to Phony Stark. Zilch.
You knew what you were buying into - you live with it.
I get everyone here loves to hate have hate boner for musk but any electric car will break down if submerged in water. If tesla's were breaking from simply driving in the rain, you would have heard about it.
idc about this post but i clicked on the article anyway to see gay people
that's so cool..
We normally hide under your bed at night.
that sounds like the dream to me
Stop reposting Elon articles.
Lmao at the mass downvotes from Musk stans
This isn't about Elon. While it's about one of his companies, Elon has little to nothing to do with this story.
Yes. It is not about Elon. It's about the doomed nature of BEVs. Any technology that can give you a £17,000 repair bill just because it is wet means it is not a viable technology. Though it's sad that people have been fooled by Elon's bullshit about his companies. Which is why stories like this come up. Ultimately, BEVs are dead-end and this cannot be changed. It will be a matter of when BEVs are abandoned in the marketplace, not if.
EDIT: Again, no amount of lying to yourself will change reality. BEVs are a dead-end and always will be.
Reminder to everyone in this thread: BEVs are a doomed technology. The fundamental high cost and resource requirements of the battery dooms it to inevitable failure. Luckily, superior technology like FCEVs are coming along now. They won't have this problem. So if you actually cared about solving climate change, you'll endorse FCEVs, just like any other kind of zero emission car. Even if you don't agree with me, you should still support anything that can get us off of fossil fuels. There is no coherent reason to oppose green technology after all.
But of course, this is not the case. Many people here have either been brainwashed by Elon Musk, or have some financial motive like investments in BEV companies. As a result, they do not care for any kind of alternative to the BEV. They only want the BEV. And they will lie and BS endlessly to prop up their favored technology.
Unfortunately, reality does not care for your opinions. The BEV is a dead-end, and always will be. You can't save it by lying to yourself or others. You have no choice to admit the truth. By not doing so, you are just becoming another group of conspiracy theorists or science deniers. We make fun of anti-vaxxers or climate deniers, and eventually we will make fun of hydrogen deniers. That is the eventual outcome if you cannot change your mind.
I'm all for FCEVs but they are a long way off from mass consumption simply because you can't fuel them at home like you can with a BEV. They need to seriously start building out hydrogen fueling stations for then be considered a viable alternative.
That's a motivation for building them out as quickly as possible. Saying that it is an excuse to not doing anything really reveals that you're not being serious about stopping climate change.
After all, millions of people will need some kind of public charging/refuel system anyways. So it's not like this problem can be ignored.
I don't see why something that works today won't tomorrow. I got a BEV for years (Renault Zoe), rode it under a lot of rain, never got any problem.
At worst this only shows a lack of quality from Tesla, not from the whole industry.
FCEV has a lot of downside that BEV don't, and same goes the other way. Those two technologies are complementary, but FCEVs lack the necessary infrastructure, be it for distribution or production.
Currently, most of the hydrogen used comes from fossil fuel as current electrolysis technologies have too much loss of potential energy, and has to be sold at a far higher price than fossil fuel based hydrogen as a result.
Once these BEVs get older and more corroded, we will see a lot of issues.
FCEVs have massive advantages over BEVs. They are just some years away from mass production and adoption.
Most arguments against them are years or even decades out of date. There isn't anything holding back green hydrogen anymore. It will be both widespread and cheap pretty soon. It is basically following the same cost curve as wind, solar, even batteries themselves.
If you actually cared about the environment, you'd walk, bike or take transit. Cars are bad for cities, people and ecology
Actually yes. Cars are for special purposes. They should not be driven that much.
Reminder to everyone in this thread:
Anyone who starts off their post with stuff like this is probably an idiot that shouldn't be taken seriously.
These are the folks who never touch grass.
aS A meCHAnIC, all vehicles are doomed. You want green, advocate for trollies.
Heavier vehicles also eat up tires quicker and put more micro plastics into the environment.
I heard one of the byproducts of desalinization is hydrogen. If that's what's powering the cars, and we're going to run out of drinking water that seems like a win win in my book.
BEVs are a dead-end technology. It just replaces an unsustainable dependency on fossil fuels with an unsustainable dependency on batteries and battery-related mining.
In reality, the future will be hydrogen cars, with an outside chance of synfuel/e-fuel cars.
EDIT: Sorry, but no amount of lying to yourself will make BEVs a viable technology. It is a dead-end and always will be.
Maybe the future is not relying on any one technology as our only option.
Nah, that doesn't make sense at all.
Agreed. BEVs make sense as short-ranged urban commuter cars. You don't want a car with a giant, expensive battery. But this is a niche, so you quickly realize that something else must be the answer.
For a lot of cases, it is either mass transit or e-bikes. But if you must have a car, it must be something that matches the functionality of ICE cars while being zero emissions.
Wow man. You have the highest proportional mix of someone being both highly opinionated and highly misinformed that I've witnessed in quite a while. Congrats, I guess 🎉
You're being eaten alive here because you are confidently wrong about many things and seem to be blind to criticism
Because in reality, this thread is filled with brainwashed BEV fanatics. Either they have been fooled by Musk, or they are investors in some BEV company.
A real problem, if you believe that is going to be a massive distraction to solving climate change.
Ultimately, if you were in my shoes, you do the same thing. You have to. It is the only morally acceptable thing to do if you believe what I believe.
Right now EVs can be charged at home with power they can generate themselves via solar panels. How is going back to a gas station a better and more convenient solution? Also, you think battery tech will never evolve?
Because millions of people cannot change at home. They don't have a garage to charge in.
Not to mention you will need a "gas station" for long distance driving anyways. Might as well have one infrastructure that serves both purposes.
In fact, this is how the ICE car won over BEVs in the first place. ICE cars were invented before the gas station, but the gas station allows ICE cars to be ubiquitous and available for everyone. As a result, BEVs died out in the early 1900s.
You do realize hydrogen technology can also evolve? FCEVs of the future will be better than FCEVs of today. Furthermore, fuel cells are basically batteries anyways. The moment you start talking about metal-air batteries is the moment you admit defeat, because hydrogen fuel cells are basically hydrogen-air batteries.
Isn’t Hydrogen only like 50% efficient?
On a good day... Electrolysis alone is often <60% efficient, but as someone else pointed out, you do have the advantage of ToU flexibility for minimizing costs.
Not really, because fuel cells are electrochemical systems just like batteries. In the long-run, it will be the same level of efficiency as batteries.
What you mean to say is that at a certain level of technology, it is 50% efficient. But even that is meaningless, because hydrogen's ability to capture excess wind and solar energy let's it be extremely cheap energy. It is the same story as photovoltaic cells. Photovoltaic cells are very inefficient, but it is irrelevant because it captures such a cheap energy source. So solar power is very cheap. Likewise, green hydrogen, made from water and extremely cheap renewable energy, will also be extremely cheap. Efficiency isn't that big of a deal here either.
Ultimately, the people who criticize hydrogen are doing the same thing as those that attacked solar power. It is just missing the forest for the trees, and they are basically guaranteed to be wrong.
It's easier for people to imagine an alternative to capitalism than an alternative to cars.
I hope hydrogen succeeds myself but my friend pointed out a hydrogen engine will still need an oil change.
In the EV space they have sodium batteries now which don't use rare minerals?
He's actually right about this one despite the down votes. Hydrogen fuel cell vehicles are electric vehicles that use elective motors not engines so there are no oil changes.
The difference is that a fuel cell vehicle captures electrons during the reaction that takes place when hydrogen is exposed to oxygen (they bond to from H2O) rather than storing energy in batteries.
So battery electric vehicles store their energy in a battery while fuel cell electric vehicles store it in the form of hydrogen but ultimately electricity is was powers both of them.
A fuel cell will never need an oil change. Your friend must be talking about hydrogen combustion engines. Another possibility, but probably something of a niche product.
Sodium-ion batteries haven't been invented yet. Just a lot of PR but no products yet. And it will have lower energy density than li-ion batteries, so it won't be a particularly desirable product anyways.
Close but the problem is personal transit, we just need to actually build public transit and then it's a non issue as by the nature of public transit you drastically reduce your dependence on both
In reality, the future will be hydrogen cars,
In what reality? They've been developing these for years and haven't made much headway. Fossil fuels are finite while lithium batteries can be recycled over and over. What exactly is unsustainable about them?
Sorry, but no amount of lying to yourself will make BEVs a viable technology
If they aren't a viable technology, then how are there millions of them on the road currently?
BEVs predate internal combustion engines. People have waited a long time for it to happen. Hydrogen has the same benefit as batteries, just minus any mining to begin with.
BEVs are the result of huge subsidies. They are not really in demand by most people. A lot of this debate is within a cluster of out-of-touch rich people.
