{"id":81395,"date":"2024-02-12T08:34:12","date_gmt":"2024-02-11T23:04:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/?p=81395"},"modified":"2024-10-01T13:06:41","modified_gmt":"2024-10-01T03:36:41","slug":"powerwall-warranty-problems","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/powerwall-warranty-problems\/","title":{"rendered":"Refurbished Realities: Joe’s Warranty Tussle With His Tesla Powerwall"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"tesla<\/p>\n

If your brand-new Powerwall falters, brace yourself for nothing more than a refurbished replacement from Tesla. At least that’s the experience SolarQuotes reader Joe had when his Powerwall stopped working two months after being installed.<\/p>\n

To add insult to injury, the refurbished battery had a significantly reduced capacity compared to the original one. Joe wouldn’t have a bar of it, and after being drawn into an unwanted battle with Tesla, he managed to get a more suitable replacement.<\/p>\n

Tesla’s Powerwall Warranty<\/h2>\n

Listen up, Powerwall owners; it’s time to check your paperwork! Did you know the Tesla Powerwall warranty states:<\/p>\n

“A Powerwall presented for repair may be replaced by a refurbished Powerwall of the same type”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

That sounds a bit crap, but don’t despair. It also says:<\/p>\n

“Tesla will, at its own discretion, either repair your Powerwall, replace your Powerwall with an equivalent product, or refund you the market price of an equivalent product at the time of the warranty claim.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

So, by Tesla’s warranty, you’d expect an “equivalent product” to be at least equal to the original product.<\/p>\n

But what if the original Powerwall Tesla delivered had more capacity that the 13.5 kWh promised in Tesla’s specs? Should Tesla’s replacement match the bigger capacity or are they only obligated to match their paper spec?<\/p>\n

How Joe’s Powerwall Went From Hero To Zero<\/h2>\n

Last July, Joe used SolarQuotes free ‘Get 3 Quotes<\/a>‘ service to enquire about installing two Tesla Powerwall batteries<\/a>. He proceeded with one of the quotes, and installation occurred about a month later. He was very impressed with the installer.<\/p>\n

Only two months later, one of his solar batteries<\/a> failed. Joe contacted the installer, who then came to check it out. Due to a communications issue, the system wasn’t picking up the second battery. He tested all the comms cables, changed the terminal block and re-terminated the wiring, but an error message continued to appear. The installer tried multiple times to call Tesla tech support but never received a callback, so then shot them an email.<\/p>\n

The next day, Tesla support emailed back that they had tried to retrieve data from Joe’s Powerwall remotely, with no luck. They suspected a sensor issue and were kickstarting the warranty process. The installer was quite surprised, as this was the first time one of his installed Powerwalls needed replacing. Up until then, they appeared to be bulletproof.<\/p>\n

Unbeknownst to Joe, Tesla arranged to have the batteries switched out with a different installer. Everything went smoothly, and all was done less than two weeks after he’d raised the issue. And that’s really when the story starts.<\/p>\n

The Refurbished Battery Discovery<\/h3>\n

It took only a short time for Joe to realise that the replacement battery had a lower capacity than his other, still working, original battery. When logging into the Gateway and making the appropriate API request, the system reported a nominal full-pack energy of 13.9 kWh in the replaced unit compared to 14.9 kWh in his original Powerwall.<\/p>\n

Joe queried this with his original installer, who was still providing help, asking why the supposedly brand-new replaced Powerwall would have a lower capacity than the original battery. The installer immediately contacted Tesla, posing the same question and prompting them to investigate it.<\/p>\n

Nine days later, Tesla Support emailed back that they guaranteed 13.5 kWh of energy out of the box, and both batteries are above the 13.5 kWh. Although a refurbished replacement battery is expected to have degraded more than a new one, it’s still above 13.5 kWh, and asked, “Can you tell how the customer is seeing the new battery is under 13.5 kWh?”<\/p>\n

Joe’s installer relayed this information, alluding to the reality that he might have to wait until the battery capacity was below 13.5 kWh to make his next move. Joe was furious that Tesla had given him an inferior refurbished battery to replace his brand-new Powerwall without being told. However, he realised that a persistent, pragmatic approach was needed to get a just outcome.<\/p>\n

\"Powerwall

Tesla Powerwall 2 warranty states that they will replace your Powerwall with an equivalent product, which may be refurbished. But, a refurbished battery doesn’t sound equivalent to a two-month-old battery to me.<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n

13.5 kWh And Falling<\/h3>\n

Over the next six weeks, Joe monitored the capacities of both batteries, and it was only a short time before the battery in question had degraded below the magic 13.5 kWh. Since the installation of the refurbished Powerwall, the capacity of his original battery remained virtually unchanged, while the replacement’s capacity had dropped by more than 5%. It was now 2% below the 13.5 kWh nameplate capacity that Tesla guarantees.<\/p>\n

Refurbished Powerwall<\/strong><\/p>\n