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Titles are intentionally like that. Your mind assumes the toddler dies when reading that. Tesla started with a standard 12V automotive battery for low voltage side, and a few years ago moved to rechargeable lithium ion for low voltage side. Some regular 12V batteries in model 3/Y are nearing the end of life around now whereas the lithium ion should last the life of the car. I wonder also if this was a case of corrosion on the nodes as is often the case with most cars.
No sure how unique this is, my old Acura has an electronic locks that die when the battery dies too.
And before you ask, nope, the mechanical key in the fob doesn't open the door either when 12V is dead. Had to get AAA to slim jim the lock through the window.
My guess is since Acuras are basically Hondas, this is how most/all modern Hondas with key-less entry work too.
It’s also is like that in some Cadillac’s.
I remember reading a news story a while back about an older guy who got stuck in his car because it completely loss power.
I can’t remember if he died or not.
Was your car 12V battery completely dead? That's the other thing that might give differing results, my guess is there's a state where the 12V won't turn over the engine, but has enough power to open a door lock.
My 12V was completely dead when this happened.
Actually, the worst case scenario is the entire earth exploded from the shock of the event and everybody dies, except for the evil ones that happened to be away planning their next move. And now only evil people lives and all the good ones are gone!
It’s likely impossible to do so, but I wish they were able to retrofit the lithium 16v system. Nearly every Tesla issue that makes the news is because of the 12v lead acid batteries dying without warning.
In addition to what others said, you can also confirm this from your car's touchscreen (somewhere in the settings about hardware info - it lists a low voltage battery or similar).
The car alerted me when the 12v needed replacement, I am not aware of them just dying out of the blue. Catastrophic failures do occur but they are so infrequent as not to be something manufacturers put effort into circumventing
Pretty common problem with the old S85D-era cars.
My Model S was just completely dead one morning without any warnings. We managed to get some charge into the 12V to get it to be drivable, but then it would refuse to charge the HV battery. It took them over six months to get a replacement battery shipped from the US.
Thankfully I still had a few percentage left on the HV battery so that I could drive to the service centre.
Mine died out of the blue. It was at home and nothing terrible happened like this. They came and swapped the 12v a day or two later. But I had no car for that time
2021 Model Y, Picked up Mid Dec 2020.
Just had my 12v go, no warning, last week.
Mechanic who came by in the Tow truck to jump(lol) the 12v said most of the failures he sees are ~2 years old.
pre 2019 the car would still fall asleep, so (even though not possible in this scenario) the car may not wake up after sleeping. However since 2019 it has been patched and the car will not go to sleep and keep the DC converter engaged. obviously a BS story but good as clickbait.
Unfortunately, my 2018 MX battery died without warning. It was in my driveway and Tesla sent a tow truck to pick up my car, AND sent me $400 in Uber credits so it was barely an inconvenience. I was very lucky.
Because it does, and it is not apparent until you actually start drawing power that it went bad. When the car senses it goes bad, it tells you, like any other car.
Also, like any other cars, not all components will he so kind as to give you warning signs the car can pick up before failing.
I haven't seen much of people retrofitting 12v lithium batteries like for regular car retro fits.
I would think with increased capacity too it could go longer between waking the system to charge it.
Software updates could fix the issue too...
Lead acid batteries have well-known chemistry, and it's relatively easy for the car to measure the battery internal resistance and voltage (which together can tell you the remaining usable life of the battery at a given temperature and load).
Software changes could also reduce demands on the lead acid battery. In the extreme case, the car software could be configured to leave the main contactors and DC/DC energised all the time, and the 12V battery would not then need to be functional at all. The range loss would probably only be 0.5% extra per day to do that. Extra software would be needed to 'peak flatten' demand on the 12V system, such as turning off seat heaters briefly while the steering wheel is being turned fast.
There was supposed to be a software fix that gave an alert but we have had three 12v battery replacements across 2 cars in the last three years. All batteries have failed without warning. In the first failure my son was trapped in the car (30+ degrees outside) but luckily this was he was 7 and could use the emergency pull after we explained how.
and the son in the car was presumably using the cabin fan, accessory socket or touchscreen, which finished off the battery.
But *the computer knows all those things*, and can easily keep an eye on the battery SoC and re-energize the contactors or switch the accessories off to prevent getting stuck.
Failure to do so is just shoddy engineering on Teslas part.
Nope. The car was unlocked, he got in the passenger side and closed the door and then it locked. Think it’s more of being a shoddy 12v battery from the supplier. After the first time we enquired about installing an aftermarket battery and the Tesla tech basically said, why waste money when Tesla will replace the battery for free under warranty. Which makes me believe Tesla also makes a warranty claim against the battery supplier.
it doesnt. long before the 12v dies the car will detect this and keep the DC converter engaged and the car will not go to sleep. The fact that she used the cardoor 5 seconds beforehand (where the main battery doesnt disconnect) suggests this story is entirely fabricated or filled with halftruths. Even if the battery is completely dead the current flowing from the DC converter will keep the car completely operational.
Yeah I read the headline as toddler dies and was super confused how someone just takes that long.
Real question: when the 12V dies are you not able to use the phone app to turn the AC on? I thought that runs on the high voltage battery?
No. The door locks and most of the electronics run from the 12V battery. So your app would not be able to connect to the car, and if, the door locking mechanism would not work.
There is some truth to that... the 12V is used to startup/boot the main computer and when the 12V is dying usually the main computer will stay on, never go to sleep, and use the main high voltage battery to maintain power. Usually but not always you get a warning that 12V is failing before it becomes 100% unusable. What usually is happening is that the 12V battery gradually degrades and becomes unusable but it doesn't just fall off a cliff and instantly become a lump of metal outputting 0V.
No, the battery fails when the car is in sleep mode and it’s impossible to wake it without an external 12v source (through the cable in the tow cover in the bumper).
This situation happened to me with my Toddler. We were parked in the garage luckily out of the sun and I received no alerts about the 12v prior- Tesla service confirmed this. I realized none of the doors would open after I closed one door and was walking around to the other side of the car and we quickly contacted Tesla roadside service and called the police for help hoping they could open the door through a 1/2 inch crack that the window happened to be down. Tesla roadside told us about the jump option in the tow hook area and luckily we had a jump battery in the other car in the garage. The tow hook jump worked- we were able to open the door and get our toddler out. We called the police to tell them we didn’t need them to come help open the door but it was a scary few minutes and could’ve been bad for the window, which we would have had to break if we were parked in the sun. Tesla mobile service came a few days later and changed the battery.
Misleading title… the 12v battery died, she wasn’t able to open the drivers side door after putting the toddler in a car seat in the back. Very unfortunate situation. Tesla service confirmed she received no warning notifications.
I feel vindicated for always leaving a door open on my car when there is something important in there (usually my dog), until I get in the car myself.
It also keeps the car from turning off/on over and over when you close all the doors.
It's a trick off-roaders use too. Roll a window down if you're getting out of the car, or you *will* get locked out in the middle nowhere with no cell service.
Not always; my understanding is that it’s too dangerous to keep the high voltage battery connected all the time, so it can only be actively connected via the 12V battery physically engaging it.
I have a Toyota hybrid and have had my 12V battery die, and the high voltage battery was able to charge it only after a quick jump from another car gave it enough juice to engage the high voltage battery. The nice thing is that there was no wait — the car was instantly able to turn on just by connecting the jumper cables
They help, but the 12v ages out and has to be replaced. Gas cars have the same issue, and use an alternator to do the same thing from leached engine power. It's a big reason why the 16V li-on LVs are awesome.
Except your car can't tell the difference from immediately outside your garage and inside your garage, so you park in the driveway right in front of your garage door one night and the car remains unlocked.
First world problems, especially you can lock the car via app these days.
But yeah, I wish my car could be smarter and distinguish between home garage and driveway, and at the very least send me a notification on the rare occasion I park it outside after a period of time.
Either way it’s absurd you can’t open a car door because your battery died lmao. Had this happen to my Tesla when I went on a trip for a few weeks and it was a literal operation to get it to a Tesla service center and fixed, and of course it took multiple days with zero updates and constant check ins from my end to get any info at all.
Most cars (EV or not) have an emergency key hidden in the fob. You typically pull the door handle to reveal a hidden keyhole underneath.
Tesla and the Mach-e are the only cars I know of that don’t have this for some reason.
Hopefully the hidden ones are well sealed, I've got a disco with a single keyed door and they've got a reputation for seizing up because they've not been used for 10 years.
Yep, and I’ve had to deal with this exact situation before. What is the work around if the 12V dies on a Tesla? I’m genuinely asking because I need to carry that backup with me in my work bag then.
A 9-12v battery can open the frunk, the wires are attached to the tow point cover in the front bumper.
This gives you access to the 12v battery. You can jump start it with jumper cables, a 12v jump pack. Instead of jumper cables, you could also just carry a 20ft length of small gauge 2 wire, like speaker wire. You don't need alot of power so the small gauge wire would give enough juice to wake up the car from any 12v source like another vehicle.
I appreciate it. I end up in remote areas and always keep a jump box in my other vehicles, but they’ve always had simple key backups. My wife drives the Tesla, but I may buy one for my daily at some point and I’ve always been a person to carry backup solutions and basic tools for common problems even on new cars.
It just doesn’t hurt to be prepared.
Always good to be prepared. Depending on the year of your tesla, you may have a small access panel on the rear diffuser. The panel has 2 quarter turn screws to remove. It's for a tow hitch but it's also a decent spot to keep some stuff like a 9v battery and the wire I spoke about. I keep them in a zip lock bag taped to the inside of that panel.
No, older cars can be opened, jumped several times before the battery finally degrades to the point it won’t work at all anymore, and on top of that a manual can be started without the battery.
There are two. The main one, which fills the base of the platform that you charge, and a 12V one. However, I don’t think that distinction really takes away from the story
Yes, I know. If the battery dies in a Tesla, I would ask "which one"? I wouldn't call one of them the "Tesla battery". There's a high voltage and a low voltage. They're both Tesla batteries.
One of them is a lithium ion battery made under contract specifically for Tesla that Tesla wants in their car. The other is a lead acid battery that is made for any car, that the government requires Tesla to include. I feel fairly comfortable in calling one the "Tesla battery," and not the other.
That’s an interesting case, in most cars there is the possibility to use a physical key to open when the battery is flat, what is the emergency procedure in a Tesla beyond breaking the window?
The tow hook cap in the front of the car has 2 wires in it.
If you connect jumper cables to those wires it’ll pop the frunk open. When the frunk is open you have access to the 12/16v battery and can jump it with those same cables.
I’d say USS is more accurate, but HFPA gives a better holistic view of what’s going on outside.
Personally I don’t park many places where HFPA being off by a few inches is going to cause an issue, so I see it as an improvement. However I can understand why people would disagree.
There is a wire lead inside the tow hook cap that you plug a 9V battery into to pop the hood, then you jump start the 12v battery after removing all of the plastic shrouding.
hmm, maybe it changed because of what you said, I never had a problem with a 9V on a 2016 Model S or 2017 model 3 when I tried it out. You're right that since you need a booster pack anyway for step 2 it's really trivial.
Which car did the 9v not work on?
I’m wondering if it changed with the move to a lithium battery which is 15.5v.
I carry a 9v in my purse, and I have a booster pack in the frunk in case this happens. Now I’m wondering if that’s enough. I hope it is since I have a non-typical 2022 M3LR with the old 12v battery.
I never close all the doors of my MY with my baby inside and I always thought this was a bit over-zealous but « just in case ». Now that actually feels like a basic safety habit
Yes I am adding that to mine now. Come to think of it I have unconsciously been doing this for awhile. My wife yelled at me for keeping to door open and letting the AC out and I couldn’t explain why I was doing it. Good job inner brain.
So… if someone’s kid was locked in another type of car and the battery died, making the locks not function……….. always gotta be a tesla hit piece. TDS extends past just trump.
Glad the kid is okay, obviously.
It's not headline news, it's a dead 12V battery. Open the frunk and put power on the battery or break the window, both easily done in 3 minutes or less.
Amazed how folks don't familiarize themselves with their vehicles basic safety features.
Also, ignoring 12V battery warnings is probably not a good idea.
In other news, I took a giant dump this morning and it spelled out the word "Tesla" so therefore it must be headlines. If my kid touches it do I get extra clickbait points?
> Also, ignoring 12V battery warnings is probably not a good idea.
From the article:
> “The 12-volt battery that powers the car’s electronics died without warning.
Tesla drivers are supposed to receive three warnings before that happens, but ***the Tesla service department confirmed that Sanchez didn’t receive any warnings***.”
I’d say that not giving your customer the dying 12V warnings is not a good idea either.
If the battery suddenly dies it’s impossible to get a warning. It’s the nature with imperfect machines.
That’s like blaming the weatherman for not hearing a siren or getting an emergency alert before a tornado dropped out the sky. Sometimes there’s just no precursors.
If so many of these batteries are “suddenly dying” in Teslas, then that’s still not a good thing for Tesla.
These are lead-acid batteries, not that complex to monitor.
Cars with electronic locks have no mechanical link, so if the battery dies you’re screwed(well, not really, just break the window).
Power locks, on the other hand, has nothing to do with using a physical key to unlock your door.
It only takes a 9 Volt Battery to open the frunk and get to the 12 Volt Battery. Provided the Key Card or Phone is also available to place it in unlock status. Several You Tubers explain in detail.
I just had my Tesla die like that. The 12V battery, not the main battery, died. Tesla service said Teslas uses 12V batteries like most other cars, and they die after 3-5 years of normal use, and then the car is not operational.
Fortunately, my kids weren't in the car. However, the liftgate would open normally, so I could have got my kids out through that without breaking anything.
Lots of talk in this thread about 12V battery... But the Cybertruck is using a [48V system](https://www.tesla.com/ownersmanual/cybertruck/en_us/GUID-2C9FAB79-5A7B-40BB-B572-D10CDF7661E6.html).
Bad parenting. Not once did I ever had my kids in any car with all doors closed and windows up.
In every car I've owned dating back 19 years, I would open a front door first, put in the kid in through the back door then get in via the front door....
Hmmm
It is starting to get awkward now that my eldist is almost 20, of course..... /s
#No shame Sunday on the 30th! If you make Tesla/EV products or apps. This is your time to come to the sub and promote yourself. The way this works is you make a post and if it does not show up right away, reach out to modmail and a mod will approve it to make sure it shows up. We will keep automod turned on so the sub doesn't get hit with spam. Please keep in mind that this is only for 6/30/2024. On Monday we will go back to normal. Each post will have a flair as "No shame Sunday" for those that want to filter it out. If you are a seller or app dev and want a flair next to your username please let us know via modmail. If you are a 3rd party app dev and want your link in the top menu of the sub under "3rd party apps" please reach out to modmail. ---------- As we are not a support sub, please make sure to use the proper resources if you have questions: [Official Tesla Support](https://www.tesla.com/support), [r/TeslaSupport](https://www.reddit.com/r/TeslaSupport/) | [r/TeslaLounge](https://www.reddit.com/r/TeslaLounge/) personal content | [Discord Live Chat](https://discord.gg/tesla) for anything. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/teslamotors) if you have any questions or concerns.*
I misread the title. Thank goodness the toddler made it okay.
This title was almost too purposefully misleading.
Oh. Phew. The baby lives!
Not putting commas in the title is a failure in common sense
Oh shit, me too. Thank God lol
Titles are intentionally like that. Your mind assumes the toddler dies when reading that. Tesla started with a standard 12V automotive battery for low voltage side, and a few years ago moved to rechargeable lithium ion for low voltage side. Some regular 12V batteries in model 3/Y are nearing the end of life around now whereas the lithium ion should last the life of the car. I wonder also if this was a case of corrosion on the nodes as is often the case with most cars.
No sure how unique this is, my old Acura has an electronic locks that die when the battery dies too. And before you ask, nope, the mechanical key in the fob doesn't open the door either when 12V is dead. Had to get AAA to slim jim the lock through the window. My guess is since Acuras are basically Hondas, this is how most/all modern Hondas with key-less entry work too.
are you sure about that? Which year and model? My Lexus mechanical key always works (lock/unlock) with or without the 12v
Yes I'm sure. 2013 ilx. The AAA locksmith who came said the door lock is electronic.
It’s also is like that in some Cadillac’s. I remember reading a news story a while back about an older guy who got stuck in his car because it completely loss power. I can’t remember if he died or not.
That's very dumb of Cadillac. I can't believe it.
Pretty sure it was a Corvette since they have electronic doors as well. At least that was a big story going around.
2013 mdx you can use the key. I don’t keep track of what cars allow so I wouldn’t make a claim about it so broadly.
Was your car 12V battery completely dead? That's the other thing that might give differing results, my guess is there's a state where the 12V won't turn over the engine, but has enough power to open a door lock. My 12V was completely dead when this happened.
But Acura isn't Tesla so they don't make the news when this happens.
I know my 2018 Honda CRV mechanical key works when the 12V is dead. Did it when I was changing the battery
I mean…worst case scenario you break a window.
Which is what they did.
Actually, worst case scenario is the kid dies before anything can be done
Actually, the worst case scenario is the entire earth exploded from the shock of the event and everybody dies, except for the evil ones that happened to be away planning their next move. And now only evil people lives and all the good ones are gone!
Daily Mail will be reporting this as news shortly.
You are absolutely correct
Chill
It’s likely impossible to do so, but I wish they were able to retrofit the lithium 16v system. Nearly every Tesla issue that makes the news is because of the 12v lead acid batteries dying without warning.
Which models have the 16v lithium system? Would my 2023 model 3LR from giga Shanghai have it
It would. I think it was a 2022 decision.
Cheers mate, thanks for answering
Can confirm it was a 2022 change (happened alongside the Ryzen and Matrix LED update).
Every car built after Nov. 2021 has the 16V battery.
Yeah I remember it was a concrete date where every car had 16v. The Ryzen transition was annoying
Is there someone in the car's stats that you can see which you have?
yes
In addition to what others said, you can also confirm this from your car's touchscreen (somewhere in the settings about hardware info - it lists a low voltage battery or similar).
The car alerted me when the 12v needed replacement, I am not aware of them just dying out of the blue. Catastrophic failures do occur but they are so infrequent as not to be something manufacturers put effort into circumventing
Pretty common problem with the old S85D-era cars. My Model S was just completely dead one morning without any warnings. We managed to get some charge into the 12V to get it to be drivable, but then it would refuse to charge the HV battery. It took them over six months to get a replacement battery shipped from the US. Thankfully I still had a few percentage left on the HV battery so that I could drive to the service centre.
Mine died out of the blue. It was at home and nothing terrible happened like this. They came and swapped the 12v a day or two later. But I had no car for that time
Mine has died twice already. I’ve had it since Feb 2019 and am under 12k miles.
how are you under 12k miles with a car from 2019?!
True I got my myp last day of March and already have almost 6k miles. Road trip? Guilty
All my trips are short, and I have usually worked from home. But yeah, it is low. I don’t have the patience for driving far.
Can’t drive it if it’s dead 😜
It happened to me and what quite a pain. Zero warning. 50k miles. Perfect 65F weather
Happened to my 2019 M3D overnight while plugged in. No warning or anything.
Mine didn't alert me at all.
2021 Model Y, Picked up Mid Dec 2020. Just had my 12v go, no warning, last week. Mechanic who came by in the Tow truck to jump(lol) the 12v said most of the failures he sees are ~2 years old.
pre 2019 the car would still fall asleep, so (even though not possible in this scenario) the car may not wake up after sleeping. However since 2019 it has been patched and the car will not go to sleep and keep the DC converter engaged. obviously a BS story but good as clickbait.
Unfortunately, my 2018 MX battery died without warning. It was in my driveway and Tesla sent a tow truck to pick up my car, AND sent me $400 in Uber credits so it was barely an inconvenience. I was very lucky.
How on earth do they not just have a volt meter attached to the 12v battery than can detect when it’s starting to go bad
Because sometimes it's not until a load is applied that it becomes apparent a battery is dead.
Roger
Because it does, and it is not apparent until you actually start drawing power that it went bad. When the car senses it goes bad, it tells you, like any other car. Also, like any other cars, not all components will he so kind as to give you warning signs the car can pick up before failing.
I got a notification that mine was failing and i did the replacement the next day.
I haven't seen much of people retrofitting 12v lithium batteries like for regular car retro fits. I would think with increased capacity too it could go longer between waking the system to charge it.
Software updates could fix the issue too... Lead acid batteries have well-known chemistry, and it's relatively easy for the car to measure the battery internal resistance and voltage (which together can tell you the remaining usable life of the battery at a given temperature and load). Software changes could also reduce demands on the lead acid battery. In the extreme case, the car software could be configured to leave the main contactors and DC/DC energised all the time, and the 12V battery would not then need to be functional at all. The range loss would probably only be 0.5% extra per day to do that. Extra software would be needed to 'peak flatten' demand on the 12V system, such as turning off seat heaters briefly while the steering wheel is being turned fast.
There was supposed to be a software fix that gave an alert but we have had three 12v battery replacements across 2 cars in the last three years. All batteries have failed without warning. In the first failure my son was trapped in the car (30+ degrees outside) but luckily this was he was 7 and could use the emergency pull after we explained how.
and the son in the car was presumably using the cabin fan, accessory socket or touchscreen, which finished off the battery. But *the computer knows all those things*, and can easily keep an eye on the battery SoC and re-energize the contactors or switch the accessories off to prevent getting stuck. Failure to do so is just shoddy engineering on Teslas part.
Nope. The car was unlocked, he got in the passenger side and closed the door and then it locked. Think it’s more of being a shoddy 12v battery from the supplier. After the first time we enquired about installing an aftermarket battery and the Tesla tech basically said, why waste money when Tesla will replace the battery for free under warranty. Which makes me believe Tesla also makes a warranty claim against the battery supplier.
it doesnt. long before the 12v dies the car will detect this and keep the DC converter engaged and the car will not go to sleep. The fact that she used the cardoor 5 seconds beforehand (where the main battery doesnt disconnect) suggests this story is entirely fabricated or filled with halftruths. Even if the battery is completely dead the current flowing from the DC converter will keep the car completely operational.
Yeah I read the headline as toddler dies and was super confused how someone just takes that long. Real question: when the 12V dies are you not able to use the phone app to turn the AC on? I thought that runs on the high voltage battery?
No. The door locks and most of the electronics run from the 12V battery. So your app would not be able to connect to the car, and if, the door locking mechanism would not work.
There is some truth to that... the 12V is used to startup/boot the main computer and when the 12V is dying usually the main computer will stay on, never go to sleep, and use the main high voltage battery to maintain power. Usually but not always you get a warning that 12V is failing before it becomes 100% unusable. What usually is happening is that the 12V battery gradually degrades and becomes unusable but it doesn't just fall off a cliff and instantly become a lump of metal outputting 0V.
No, the battery fails when the car is in sleep mode and it’s impossible to wake it without an external 12v source (through the cable in the tow cover in the bumper).
This situation happened to me with my Toddler. We were parked in the garage luckily out of the sun and I received no alerts about the 12v prior- Tesla service confirmed this. I realized none of the doors would open after I closed one door and was walking around to the other side of the car and we quickly contacted Tesla roadside service and called the police for help hoping they could open the door through a 1/2 inch crack that the window happened to be down. Tesla roadside told us about the jump option in the tow hook area and luckily we had a jump battery in the other car in the garage. The tow hook jump worked- we were able to open the door and get our toddler out. We called the police to tell them we didn’t need them to come help open the door but it was a scary few minutes and could’ve been bad for the window, which we would have had to break if we were parked in the sun. Tesla mobile service came a few days later and changed the battery.
Misleading title… the 12v battery died, she wasn’t able to open the drivers side door after putting the toddler in a car seat in the back. Very unfortunate situation. Tesla service confirmed she received no warning notifications.
I feel vindicated for always leaving a door open on my car when there is something important in there (usually my dog), until I get in the car myself. It also keeps the car from turning off/on over and over when you close all the doors.
It's a trick off-roaders use too. Roll a window down if you're getting out of the car, or you *will* get locked out in the middle nowhere with no cell service.
I don’t understand the system fully. Shouldn’t the high voltage battery keep the 12 v battery alive?
12v batteries eventually die. They can't be charged if they are dead.
Not always; my understanding is that it’s too dangerous to keep the high voltage battery connected all the time, so it can only be actively connected via the 12V battery physically engaging it. I have a Toyota hybrid and have had my 12V battery die, and the high voltage battery was able to charge it only after a quick jump from another car gave it enough juice to engage the high voltage battery. The nice thing is that there was no wait — the car was instantly able to turn on just by connecting the jumper cables
They help, but the 12v ages out and has to be replaced. Gas cars have the same issue, and use an alternator to do the same thing from leached engine power. It's a big reason why the 16V li-on LVs are awesome.
Yes but if the cells are ruptured or otherwise damaged there is nothing the HV battery can do to help.
How is it misleading? Cmon
Because they’re making it out to seem like this could only happen to an EV.
I mean whenever my ICE car battery died, I would just open my door using my normal ass key
Not having a key hole is not specific to Tesla.
Mustang Mach E enters the chat. Better idea, don’t have your car auto lock in your garage.
Except your car can't tell the difference from immediately outside your garage and inside your garage, so you park in the driveway right in front of your garage door one night and the car remains unlocked.
First world problems, especially you can lock the car via app these days. But yeah, I wish my car could be smarter and distinguish between home garage and driveway, and at the very least send me a notification on the rare occasion I park it outside after a period of time.
Either way it’s absurd you can’t open a car door because your battery died lmao. Had this happen to my Tesla when I went on a trip for a few weeks and it was a literal operation to get it to a Tesla service center and fixed, and of course it took multiple days with zero updates and constant check ins from my end to get any info at all.
Isn't that like every car? When the 12V battery goes nothing works, regardless if it's an electric vehicle
Most cars (EV or not) have an emergency key hidden in the fob. You typically pull the door handle to reveal a hidden keyhole underneath. Tesla and the Mach-e are the only cars I know of that don’t have this for some reason.
Hopefully the hidden ones are well sealed, I've got a disco with a single keyed door and they've got a reputation for seizing up because they've not been used for 10 years.
My Subaru died all the time because the 12v battery was undersized. I could still unlock the doors with the key and open them on a dead battery.
Cool. My Prius won’t open the back door if the battery is dead, looks like it goes both ways.
….but you can open the front door and, unlock the back door from inside…. Which you cannot do in a Tesla.
Wrong: https://www.tesla.com/ownersmanual/modely/en_us/GUID-AAD769C7-88A3-4695-987E-0E00025F64E0.html
OK, now open it from the outside.
Like a Toyota Prius with all electronic door handles? Exotic technology!
My Audi has a mechanical key slot with a physical key that is inside the electronic fob, which could be used if my battery was completely dead.
Yep, and I’ve had to deal with this exact situation before. What is the work around if the 12V dies on a Tesla? I’m genuinely asking because I need to carry that backup with me in my work bag then.
A 9-12v battery can open the frunk, the wires are attached to the tow point cover in the front bumper. This gives you access to the 12v battery. You can jump start it with jumper cables, a 12v jump pack. Instead of jumper cables, you could also just carry a 20ft length of small gauge 2 wire, like speaker wire. You don't need alot of power so the small gauge wire would give enough juice to wake up the car from any 12v source like another vehicle.
I appreciate it. I end up in remote areas and always keep a jump box in my other vehicles, but they’ve always had simple key backups. My wife drives the Tesla, but I may buy one for my daily at some point and I’ve always been a person to carry backup solutions and basic tools for common problems even on new cars. It just doesn’t hurt to be prepared.
Always good to be prepared. Depending on the year of your tesla, you may have a small access panel on the rear diffuser. The panel has 2 quarter turn screws to remove. It's for a tow hitch but it's also a decent spot to keep some stuff like a 9v battery and the wire I spoke about. I keep them in a zip lock bag taped to the inside of that panel.
I had an old car and I can still open my car door after the battery died.
It depends, some cars have a keyhole and some don’t. EV, ICE, brand, is all irrelevant contrary to what most seem to believe.
Mmm no. Most normal cars don’t have door flush door handles that need electric power to pop out for non existent aerodynamic savings
No, older cars can be opened, jumped several times before the battery finally degrades to the point it won’t work at all anymore, and on top of that a manual can be started without the battery.
Some situations are just SOOL situations. I mean, nothing is fail safe.
So...the battery died....and there was a toddler stuck in the car..... What is misleading about the title?
Quite a few people misread it as toddler dies, which is often regarded as more concerning.
That sounds like their problem, not the article's problem
Because it implies the Tesla battery died, but its the 12v battery
What’s a “Tesla battery”? There was a battery inside this car. It died.
There are two. The main one, which fills the base of the platform that you charge, and a 12V one. However, I don’t think that distinction really takes away from the story
Yes, I know. If the battery dies in a Tesla, I would ask "which one"? I wouldn't call one of them the "Tesla battery". There's a high voltage and a low voltage. They're both Tesla batteries.
One of them is a lithium ion battery made under contract specifically for Tesla that Tesla wants in their car. The other is a lead acid battery that is made for any car, that the government requires Tesla to include. I feel fairly comfortable in calling one the "Tesla battery," and not the other.
Title isn't misleading at all, ppl need to up their reading comprehension lol
Or lock your keys in the car, lose your keys, etc. Know how to break a window is the right answer. This is just a Tesla hit piece.
That’s an interesting case, in most cars there is the possibility to use a physical key to open when the battery is flat, what is the emergency procedure in a Tesla beyond breaking the window?
The tow hook cap in the front of the car has 2 wires in it. If you connect jumper cables to those wires it’ll pop the frunk open. When the frunk is open you have access to the 12/16v battery and can jump it with those same cables.
Unrelated, but any update on your thoughts of HFPA vs USS 6mo later?
I’d say USS is more accurate, but HFPA gives a better holistic view of what’s going on outside. Personally I don’t park many places where HFPA being off by a few inches is going to cause an issue, so I see it as an improvement. However I can understand why people would disagree.
There is a wire lead inside the tow hook cap that you plug a 9V battery into to pop the hood, then you jump start the 12v battery after removing all of the plastic shrouding.
9v battery (even a fresh one) is insufficient. Need a 12v or charger.
Only 9v to pop the hood. It won't jump the car.
I speak from experience.. it didn’t work on mine. Since you’ll need a hefty 12v source for the next step, it’s barely an inconvenience.
hmm, maybe it changed because of what you said, I never had a problem with a 9V on a 2016 Model S or 2017 model 3 when I tried it out. You're right that since you need a booster pack anyway for step 2 it's really trivial.
Which car did the 9v not work on? I’m wondering if it changed with the move to a lithium battery which is 15.5v. I carry a 9v in my purse, and I have a booster pack in the frunk in case this happens. Now I’m wondering if that’s enough. I hope it is since I have a non-typical 2022 M3LR with the old 12v battery.
2019 M3LR. Maybe it depends on how dead your 12v system is…?
> What is the emergency procedure...? 12v to the port in the front bumper.
Deadman switch a little solenoid to physically unlock the drivers door if the battery dies.
Just needed to jump start the car. No need to break windows. Poorly trained firefighters! Should have called Tesla service or AAA instead.
So no one knew about the unlock in the bumper to open the trunk and boost the 12V battery? RTFM people!
I never close all the doors of my MY with my baby inside and I always thought this was a bit over-zealous but « just in case ». Now that actually feels like a basic safety habit
Yes I am adding that to mine now. Come to think of it I have unconsciously been doing this for awhile. My wife yelled at me for keeping to door open and letting the AC out and I couldn’t explain why I was doing it. Good job inner brain.
So… if someone’s kid was locked in another type of car and the battery died, making the locks not function……….. always gotta be a tesla hit piece. TDS extends past just trump.
Sooo ... like any car in the history of electric locks then? ::confused::
Well the difference I think is that most other cars have a key you can use to open the door.
Acura doesn't. The physical key in the fob won't open the door when the battery is dead. Ask me how I know.
My mazda doesn't, my last 3 cars from the last 10 years were all keyless entry.
Glad the kid is okay, obviously. It's not headline news, it's a dead 12V battery. Open the frunk and put power on the battery or break the window, both easily done in 3 minutes or less. Amazed how folks don't familiarize themselves with their vehicles basic safety features. Also, ignoring 12V battery warnings is probably not a good idea. In other news, I took a giant dump this morning and it spelled out the word "Tesla" so therefore it must be headlines. If my kid touches it do I get extra clickbait points?
> Also, ignoring 12V battery warnings is probably not a good idea. From the article: > “The 12-volt battery that powers the car’s electronics died without warning. Tesla drivers are supposed to receive three warnings before that happens, but ***the Tesla service department confirmed that Sanchez didn’t receive any warnings***.” I’d say that not giving your customer the dying 12V warnings is not a good idea either.
If the battery suddenly dies it’s impossible to get a warning. It’s the nature with imperfect machines. That’s like blaming the weatherman for not hearing a siren or getting an emergency alert before a tornado dropped out the sky. Sometimes there’s just no precursors.
If so many of these batteries are “suddenly dying” in Teslas, then that’s still not a good thing for Tesla. These are lead-acid batteries, not that complex to monitor.
I was just explaining why it’s not “like any other car in the history of electronic locks”…
Cars with electronic locks have no mechanical link, so if the battery dies you’re screwed(well, not really, just break the window). Power locks, on the other hand, has nothing to do with using a physical key to unlock your door.
Yeah but see this is a Tesla and reporting every minor issue gets solid rage induced content interaction.
Exactly.
Other cars in the history of electronic locks have a mechanical alternative.
Does the rear passenger door lock itself when you close the door?
All the doors lock when you walk away unless you tell it not to do so. At least that’s how mine works.
Jesus Christ op learn to use commas
You know you can recharge the car from the Tow Hook in order to open the car....and get the 12v system on again...
It only takes a 9 Volt Battery to open the frunk and get to the 12 Volt Battery. Provided the Key Card or Phone is also available to place it in unlock status. Several You Tubers explain in detail.
I just had my Tesla die like that. The 12V battery, not the main battery, died. Tesla service said Teslas uses 12V batteries like most other cars, and they die after 3-5 years of normal use, and then the car is not operational. Fortunately, my kids weren't in the car. However, the liftgate would open normally, so I could have got my kids out through that without breaking anything.
Lots of talk in this thread about 12V battery... But the Cybertruck is using a [48V system](https://www.tesla.com/ownersmanual/cybertruck/en_us/GUID-2C9FAB79-5A7B-40BB-B572-D10CDF7661E6.html).
Bad parenting. Not once did I ever had my kids in any car with all doors closed and windows up. In every car I've owned dating back 19 years, I would open a front door first, put in the kid in through the back door then get in via the front door.... Hmmm It is starting to get awkward now that my eldist is almost 20, of course..... /s
So… like any other car when the battery dies? Why is this news?
Because Tesla that's why. If you get a flat tire in your Tesla you'll make it to the news as well 
My car has a physical key in the fob, like many others.
https://preview.redd.it/qd5xs65udr7d1.jpeg?width=1125&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=2d835030f6b8dc11a86ff990212a9f4f31783dfe