Hi all,
I thought maybe this would be the place to go to see what can be done about my mom’s situation. For context, last year, in Nov 2022, my mom bought a used, 2018 Smart ForTwo EQ for around 20k. Just a week or two ago, she calls me to tell me her car won’t start, so I ask her to show me what it says, she video calls, and I see something similar to a High Voltage battery error. So we get it towed to her house, and she makes an appt with the Mercedes dealership she bought it from. FF to today, they tell her that it’ll be 23k to replace the battery. Anyone here who might be able to help me figure out what her next steps are? She doesn’t have anywhere near that kind of money on hand, and neither do I.
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Tesla actually made those batteries as part of a deal with Mercedes for their help in the beginning when Tesla was starting up. Electrified garage has helped people with those before and for a lot less money than 23k!
The owners manual will tell you warranty coverage. If you don’t have it’s probably the manufacturer website. Most brands have it available for download there
$20k US sounds insane for a smart car EV
If it isn’t warranty just call a hybrid doctor (that’s what my local company is called)
They replace the cells in the battery instead of having to buy a whole new one if it’s the EV battery causing a fault.
Significantly cheaper. I work at a dealer on the parts side and yeah just those batteries alone is like 18K
Even if the EV battery is dead, your mom can go to a company who will refresh the battery for way less than replacement.
Threads like these make me extremely nervous about driving an EV. I see such threads and news articles pop up every once in a while and everytime I get a twitch.
It is the same as an engine blowing up in an ICE vehicle. It happens, it is expensive, and usually the dealership will just give you a ridiculous quote. But here and there, you have both warranties and alternatives.
Honestly it’s not so bad, I recently had a recall on my I-Pace and the dealer was nothing short of exceptional.
Outside of that, EVs as I’m sure you know are great, I relish the fact I don’t need to spend loads of money on gas all the time! And the driving dynamics are awesome!
She probably may only need a brand new 12V battery. Make sure they properly test the battery. Pick one up at Costco and swap the old one out.
What country is this in? In the US, all EV’s have an 8 year/ 120k mile warranty or more on the motor(s) and battery.
Mercedes claims otherwise.. 8 years/62,000 miles.
California says no (allegedly).
Hybrid and EV battery warranties last at least eight years or 100,000 miles, which is longer than most manufacturer powertrain warranties.
You have an actual source? Some law, some FTC statement, or something in the federal register?
I just did a search, and found nothing, and honestly, the top result was me doing the search and finding that federal law does NOT require it, and California doesn’t require it either (and california hasn’t changed their statements on either).
From my most recent search, I actually see many sites that claim it’s federal law now, but absolutely none cite any source. I’m sure it wasn’t the case for the 2018 MY (as has been pointed out), did the IRA change it and it’s not a new 2023 warranty? That would make sense, but I can’t find the text.
Even better, state of California (where OP lives) says 10 years / 150k miles.
Wow that’s a good way to force manufacturers to build their cars to last longer and extend planned obsolescence.
US, California. I had a feeling the car had an 8 year warranty, I have the same on my EV and thought it was ridiculous that they are charging her for something under warranty.
In my experience many dealers and manufacturers tend to be really crappy when it comes to honoring their EV warranties.
I would still double check the 12v battery first, as it’s possible that this is just a super simple easy fix.
Mercedes dealership probably won’t help but hopefully Kia will.
Never buy any Mercedes EV. Or cars as a matter of a fact.
The new Mercedes-Benz batteries are seemingly a lot more reliable than the old Tesla-derived batteries. While we can’t know 100% yet, some “old” electric B classes died after a few months.
Look to see if there’s a local Electrified Garage or other independent EV repair shop.
Instead of replacing the entire battery, they can usually identify the bad module and replace just that at a fraction of the cost. (and also a much less labor rate)
Sadly these repair shops are still scarce. But worth looking into.
Other options are refurb pack and junkyard pack.
Looks like that one isn’t really serviceable, so you can do the junkyard route. I can get a EV fortwo on copart with some crash damage for a buy it now of $2500…that may be a reasonable way to get a replacement battery.
This is just a guess, but did you check the 12V battery? My 500e had a 12V battery go out in the middle of the night and did something similar. Then, my 2017 Bolt did the same thing while I was at work. Both cars would give me a ton of errors and not turn on. 2018-2023 is about 5 years, close to the age of both my 12V batteries when they died on me. I am now going to be replacing the batteries every 3 years to prevent me from getting stranded somewhere like the time with my Bolt. Neither car warned me the 12V batteries were going bad, it just happened.
Happened to our Honda e. They’re cheap to replace and worth a go.
This recently happened to my 2015 e-golf. No warning. I spent some time on subs for battery sizing and watched battery replacement videos. Flawless victory! I feel very lucky that it 1. I had just returned home from work when the alerts lit up, 2. my OBD dongle was still good (did I really need it?), 3. I had the tools and there are no ICE parts to work around, and 4. I’m competent enough to do this.
A bad 12V battery on an EV shouldn’t kill the car if it’s already running. It’s just like an ICE where it’s needed to start the car and then the alternator/traction battery is supposed to charge the battery and maintain a voltage for the 12V system. In an ICE, it turns the starter. In an EV, it engages the contactors for the traction battery.
I did have a car die once while driving. If I turned on the headlights it would die. That’s because the alternator was bad and not charging the battery.
true. it didn’t die, per se, but i def didn’t want to drive/tow it until i made an attempt to fix it.
The day we get this manufactures to stick in a 20,000 cycle lithium iron battery is the day we get to say good bye to this utter annoyance in electrical systems where lead acid is such a poor choice as they don’t need high current draw.
IIRC the majority of EVs sold today come with a lithium 12V battery.
Ya the 12v is common problem. Happened to my model 3
OP, if you somewhere in Cali(I’m in LA county), I can take a look on a battery pack. Fixed few fortwos. As well we can make it bigger.
hold up, you can make them BIGGER? is it the size of a mini Cooper now?
Worse, a Countryman. Excuse me, I need to throw up.
Yeah I can make it a Forsix / Forsixandahalf if you’re very close with the other passengers.
I’m not falling for that ad…again.
Yeah there was a recall on the BMS for an issue where it would drain the pack. You should see if that recall work was performed.
I believe that work was done a month or two after she initially got the car.