An independent European electric vehicle repair specialist is sounding an alarm over “catastrophic” failure rates and significantly shorter lifespans observed in certain LG battery packs used in Tesla Model 3 and Model Y vehicles.
EV Clinic, a Croatian independent research and repair facility known for its battery analysis, has issued a severe warning regarding LG NCM811 cells manufactured by LG Energy Solution in Nanjing, China. These batteries are found in Long Range and Performance versions of the Tesla Model 3 and Model Y sold in Europe and parts of Asia.
The findings suggest a stark quality difference when compared to Panasonic NCA battery packs, which are manufactured in the United States. EV Clinic’s repair data indicates significantly poorer performance from the LG units.
While Panasonic packs can generally be repaired and last up to 400,000 kilometers before cell failure, the LG equivalents are reportedly reaching their end-of-life around 240,000 kilometers. More critically, EV Clinic states that over 90% of observed failures in LG packs are “impossible” to repair at the cell level.
The company stated, “We are raising serious concerns about the Tesla Model 3/Y LG NCM811 battery packs (LGES Nanjing), which exhibit very high failure rates and significantly shorter service lives when compared to Panasonic NCA packs (US-made).”
The issue stems from widespread degradation across all battery modules rather than isolated faulty cells. EV Clinic has found that LG cells frequently develop extremely high internal resistance.
Media hype around “Made in China” battery systems being the “best” has never been confirmed in real-world practice.
We are raising serious concerns about Tesla Model 3/Y LG NCM811 battery packs (LGES Nanjing), which show extremely high failure rates and a noticeably shorter… pic.twitter.com/PHi83UCixl— EV Clinic (@evclinic) November 29, 2025
A failing Panasonic cell typically reaches about 28 mΩ of internal resistance, a measurement common for new LG cells. In degraded LG modules, it is routine to find 15 out of 46 cells above 100 mΩ ACIR, with the remaining 30 cells above 50 mΩ ACIR.
The uniform and severe nature of the degradation makes replacing a single defective module “operationally unsustainable.” The remaining weakened cells are highly likely to fail in a cascading manner shortly thereafter.
The situation has become so problematic that EV Clinic has implemented a “viability fee” simply to assess if these specific LG packs can be repaired. The workshop reports losing more than $21,400 USD per month in operational time attempting to salvage what are often irreparable units.
EV Clinic confirmed: “At this stage, we can confidently state: the cells are, to be delicate, catastrophic.” The company highlighted that Panasonic packs usually experience single cell failures around 250,000 km and are repairable, whereas LG packs suffer from multiple failures.
For owners of affected Tesla vehicles with failed LG packs, EV Clinic’s advice is straightforward: replace the unit with a used Panasonic pack or seek a complete replacement from Tesla directly.
Tesla has historically used various battery suppliers, including Chinese manufacturers. CATL’s Lithium Iron Phosphate (LFP) packs from China have generally demonstrated strong durability in other Tesla models.