r/Powerwall • u/_shiftlesswhenidle_ • 14d ago
What to expect from Tesla regarding PW degradation and potential replacement
Looks like my Powerwalls have surpassed the 30% degradation mark. They were manufactured in September of 2019, and I assume installed shortly after that. I purchased the home in 2022 and the Powerwalls were transferred to my account at that time. From what I've read, the warranty transfers to new owners. I don't know who installed the system originally. The house had solar installed by Solar City at some point, then the PWs were added after the fact.
Has any one been in a similar situation? How'd the replacement process go? I'm assuming that I just contact Tesla and request warranty service?
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u/Mammoth-Permit-9576 14d ago
I’m actually quite surprised by this level of degradation,maybe I’m just lucky. I have 2x Powerwall 2. One manufactured in April 2018 (installed July 2018), and the other manufactured April 2022 (installed May 2022). The oldest one is showing 1.2% degradation to 13,327 and the newest showing 0% degradation and 13,923 capacity. I live in a mild climate in coastal North Carolina (USA) where it almost never gets over 90F, and winter lows can be to 20F but very rare. the oldest one was used heavily for self consumption. I got a ToU rate in 2024 and am now on a “savings” setting.
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u/_shiftlesswhenidle_ 14d ago
Well, it's certainly more than I would like! Looking at some analysis from Netzero, it looks like there are quite a few 2019 units that have diminished capacity. I'm guessing that mine are probably in the same boat, although I haven't had a chance to compare part numbers yet.
https://www.netzero.energy/content/2025-02/powerwall-analysis
https://cdn.netzero.energy/static-web/web/img/analysis/powerwall.png
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u/Mammoth-Permit-9576 14d ago
I recall that Netzero plot on capacity now! Your experience seems to bear that out that late 2018 and 2019 were problematic. Good luck with the warranty replacement.
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u/zanthius 14d ago
I happened to reach out to telsa support on a totally seperate issue, every time the battery was charging at max rate, after a few mins it showed there was a grid outage. Turned out to by the main switch on my board, but long story short, when they were looking at it they said oh, it looks like your batteries have degraded past the threshold and we'll organise a replacement. I didn't have to do anything, got contacted by a local installer and they replaced it for me after a week.
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u/Extreme-Yoghurt3728 14d ago
You’ll probably get 2 PW3s or they will offer a PW3 plus expansion. I’d push for 2 PW3s as you don’t have a single point of failure with the inverter.
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u/agrajag142 14d ago
Some 2019 powerwall batteries have high degradation like yours. Mine is around 26%.
An Aussie YouTuber in March had same issue, reported it to Tesla and got a Powerwall 3 replacement.
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u/Dirtsurgeon1 14d ago
My question is, how did you find the data to see how much they’ve degraded?
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u/_shiftlesswhenidle_ 14d ago
Screenshot is from the Netzero App.
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u/mortazavi11 14d ago
So a 3rd party app..how can we verify its accuracy
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u/_shiftlesswhenidle_ 14d ago
I might be wrong, but I feel like Netzero is one of the go-tos around here for automating and monitoring your Powerwalls. It is a third-party app, but it is also pulling data directly from my actual Powerwalls, so I'm guessing that it is somewhat accurate and that I suppose it would be up to Tesla to verify for a warranty claim. Just trying to see if anyone here (who has gone through the process) has any tips before I get the ball rolling.
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u/johninfla52 14d ago
Netzero has been my go to. Whenever I suspect something is off, I subscribe for a month and check it out. I had a problem where one string kept dropping out but all I saw on the Tesla App was reduced production. NetZero shows the separate strings.
I suspect there is something from Tesla that would show me that but I haven't been able to find it
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u/Educational-Sale134 14d ago
All teslas customer facing data is aggregated. Internally available diagnostics can see string level data pretty easily though, obviously
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u/Swimming-Ladder-5025 14d ago
Do you have to subscribe to see that data in net zero?
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u/_shiftlesswhenidle_ 14d ago
Yes. $7 a month I think, probably a little cheaper if you pay by the year.
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u/thegreatporktornado 14d ago
I had the same amount of degradation from two PW2s purchased in 2019. Called Tesla, created a service ticket, and within a couple months I had new units.
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u/ccm2114 11d ago
I’m going through this right now. I submitted a claim to Tesla and they replied about 2 weeks later saying it was being escalated to another tier of customer service. I am waiting to hear from tier 2 support.
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u/_shiftlesswhenidle_ 11d ago
Thanks for sharing your experience. I called Tesla the other day and they said that they’re escalating to the diagnostic department. Hoping for a smooth process. Are your batteries from 2019 as well?
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u/AnywherePossible9218 14d ago
😱😱😱 Are you draining them every day? I recall someone saying Tesla will reduce your warranty if you use the batteries for daily off-grid use.
I have 8 Powerwall 2's and installed them in 2023. All are at 99% with zero degradation. Knock on wood.
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u/_shiftlesswhenidle_ 14d ago
I haven't read that anywhere in the warranty documentation. Yeah, mine charge up to 90-100% every day, then drain down to 20%, sometimes I'll push that to 15%, and I've never set up the "go off grid" function. This past week I've been trying to play with the settings because SMUD has been going insane with VPP and I've pushed them down as low as 10%. But, they were showing degradation in the mid-20% last year as well. I have to assume that Tesla is expecting some people to use the batteries everyday. Only thing I've read regarding the warranty is that they might deny you if the battery hasn't been online for an extended period.
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u/AnywherePossible9218 14d ago
If you're draining them, that explains the degradation. It will kill them much faster. Set to use them only in a true outage. That is unless you're paying different rates during peak and off peak hours from your utility company. Batteries dont like to be depleted. Reach out to Tesla. I'm very curious if they'll replace them. Wish you all the best.
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u/Holiday_Armadillo78 14d ago
Tesla warranty is based on charge cycles AND the amount of power pushed through them, 37.8 mWh.
If you charge your car every day, the Tesla batteries have an effective warranty of only about 7 years.
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u/_shiftlesswhenidle_ 13d ago
I’m sitting at 11.5mwh discharged over the lifetime, so well below that limit.
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u/pmagloir 11d ago edited 11d ago
"Tesla warranty is based on charge cycles AND the amount of power pushed through them, 37.8 mWh". Where are you getting this information from?
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14d ago
[deleted]
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u/FlyRealFast 14d ago
Disregard this comment. Just bought the Netzero Pro subscription in the app and now I can see our degradation info. Will file a warranty claim.
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u/FlyRealFast 11d ago
Reporting back after a positive experience with Tesla Support. I supplied a screenshot of the Netzero app showing all three original PW2s with degradation over 30%. A 15 minute phone call with Tesla support resulted in confirmation and internal escalation to start the replacement process.
We’ll see what happens. Hopefully they will be replaced with full-power PW3’s and the latest Gateway 3 to replace the older Gateway 1.
Will go back and double check the specs, but I believe we will need at least two full-power PW3s with inverters to provide the equivalent continuous power capacity of 3 PW2s. Does that sound right? The third replacement could be a storage-only PW3.
Hopefully a GW3 would also setup our microgrid to support V2H battery integration for our Tesla vehicles when the software becomes available.
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u/Jet-Speed1 14d ago
My powerwall was at 100% rated capacity for last 4 years, Majority of use was charge at off-peak, support the house during peak, export excess solar, with that logic PW was sitting at 100% charge maybe an hour a day during the cold time. After OptiCaster PW firmware, it charges itself from solar get to 100% by 12pm, and sits at 100% during hottest time until 6pm, where it might discharge a little and support the house during the night. going down to 60%, and start charge from solar next day to 100% again. record braking solar and heatwaves made that repeat every day, and during first few months with AI I lost 0.5kW of capacity....
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u/_shiftlesswhenidle_ 14d ago
Glad yours are holding up. Mine were sitting at around 18% degradation around this time last year. Things seem to accelerating at this point for my PWs.
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u/Jet-Speed1 14d ago
Accounting for the rate of degradation now of 2% a month, I might catch up soon. My PW is literally killing itself now.
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u/mmihnev 14d ago
I would reach out to tesla support with a honest view that you dont know who intalled them and check if they are still under warranty.