NHTSA Complaint #11578462 — 2018 TESLA MODEL 3

Salt Lake City Tesla Service Center 801-401-4135 I purchased a 2018 Tesla Model 3 Long Range AWD, VIN [XXX] . The car’s battery and motor drive train units are still within the warranty. On [XXX], the car’s POWER CONVERSION SYSTEM (PCS) stopped working spontaneously, without any physical damage caused by the owner. The PCS is required to charge the car. A broken PCS rendered my car essentially unchargeable, thus undriveable, and unusable. The PCS is a critical component required for normal car function. Without a functioning PCS, you have a broken car. This is a SAFETY ISSUE because you can be stranded in the middle of nowhere without the ability to charge and safely extract yourself from inclement weather and environmental exposure. On [XXX], I transported the car all the way from Pocatello, the 169 miles to the nearest Tesla Service Center in Salt Lake City, UT, at my own expense. On [XXX], the car was diagnosed, and repaired. On [XXX], before paying for the repair, I spoke to the Tesla Service center manager because I felt this component failure should have been covered under the warranty because it represents a FAILURE of a CRITICAL COMPONENT. This is a safety risk, as I mentioned above. He expressed sympathy with my situation and said that broken PCS was a known issue in early Tesla Model 3’s. After doing some research, this is indeed the case, with many online complaints about a broken PCS in Tesla Model 3’s. He said he hoped Tesla would some day reconsider, and that a retroactive reimbursement was in the realm of possibility, as has been done in the past for various component failures in Tesla vehicles. Overall, my grievance with Tesla is that a broken PCS is a CRITICAL FAILURE of a component REQUIRED to have a functioning, chargeable car, and it is a component with a KNOWN HIGH RATE OF FAILURE in Tesla Model 3’s. This should be covered by the battery and drive train warranty. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)