Mike-I'm taking my car today for 50 mile trip on the Turnpike just to charge the batteries.. I'll drive 25 miles and then turn around. Hopefully that will give me more peace of mind.... My rep told me everything is charged, but this can't hurt..

 

Good idea. Let me know how that works out. Dealer just called me to let me know my car is ready. They wanted to keep it an extra day because the check engine light suddenly came on during the car wash, but it went back out?? They wanted to check this out. That light also went on when the original 48 volt incident happened, but went out after a few miles driving. Doesn't spell confidence!

 

No updates in Arizona from some reason. Still waiting 😪

 

Curious if anyone knows if they install the battery from under the car. That’s my theory. Also it could be that the rear seat is removed and installed from inside.
When I got my car (after it sat for over 30 days) the center console had a bunch of bolts...most of them looked like undercarriage bolts with an oversized washer.

 

Anyone on the West coast receive their replacement battery? Feel like I'm getting the run around.

Very little, if any, communication 🤔

 

Got my car back today! Yes, finally, so far so good! To answer your question, according to the report, they removed the front passenger seat, the second row seat cushion, and removed the right side carper to get to and install the 48 volt battery. At least that what the report says.

 

I got the same little communication. They didn't seem to ever know anything to the whereabouts or when I could expect the replacement battery. I was just lucky that there were a couple of people on this site with the same problem that had their car at the dealer nearby. They apparently received information, so I thought mine would be in the batch coming from Germany...at least I was hoping which turned out right. So hang in there.

 

Drove the car 40 miles yesterday. No issues.. Fingers crossed.....

 

Sounds Good. Good Luck. Got mine back yesterday, So far, so good. They definitely updated software as indicated on the service report. I've noticed several small differences from the way things used to work, all for the better actually, so that's good. Here's hoping this issue is behind us.

 

I had this exact problem happen to my 3 week old GLS63 last evening when I came out to drive home from work. Got that exact same error message. My sales guy came and picked me up at work with a loaner and they towed the truck to the shop last night. Today my SA let me know it was a bad 48 V battery and per his words, “they are on galactic back order”. He is going to get together with the GM tomorrow and see if they can pull one out of an AMG vehicle they have on the lot so they can get me working. I am a little disheartened with this failure but hope it was simply part of the bad batch of batteries.

X

 

I would like to believe this is a "bad batch of batteries", BUT, you have a 3 week old 2021, and I have a March 2020 built GLE. Doesn't sound like a bad batch would be possible. I'm hoping there was some sort of design flaw or bad parts, etc.that has been repaired! One would thing MB would be all over this since it seems to be happening regularly to several models. We can only hope??

 

Does anyone know the name of the battery manufacturer that makes the batteries for Mercedes? I want to make sure I don't own their stock.

 

Mercedes-owned subsidiary: https://media.daimler.com/marsMediaS...pacities.xhtml

 

Before, it was M-B's main battery development partner Grohmann, until Tesla bought the firm and dissolved the partnership.
Tesla has done several such acquisitions to stymie competitors' progress - lawsuits "pending."
https://mbworld.org/forums/gle-class...ml#post8229687
I don't know how much development or supply is affected.

On the other hand, if a battery sits undischarged for an extended period of time (lithium included) they will never accept a full charge again (AKA Dead). This wouldn't necessarily be a manufacturing issue.
I also don't think it's M-B's 48v charging algorithm (lithium's need higher charge rates), because I understand it charges at 55v. Maybe somebody can verify that.
With all the supply chain issues, I hope M-B isn't installing "seconds" expecting them to last until they can make fresh batteries available.

 

My GLE450 was built yesterday and was released to the carrier (although not delivered to them yet) and I hope to get it in 2-3 weeks. I also have concerns about them shipping with the same bad batch hoping they work for awhile. I realize more people tend to post problems rather then good experiences, but I am a bit nervous.

 

Are you sure about that info on Grohmann? They were a German Engineering firm as I recall. I thought that they were heavy into robotics & automation some involving battery production. But did they ever make batteries or are you saying that cutting ties with Mercedes set back battery innovation? I think Grohmann did work for other car companies besides Mercedes. Guess I need to take another look.

 

I guess the Grohmann purchase by Tesla did have an impact on batteries...here’s a relavent article I found....

It was only a matter of time, and Mercedes admits this is the case.

As you may remember, Tesla acquired German automotive manufacturing automation company Grohmann Engineering way back in late 2016 and into early 2017. Prior to Tesla's acquisition of the firm, it was affiliated with multiple German automakers. Perhaps Tesla was smart to plan ahead since it knew it would eventually open a manufacturing facility in the country?

At any rate, we assumed back then that this foresight by Tesla would eventually take a toll on German automakers, especially related to future EVs. Not only did Tesla acquire the company, but it also made sure Grohmann severed ties with its previous clients to focus on Tesla.

Check Out These Related Articles:

To Pump Up Production, Tesla Acquires Grohmann Engineering

Tesla Grohmann CEO Ousted Due To Clash With Musk

Why Did Elon Musk Boldly Choose Germany For Gigafactory 4?

Official: Tesla Gigafactory 4 To Be Built In Germany (Berlin)Fast-forward to recent times, and Mercedes-Benz council chief Michael Brecht told Germany's Manager Magazin that Tesla's acquisition of the engineering partner – now renamed Tesla Grohmann Automation – is impacting the German automaker's batterypack manufacturing situation. This is because Grohmann makes and supplies automation equipment for use in building vehicles and battery packs.

Just a few days ago, we told you that Mercedes was dialing back its EQC production efforts due to a lack of battery availability from partner LG Chem. However, since then, the German automaker has gone to the press and explained that this is not really the case. Instead, the issue has been caused by Tesla's early acquisition of Grohmann. According to Reuters (via Electrek):
Daimler’s works council chief Michael Brecht told Manager Magazin that one of the reasons the company is struggling to meet battery demand is because Tesla bought Grohmann Engineering, a battery automation specialist hired by Mercedes-Benz to build up its own battery manufacturing capacity.
Despite all of the above, Mercedes says there will be no impact to its previous EQCproduction plans.

 

@Ron.s Yep, it's getting cutthroat out there.
With Tesla's Market Cap around $700 million https://www.cnbc.com/2020/12/14/tesl...bined-why.html and now profitable (largely because other Manufacturers pay fines because of slow EV penetration, and the Government uses those fines to subsidize Tesla.

Now, the talk is that Tesla is out to acquire GM, its closest real competitor with new Ultium battery technology. https://www.detroitnews.com/story/bu...re/6258788002/

Government-assisted takeover. Is anybody safe? Will we underlings ever get new batteries?

 

I’ll have to change my vote, because our 2020 GLE 450 is now on a flatbed on its way to the nearest dealer (200 miles away). We were driving to church after dinner this evening when it displayed a 48 volt system failure notice, and then the CEL came on. We were in a residential neighborhood only a few blocks away from church, so I kept driving. The next message was in red saying the coolant was too hot and to stop the vehicle. We were in limp home mode, but since we were only two blocks from the church parking lot, we decided to try to make it there, which we did. We called the MB help center, and they dispatched a tow truck, which arrived in about two hours. In order to load the vehicle onto the truck, I tried starting the car, so I could put it in neutral and release the parking brake. To my surprise, it started right up, and the driver was able to load it, and he’s now on his way to the dealer. We have about 15,000 miles on the vehicle and took delivery in October 2019. I’ll post an update after we hear from the dealer.

 

Does anyone know whether the ISG is brushed or brushless? Also, any info on the expected lifespan of the ISG (it is a major job to replace it)?

I've tried finding this info on this and other threads here to no avail. I've also tried emailing MB USA only to receive replies (more than one try) telling me to "contact a dealer in my area"...

TIA

 

the ISG is integrated into the transmission. It is a major job to replace. It should last the life of the car, as the transmission should.

 

Per the photo I posted in the "battery charging" thread, it appears the ISG resides in a housing at the back of the engine block, so once the transmission is removed it would be like replacing a clutch.

 

Interesting, I thought it was housed in the front of the transmission. Anyway It still requires you to drop the transmission to access the motor generator—that qualifies as a major pain in my book.

 

Not that big a deal, and should never need to be done (knock on wood).

 

Well...mine looks to be joining the defective battery bunch. I’m relieved to have this over with since there were a lot of very inconvenient places that this could have happened. Talk about a coincidence...I went out this morning to go to the Dealership with my list for warranty work and my car wouldn’t start. After pressing start a couple of times this warning appeared with a battery pic. They had to drag it out of my garage on skids since the brake won’t release until the engine starts. I happened to have cardboard available so that there was no damage to my painted floor or stained concrete apron. My build date was early Nov.-2020 but it sat a month waiting on something-my guess was the battery. This was about the same time as the others with bad 48 volt batteries.