“And that would be all about driving a Tesla,” a Reader wrote to us, who bought the Model 3 Performance last November. While charging, his car started displaying the message “Rear engine down. You can drive “and” Vehicle turns off “. It was impossible to turn on the D, it was impossible to drive. Tesla will go to Warsaw on a tow truck.
Driving on a single engine in a Tesla Model 3 possible only in very exceptional circumstances?
Our reader has a Tesla Model 3 Performance, he has traveled 17,000 kilometers since November 2019. Today he joined the Superchager in Rzeszów. When he returned to the car, he found two messages on the screen, alternating every 5 seconds:
- Rear engine shut down. You can go
Vehicle power may be limited - The vehicle turns off
I WILL STOP. GO DARE
Despite “driving”, the car could not be switched to D-mode, so there was no question of driving. And here we come to the merits, i.e. inquiries from the title.
Can the Tesla Model 3 AWD be driven after one engine fails?
Well, in Tesla Model 3, two engines are not equivalent to each other. The one in the rear contains the electronics that manage the operation of that in the front of the vehicle, as long as the car is of course AWD. So if the problem is with the rear engine, the chances are that it will run on the front engine. Another thing is when the problem comes from the front – then there is a chance that we will reach our destination on the rear engine, as long as the problem is not from the “gear crash” category.
Driving with the front engine, with the rear engine disconnected, is precluded by something else: physics. Tesle Model 3 AWD uses an induction motor on the front (with electromagnets), and on the back – with permanent magnets (PMSRM).
> A Tesla designer explains the reasons for switching to permanent magnets in the Tesla Model 3
The lack of voltage on the contacts of the induction motor means that we are dealing with simply rotating masses of metal, nothing is induced in them, the motor has minimal resistance. If the wheels spin such a motor, nothing will induce in the circuit, there is no risk of generating energy with which you don’t know what to do with.
This is completely different in the case of a permanent magnet motor. There, the strong magnetic field is constant – because it is generated by permanent magnets, not electromagnets – so even a “idle” motor will generate voltage in the circuit (source). The rotating wheels of the motor cause the problem of voltage on the motor contacts. Voltages that you don’t know what to do with and that could cause additional damage to your circuit.
Theoretically, driving with such an engine is possible after it is fully disengaged, i.e. physically disconnected from the driveshafts, so that the engine does not rotate. However, we are not sure if this is even possible. We do not see a place in the Tesla Model 3 power unit, such a clutch could be mounted so that the spinning wheels would not cause the engine to rotate:
Tesla Model 3 rear powertrain (c) Ingineerix / YouTube
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What about the Tesla Model 3 of our Reader?
He was unhappy with the failure, but he was surprised by the quick service. His car was identified by his phone number, he didn’t have to dictate the VIN, he only had to confirm the color and year. Dictation could be confusing with a consultant calling from the Netherlands and communicating in English.
A Tesla employee remotely logged into the car and did a quick diagnosis. Unfortunately, it turned out that remote repair was not possible, so a tow truck from Warsaw was sent to pick up the car. Tesla will go to the service, and our reader will get a replacement car.
We will keep you posted on the progress of this matter.
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