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A Tesla owner says he was locked out of his EV after its 12-volt battery died amid the Texas heat
(www.businessinsider.com)
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this post was submitted on 02 Jul 2023
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If he ever read the manual for the car (no one ever does! they should!) he’d know you can remove the tow hook cover and connect a battery to the wires to open the frunk, then replace the 12v battery yourself if you’d like. Or if that’s too complicated, have it towed to a service center or mobile service fix it for you.
It’s just a car! Fix it yourself or take it to service! Why is this news?
I’ve seen this exact issue end up as a mainstream news story more than once now. I don’t completely understand it either. The process to unlock if the battery is dead takes maybe 10-20 seconds, and from there you charge or replace the battery just as you would if your battery was dead in a standard car. This would be the equivalent to someone with a standard vehicle that has a FOB with the backup key hidden inside. If that person didn’t know that key existed and complained that they were locked out of their vehicle because the FOB had a dead battery, it would be just as odd if it made it to the news.
Hate the car/brand if you choose to, you do have that right. Just don’t hate based on misinformation.
That sounds needlessly more complicated than just having a regular lock mechanism like in most non-Tesla cars.
Either way you're replacing the 12v battery before you're driving anywhere, Tesla or otherwise. Having a manual lock may be nicer for easier access under the hood in this case, but that's really it. Other automakers EVs also have issues with their 12v systems dying and bricking the cars until replaced, Hyundai's come to mind specifically. Newer Teslas have a lithium-ion low voltage battery (it's like 15v or something i think?) that shouldn't fail for the life of the car, so this is a non-issue.
I've had the exact same situation happen to me as in the post however Tesla's service has always replace the battery for free which really makes up for the hassle. It appears also that they are transitioning people to the new lithium ion 12 volt battery, even if your current never came with it originally.
My frustration with this process is that Tesla uses a 12 volt battery that is not easy to come by unless you go through Tesla service. Sometimes you just need your car immediately and will replace the 12 volt when it dies but you can't find this bastard at your local auto parts store.