The idea that Tesla has quality control issues isn’t exactly new. The American automaker has such a long history of poor QC, it would take thousands of words to list them all. But that doesn’t mean Tesla isn’t still innovating new ways to make its cars unreliable. The latest example appears to be delaminating battery cells.
Autoevolution recently found a thread over on the Tesla Motors Club forum started by a user with the name Tommy L Garage. In it, Mr. Garage claimed Tesla had called, saying they needed to bring their Model Y in as soon as possible. When they dropped the car off, they found out the plan was to replace the entire battery pack. Oh, and it was going to take two weeks to complete the swap.
Apparently, Tesla told Mr. Garage their “vin qualifies for a recall due to delaminating battery cells.” Very interesting. Partly because the Model Y in question is said to be a 2022 model that’s only a week old and presumably shouldn’t need a total battery pack replacement. And partly because when we checked the NHTSA’s recall site, there are still no recalls listed for the 2022 Tesla Model Y.
Did the Tesla employee use the term incorrectly? Did Mr. Garage misunderstand? Is Tesla doing an unofficial recall after seriously messing up something expensive to fix again? At least for now, it’s not entirely clear what exactly is going on or how many Model Ys are affected.
What we do know is that at least one other forum member known as plastus said Tesla had also contacted them about a full battery replacement for their 2022 Model Y. So it doesn’t sound like this is a one-off thing even though that member didn’t specifically hear the words “delaminating battery cells.”
Another member claimed their 2021 Model Y had the battery pack replaced after 25,750 km. 10 days later, they got their car back, but it now made “a horrible drill like and whistling sound.” Meanwhile, other members complained about a clunking sound that could be a loose panel on top of the battery pack.
And, of course, there was one member who said that just six days after taking delivery of their car, the battery pack completely died on them, leaving them stranded with a bricked car.
I guess it’s entirely possible that the only people in the English-speaking world with Model Y battery issues were in that thread, and the problem only affects them. But considering the reputation Tesla’s built over the years, it would not be surprising to find that it’s more widespread.
If you’re a Tesla owner who’s experienced a similar issue, let us know.