2013 Tesla Model S: sudden loss of power

Filed Sep 5, 2025 · Electrical, Transmission · PR

Premature HV Battery BMS Failure After Tesla Replacement – Safety Risk of Fire and Sudden Power Loss

Filed Dec 1, 2021 · Steering · CA

I lost power steering with 64,850 miles on the odometer. I was told the steering rack ($2750) and the front left body harness assembly ($525) needed to be replaced because of corrosion. These figures do not include labor and taxes. While I'm aware of the recall related to replacing the steering bolts to fix a corrosion problem (already fixed), this fix was not covered. I was very annoyed that this fix also included replacing the harness assembly, because the labor charge was 3 times the price of the harness assembly. This problem occurred in the morning after the car was parked in the driveway overnight and as soon as I turned the wheel, I head a slight pop and had NO power steering. The two line fault was "Steering assist reduced" "Steering may require increased effort". I'm glad this did not occur while negotiating a turn at speed because it's extremely difficult to manually steer a 4750 pound car without any power assist. I asked to keep the old parts, but I was only given the old steering rack and not the old harness assembly. The old steering rack looks slightly dirty, but other than that it appears fine and is available for inspection.

Filed Sep 7, 2019 · Transmission · 37,800 miles · FL

I have a 2013 tesla model s85. Three days ago while driving on I 70 between columbus, ohio and indianapolis, in, the car lost power abruptly just 40 miles outside indianapolis. It was towed to the dealer and the problem was identified as a failed drive train. My wife was driving and she could pull off the road safely fortunately, although the regenerative braking in the car does not give you much time to pull over. Now looking on line, I see that this is a common occurrence and some drivers have had to change drive trains on multiple occasions. This is a safety concern since it is not easy to pull off the road when the car has regenerative braking. Has there been any accidents due to the power train failure? Should this be a recall item?

Filed Apr 19, 2016 · Transmission · 33,000 miles · CA

On 4/15 2016 my wife was driving the car on a one lane road and the "power plant" failed (per the tesla service invoice) and the car immediately lost all power. The care was towed to the service center in rocklin california. There test results states "confirmed rear drive unit will need replacement due to internal failure" a very dangerous situation for the drive when it happens at speed in traffic.

Filed Aug 24, 2015 · CA · crash

This accident report is a previous accident involving the same 2013 tesla model s 60 as reported in the federal safety agency report filed on august 24, 2015. On on may 7, 2013 while driving my 2013 model s 60, I pulled into a parking space in thousand oaks, california making a left turn into the spot. As I pulled in, I let my foot off of the accelerator,and applied the break. The car lurched forward, jumping a parking block, then over a curb, and finally into a cement light post. The airbags deployed and I was stunned. I immediately called tesla who sent a qualified tesla tow truck. It took two hours to get the car onto a flat-bed truck because the car lost all power and shut down. It had to be dragged over two parking blocks, sustaining even more damage. Tesla sent the car directly to the body shop. I insisted that they run a diagnostic test because I was (and still am) certain that the car accelerated on its own. The van nuys service center rep said that the car had to be repaired first before any diagnostic test could be run. After three weeks I received a letter from tesla. The engineers reported to me that the accelerator was depressed to 48%, seconds before the accident and 98.4% at the time of impact. I still believe that the car accelerated by itself. It is my sincere hope that by reporting this accident (and the subsequent accident on july 16, 2015) further investigations can be conducted before people are seriously injured or worse. My insurance company (farmers) does not intend to investigate. It is less expensive for them to pay for a replacement value than to determine the true cause of this incident. Fortunately, you and your agency aspire to a higher purpose.