Hong Kong Tesla owner gets RM 91k bill for battery replacement after driving in rain

• Tesla Model S in Hong Kong "stalled" due to battery failure
• Water was found in the battery pack
• Owner was billed HK$ 171,000 as the company considers warranty voided

A British financial services consultant living in Hong Kong, Larry Campbell, was told that the warranty for his Tesla Model S had been voided due to flood damage, and was billed HK$ 171,000 (around RM 91k) for the battery replacement, reports South China Morning Post (SCMP).

He was reportedly told by Tesla that its checks revealed the battery had been exposed to flood, which subsequently voided the 8-year warranty for the high-voltage battery.

“We were seriously frustrated and disappointed,” Campbell told SCMP. “Tesla chose to assume with no conclusive evidence that my car was driven through a flood in order to refuse liability for replacing the failed battery under warranty.”

It was reported that the battery failed last 8-October, while Campbell’s wife was driving in heavy rain to pick up their children from school in Aberdeen. She pulled over and the car was towed away by Tesla staff.

According to SCMP, Campbell bought the Tesla Model S back in September 2016 that is covered by an 8-year/160,000 km warranty for the high-voltage battery. The EV had clocked about 130,000 km when the issue occurred.

On 28-October, about three weeks after the incident, Campbell received a bill from a Tesla manager for more than HK$ 171,000 to replace the battery. “There was no flooding in that area, and there were no flooded areas through which the car was driven in the days before the breakdown, or indeed ever,” said Campbell.

He said the company refused to show him its technician investigation report, and did not explain how water could have entered the sealed battery. Tesla Hong Kong’s associate general counsel for Asia Pacific, Ricky Li, subsequently sent him two photos of the battery by email, pointing out that its technicians found “substantial volumes of water” in the battery and battery pack.

On 7-January, the company eventually agreed to reduce the repair cost to about HK$ 91,000 (around RM 48k).

A Tesla source for SCMP said the company considered the warranty voided due to human error, causing the high-voltage battery to be flooded. “We reduced the repair cost simply out of goodwill to our customer. It doesn’t mean that there’s any responsibility on our part,” the source said.

WapCar’s Opinion

Even if the Tesla were subjected to flood, water shouldn’t have been able to seep into the sealed battery pack, so it's rather peculiar that this happened.

We’ve seen EVs threading through impossibly deep waters and coming out seemingly unscathed. This is because the battery packs and all the high voltage components are sealed off, and the traditional risks of driving combustion engine cars through water don’t apply to EVs.

Also read: Water and electricity don’t mix? Watch this Volvo XC40 EV drive out after being submerged

However, EV manufacturers don’t recommend wading through floodwater for obvious liability reasons. Even though the drive components are sealed, there is still a risk of heavy flood water getting into the components because nothing is ever truly waterproof.

When it comes to flood, regardless if you have an EV or a pick-up truck, the saying goes, "Just because you can, doesn't mean you should."

Also read: Who needs a pick-up when the Wuling Mini EV can float through a flood

Anyway, above is an entertaining video of a Wuling Mini EV floating through a flood. Is a Wuling EV more robust than a Tesla?