12V Battery Replacement in my Model 3 Mark D Larsen February 11, 2022

Handiwork (Click to enlarge)

I had noticed in the Tesla forums that 12V batteries in 2018 Model 3’s were starting to give up the ghost, so I suspected that, after 53K miles, mine was probably on its last legs and would need to be replaced in the near future. It therefore did not surprise when, on February 6, the following display appeared on my touchscreen:

(Click to enlarge)

I am sure that I could have replaced the battery myself, like I’d done previously with my Nissan LEAF, but the prices that I looked into were even higher than simply scheduling Tesla Service to make the swap for me.

Five days later, the Service technician pulled into my driveway, and in less than 20 minutes he completed the job, as shown in the photo at the top of the page. Total cost? $118.37 —much less than the $207.37 I had paid to replace the 12V battery in my LEAF myself. Let’s hope it lasts for another 53K miles.