I CAN’T STAND THE RAIN: A Tesla owner says his ‘heart missed a beat’ when he received a $21,000 bill after the battery was damaged by rain.

Johnny Bacigalupo and Rob Hussey told the Scottish news outlet Edinburgh Live they were billed £17,374, or about $21,000, to fix their Tesla after its battery was damaged by rain last week.

“I honestly can’t believe that this has happened. When I first got the call, I thought we would get a bill for £500 or £1,000,” Bacigalupo told Edinburgh Live. “When they said over 17 grand — it’s absolutely obscene. My heart missed a beat, honestly.”

J.D. Power quoted Elon Musk saying in 2019 that it could cost $5,000 to $10,000 to replace a Tesla battery but added that the figures were different in 2023. Recurrent, which reports on EV battery health, said battery replacement could cost anywhere from $5,000 to $20,000.

Bacigalupo and Hussey said that after being unable to start their vehicle and arranging to have it delivered to Tesla Edinburgh by a collection firm, they received a call Wednesday informing them that the battery was “damaged due to water ingress.”

They said they were told the eight-year warranty didn’t cover this and were asked whether they wanted to proceed with a repair costing about £17,500.

The story doesn’t say how the rain got into the battery compartment but it’s difficult to imagine how that wasn’t due to a manufacturing defect or a design flaw.