Photo: Tesla
Would you ever consider buying a 2021 car that had its engine replaced by a used 2017 mill? We can almost hear the “no” loud and in unison from the crowds, but apply that to electric cars. Tesla thinks it will get a “yes” because it included FSD in the package – curiously, not for free.
The Twitter user @willzlife sounded the alarm in a tweet shared on December 19. He said he had never seen 2021 cars made with 2017 components. After that, Seth Horwitz did a search and found similar cases in Austin, Honolulu, Denver, Portland, Los Angeles, Miami, and Bay Area. We checked Tesla’s pages on December 20.
There are 15 cars in this situation in the Bay Area, 5 in Austin, 2 in Honolulu, 3 in Denver, 2 in Portland, 6 in Los Angeles, and 1 in Miami. All of them are 2021 Tesla Model 3 Long Range units with FSD costing more than $60,000. All 29 EVs come with 2017 battery packs.
That suggests two things: either these cars were already built with 2017 battery packs, or they had to have their original battery packs replaced with these older components. Tesla informs 353 miles of range for all of them but places a fine print underneath the ads that states that “range figures may be up to 12% lower due to battery age.”
That is not the most transparent way to inform customers about such a change. Why Tesla has not placed at least an asterisk to warn about the lower range or corrected it right away in the page is something only the company could explain.
If Tesla was willing to do that, it could also tell customers why it has decided to replace so many battery packs with four-year-old components offering 12% less range. Either Tesla chose to get rid of them, or it just does not have those parts available. We’d ask the company about it if it talked to the press.
On December 9, we told our readers that Tesla was getting in contact with Model Y Performance owners to replace their battery packs due to “delaminating battery cells.” These cars have the same battery packs as Model Y Long Range units: the more powerful electric motors are the only difference. There may be a connection between these 2021 Model 3 units with 2017 battery packs and the 2021 “delaminating battery cells.”
Perhaps in an effort to make these cars more attractive, Tesla has given them FSD. However, that is a pretty curious move. A brand-new Tesla Model 3 costs $50,990. The Full Self-Driving package costs $10,000, which makes the final price be $60,990. That’s less than what Tesla is asking for, for many of these used Model 3 LR with 2017 battery packs. The only issue would be waiting until March 2022 for delivery.
It makes no sense at all to pay more for a vehicle with an older battery pack just to get it now than in three months. Anyway, it may be the case that it works with Tesla customers: the company seems to be counting on that.
There are 15 cars in this situation in the Bay Area, 5 in Austin, 2 in Honolulu, 3 in Denver, 2 in Portland, 6 in Los Angeles, and 1 in Miami. All of them are 2021 Tesla Model 3 Long Range units with FSD costing more than $60,000. All 29 EVs come with 2017 battery packs.
That suggests two things: either these cars were already built with 2017 battery packs, or they had to have their original battery packs replaced with these older components. Tesla informs 353 miles of range for all of them but places a fine print underneath the ads that states that “range figures may be up to 12% lower due to battery age.”
That is not the most transparent way to inform customers about such a change. Why Tesla has not placed at least an asterisk to warn about the lower range or corrected it right away in the page is something only the company could explain.
If Tesla was willing to do that, it could also tell customers why it has decided to replace so many battery packs with four-year-old components offering 12% less range. Either Tesla chose to get rid of them, or it just does not have those parts available. We’d ask the company about it if it talked to the press.
On December 9, we told our readers that Tesla was getting in contact with Model Y Performance owners to replace their battery packs due to “delaminating battery cells.” These cars have the same battery packs as Model Y Long Range units: the more powerful electric motors are the only difference. There may be a connection between these 2021 Model 3 units with 2017 battery packs and the 2021 “delaminating battery cells.”
Perhaps in an effort to make these cars more attractive, Tesla has given them FSD. However, that is a pretty curious move. A brand-new Tesla Model 3 costs $50,990. The Full Self-Driving package costs $10,000, which makes the final price be $60,990. That’s less than what Tesla is asking for, for many of these used Model 3 LR with 2017 battery packs. The only issue would be waiting until March 2022 for delivery.
It makes no sense at all to pay more for a vehicle with an older battery pack just to get it now than in three months. Anyway, it may be the case that it works with Tesla customers: the company seems to be counting on that.
@chadkirchner What do you know about Tesla apparently using 2017 packs in brand new cars? I’ve never heard about this before. pic.twitter.com/EHa1X05CG7
— William (@willzlife) December 19, 2021
1/2 New thread. TSLA is selling “Demo” ‘21 Long Range Model 3s with low miles, and a disclaimer that the battery was built in ‘17 and may be degraded by 12%. I put a ton of links in a thread that broke. Here’s the search criteria for the Bay Area: https://t.co/6Hh5wYkUEP pic.twitter.com/iY8beAlgxx
— Seth Horwitz (@Seth_Horwitz) December 20, 2021
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