Providing Solutions in Alberta: Tesla High Voltage Battery Repair
If you’re a Tesla owner, you are probably well aware that replacing your battery pack can sometimes be expensive. The good news? Future-focused service centres like us have made significant investments in tooling, training and parts in order to repair valuable components like battery packs and drive units. At our shop in Alberta, we’ve been able to assist dozens of clients who were quoted $20,000 or more to replace their battery pack, instead repairing their existing battery for less than 30% of the cost.
Tesla Battery Pack Diagnostics
The first indications of problem inside your battery pack are usually warnings on the vehicle screen, including the dreaded “BMS_u029_dSoc_Limiting” alert which sets when a voltage imbalance is detected between the battery’s cell groups, which Tesla calls “bricks”. (A Model S/X battery contains 14-16 modules, each divided into six bricks of 74 cells apiece.) A voltage imbalance like this can result from something as simple as a single bad cell! On other occasions, the cell voltages are normal but the BMS (Battery Monitoring System) just thinks there is a problem because one of the modules’ BMB boards has failed and is reporting erroneously. Other common alerts that Tesla drivers might experience are isolation faults due to water or coolant leaking inside the battery pack, or contactor faults due to welded, melted or failed contactors.
Yes, Tesla battery packs can be repaired!
When most components inside the battery pack fail, Tesla service centres will only replace the complete pack; usually with a remanufactured unit. (While these reman batteries do come with a new warranty, they’re not all new inside; often less than 1% of the cells are actually replaced.)
However, Tesla batteries contain dozens of components that can be replaced separately by a technician with the right skill and experience. As Alberta’s hybrid and EV service leaders, we offer just that. These components include contactors, resistors, bus bars and connectors, coolant hoses, the aforementioned BMB boards and of course the cells/modules themselves. Many of them are not available through Tesla but we have assembled quite an inventory of quality used parts over the years; sometimes even purchasing entire vehicles in order to obtain certain hard-to-find items.
Following a cell failure, we have two options. In many cases, we can detect a resistive cell and simply cut it out of the circuit. This reduces the total battery capacity by 0.014% – obviously not enough to notice – but has no other detrimental effects. To do this, we use very specialized internal resistance testing equipment that (to our knowledge) no other Canadian service centre has invested in. In the event of multiple cell failures, a coolant leak or an isolation fault, we can replace a whole module and save the other 94% of your battery pack from early retirement.
Photo Gallery: Tesla Battery Repair
Tesla Battery Modules for sale in Airdrie, Alberta
We maintain an inventory of 5.2 kWh (70/85 packs) and 5.3 kWh (75/90 packs) Tesla battery modules for use in clients’ vehicles. Quite often we will have surplus modules in stock, which are for sale at CAN$800-$1500 each depending on their age and degradation level. These can be used for EV conversion projects, solar or off-grid battery backup/storage and more. Please contact us for more information.
Do you have any questions about repairing a Tesla battery pack, or any EV service questions in general? Please never hesitate to reach out! Our experienced team is always happy to help.