Vehicle Data Hub

2013 Tesla Model S electrical system problems

Owners reported electrical system problems in 195 complaints for the 2013 Tesla Model S, 29% of the complaints on file. It is the most reported problem area for this model year.

At a glance

Complaints
195 29% of this year's complaints
Typical mileage
90,000 miles 120 complaints with mileage
Crashes and fires
7 and 14
Injuries and deaths
11 and 2

Source: NHTSA owner complaints

When electrical system problems show up

Electrical system complaints by mileage, 2013 Tesla Model S Complaints by odometer reading in 20,000-mile steps. The median is about 90,000 miles. 0k to 20k miles: 6 complaints 20k to 40k miles: 8 complaints 40k to 60k miles: 13 complaints 60k to 80k miles: 22 complaints 80k to 100k miles: 23 complaints 100k to 120k miles: 19 complaints 120k to 140k miles: 18 complaints 140k to 160k miles: 8 complaints 160k to 180k miles: 2 complaints 180k to 200k miles: 0 complaints 200k+ miles: 1 complaints 040k80k120k160k200k miles Typical: 90,000 miles
Based on 120 complaints that include mileage. 23% were reported before 60,000 miles. The amber marker shows the median: half of these complaints happened before that mileage.
View the numbers
MileageComplaints
0k to 20k miles6
20k to 40k miles8
40k to 60k miles13
60k to 80k miles22
80k to 100k miles23
100k to 120k miles19
120k to 140k miles18
140k to 160k miles8
160k to 180k miles2
180k to 200k miles0
200k+ miles1

What the data shows

Of the 120 electrical system complaints that report mileage, the median is about 90,000 miles, and 22% were reported before 60,000 miles.

These complaints mention 7 crashes, 14 fires, 11 injuries, 2 deaths.

What owners wrote

A stolen tesla crashed in west hollywood, killing the driver. Photos seem to suggest that the driver side air bag may not have deployed. Allegedly light poles split the car in half. The light poles seem to be the breakaway type. Suggesting there may be a structural weakness that allowed the tesla to break in half, fracturing the battery, catching pieces of battery on fire, and exploding battery cells, sending flaming shrapnel through the neighborhood.

July 2014 CrashFireInjuryDeath

Over the last 6 months, my 2013 tesla model s began experiencing long boot times, frequent spontaneously rebooting, loss of mobile connection and problems with the navigation system. Last saturday the car began to reboot constantly and was incapacitated on the road, requiring a flat bed truck ($250). Tesla service tells me the only way to make the car functional again is to pay over $1300 on a new mcu.

Reported at 124,600 miles, August 2020

Other problems reported for the 2013 Tesla Model S

Electrical system problems in other years

Electrical system problems across all Tesla models