A/C Off malfunction - Drive Sys. -> Engine Off

[Jocko 22]

Last week I came out to my 2016 Electric Drive with 75000k and unplugged as usual. Went to start the car and got these A/C Off malfunction and Drive Sys. -> Engine Off errors.

 

By the time I checked on the web to see what it was (all bad news) and went back to the car, the car booted and ran no problem. Of course this left me uneasy as all the time I've had the car I've had no issues.

 

I drove a week with no problems and then yesterday while driving it threw the same error. I pulled over and stopped the car. Took out the key. Waited about a minute and restarted. The car ran fine. Then about 10 minutes later it did the same thing. While I'm driving the engine just kicks out. WTF!

 

Anyone ever seen anything like this? I obviously have to make an appointment with the stealership but I want to have some idea what I'm in for.

 

In the mean time I was going to change out the 12V battery. What do you think? Could it be as simple as that?

Thanks

[SmartElectric 31]

On my older 2013 Smart ED (same design as the 2016) these errors would pop up periodically, but not as often as you are listing.

And for sure, never had the motor stop while driving!

Absolutely take this in for service, your life is worth it, losing power while mid left turn would be dangerous for example.

[Jocko 22]

Yeah I hear ya. I put in a new 12v battery hoping it would resolve the issue and for a few days it was running well. Then yesterday morning I got in the car and I got the red motor light.

 

I shut it off and removed the key. Waited 10 seconds and retried and it worked OK. This seems to be a workaround for the moment. Just reboot the car but you have to remove the key. If you just turn it on and off it doesn't work.

 

I really hate this intermittent stuff. It makes it hard to diagnose and then you can't reproduce it at the dealer so it sits and languishes if there is no stored code.

 

I'm sort of glad someone else has seen the issue. Did you ever get it diagnosed or did you just shrug it off and keep driving?

 

This is the first time this car has thrown any kind of CEL otherwise its been a perfect drive so far.

[Jocko 22]

So I brought it to a big MB shop in the city hoping they had seen this issue before and its a good news bad news story. The good news it that the diagnostic was quick.

 

The bad new is that it's the HV battery that is defective and the car is 3 months out of warranty.

 

Management is discussing whether to "Good Will" the part because the price of the part is $12,000

 

So the 2016 car I bought used last year in October for $12k, which I thought was a good deal, is now essentially worthless.

 

I'm beginning to rethink this electric car thing because this is a huge single point of failure. The car is essentially a write off.

 

Stay tuned.

[SmartElectric 31]

Ouch, truly sorry for your ordeal.

I traded away my early 2013 Smart ED for a new 2018 Smart ED, almost entirely because the new 2018 has an 8 year battery + motor warranty whereas the old 2013 had a 4 year.

 

Agree that Mercedes in particular has a poor story with the Smart, as the battery packs they make are exceptionally expensive compared to the rest of the vehicle, it does almost make these throw away disposable items if the battery pack is worth more than the car itself.

 

Whereas a Tesla battery pack, even if failing can be sold in online marketplace for reasonable values, and Tesla replacement packs can be purchased and installed on 3rd party market place as well.

No such marketplace exists for the much much much smaller market as the Smart is a truly low volume vehicle.

[Jocko 22]

Hey everyone,

 

An update to the issue I posted here in November. I picked up my car from MB yesterday. It is working great and I'm really happy!

 

MB did indeed "Good Will" my battery pack and replaced it with a new unit for a replacement cost of $12K at no charge.

 

Good on them and I must commend them for doing that because that was a heart breaker. I didn't need to push or yell, they just offered it up first thing. So kudos to MB. So unlike my previous adventure with them.

 

My only qualm is the length of time it took to arrive at a decision. (3 weeks). Once the decision was taken to cover the battery, the installation was quick. (1 week) So I've been without a vehicle for a month.

Again with a potential $12k loss over my head and I was in no position to pressure MB as they hold all the power. Literally and figuratively

 

They did charge for the original diagnostic and the installation of the battery for a total of $1300 tax included which I thought was a fair deal for 8 hrs work. (they also fixed my leaky tire while they were at it) Nice!

 

Because this is a new part it comes with a 2 year guarantee so my car is practically new again. I must say the new battery pack does make a difference for the range. The 2016 battery with 75k km was getting a little tired but I do use it to the limit every day.

 

So you are looking at one Super Happy Smart EV owner but this whole issue has brought up an important point about used EVs in general which I will bring up in another thread.

 

What are the financial risks associated to buying a used EV?

 

I dodged a bullet this time but what happens to others who are not so lucky? We'll leave that for another time.

 

Happy Holidays everyone!

[SmartElectric 31]

Congrats!   Wishing your "new car" a long battery life!

 

As for me, I traded my 2013 Smart ED precisely because it had a 4 year battery warranty, and the new 2018 Smart ED has an 8 year warranty!

Agree that the primary concern for used EV purchase is battery health/longevity.

 

Our 2013 Tesla S85 with it's 8 year battery warranty date is only 1 year away, so we are strongly considering trading up to a newer S ... P90DL sounds nice right?!   Seriously though, at 140000 km and 7 years, the car is perfect and battery is 97% original capacity, so we might just keep it and live with the risk.

[darren 192]

That’s a really positive outcome! I hope you get another few years out of it. 

[Mari 0]

Jocko,

I’m happy you got a new battery.  I’m having the same problem with my 2014 Smart and it’s currently in the shop at MB but they have not yet diagnosed the problem.  I’m surprised and horrified that it was the battery in your case.  Did they explain why a faulty battery resulted in intermittent stoppage?  I was expecting some sort of faulty connection because I would have thought that if it was the battery, it would stop and not go ever again.  And how the heck did you get a $12,000 goodwill?  Thanks for your help!

[Jocko 22]

Hi Mari,

 

I realize this thread is getting a bit stale but I'm curious how you made out with your car.

In my case my car had just finished the warranty the month before so I presume they thought I might try to pursue them legally but its only a guess. They offered the good will right up front as I said previously.

 

I'm guessing that if there is too much fluctuation in the voltage of the HV battery it disables the car and throws the codes noted. Once you restart the car it clears the code and you can drive until it happens again.

 

The MB High Voltage is a bit of a black box as I discovered. I didn't find anyone who could replace or repair the battery except MB. On other EVs you can sometimes find a replacement or have it serviced and installed at a specialty garage. Not in this case. You have to replace the unit at a cost of $12,000 for the 1 part and only at MB.

 

The battery pack is a sealed unit and in case of an accident there are explosive charges that disconnect the battery mains from the car. This makes getting a battery pack from a wreck almost impossible. I have read that even MB cannot fix the battery once the charges have been blown.

 

I hope it all worked out for you.