F8 battery died (2023 F8 brand new)?

I took delivery of my brand new F8 Spider six months ago (Yay!). The car is always on its tender when not in use. Yesterday, I took the car out for a drive and it started right up like always. But after reaching my destination and starting the car again a few hours later, every warning light came on suggesting electrical engine control failure. The car still started fine, and idled and I was able to drive it (to the dealer). The check engine light remained on. Shutting the car off, locking it and unlocking it and restarting it was instant, but the same errors came up. At the dealer, their diagnostics read "bad battery". Huh?? I have never experienced a battery that will start a car instantly and be bad - let alone after the car is running and the alternator is providing voltage to the electronics.

Can anyone explain this? I am told that the "million" electronic modules and sensors on the F8 are so voltage sensitive that at startup, if the battery drops voltage too low (because it is failing), it triggers the fault codes. And yet, the battery starts the car.

Anyone experience this?

(the battery will be replaced under warranty, but I have a fear these batteries don't last despite having a maintainer on them).

 

Sucks hearing these stories and I don't have an answer..... my 2021 F8 has the original Ferrari battery in it still and I'm at 5,600 miles. So far, no issues, no codes, no lights.

 

The fine print on the warranty is that you have to drive the car 2,000 miles per year to have the battery covered. I can't fathom what driving the car has to do with the battery if the battery is on a tender when not in use (factory supplied tender or better (i.e. CTek). I have an old truck with a nine year old Interstate and this truck is used like twice a year - the rest of the time it's on a tender and starts perfectly.

 

Same issue on my 2018 488 and 2022 F8. Always on the tender and both were >3,000 miles when the battery failed. I’m at a loss to understand why Ferrari would tolerate such a high battery failure rate.


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There's a reset button on the bottom of the battery. This usually always fixes it.

 

Ferrari has been plagued with this battery issue for decades. Incomprehensible. If they have not been capable in solving an elementary problem like a battery, what is to be expected for those who are buying the hybrids. Many 296 owners have already been victims of numerous breakdowns.

 

It is perplexing. I only keep one supercar at a time now and i have always driven all of my Ferraris multiple times per week. The need to put it on the Tender is annoying. The worse part is constantly having to explain it to other people.

friend: is it a hybrid
me: no the car just kills its battery while sitting over a few days
Friend: why?
Me: supposedly the car is always thinking.
Friend: my 911 has more electronics and I don’t plug it in
Me: yeah that’s just a thing with a Ferrari
Friend: so it’s a hybrid?

 

Mine on my Pista went after about 13 months or so. I was given the same BS about it not being driven enough even though it was on a tender. I still believe the parasite drain during the lapse of time while being shipped and stored impacts these batteries.

 

Mine (2023 F8s) died after 500 miles. Car was only 4 months old. Replaced the battery. I plugged it in every time not being driven.

Now…after I received the new interstate battery, I was told that in order to be double bullet proof. It’s good to also unplug the tender from the wall and replug it into the wall outlet before putting the car back on the tender. Something about interrupting the flow of the circuit I think….any way, I do that now, fingers crossed


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I HOPE no one just leaves it plugged in... that's just silly. I mean why would anyone leave it plugged in when there is clearly a green light on it and it gets warm being plugged in.... I, of course, always detach from the car, unplug the charger and when I come back, plug in the charger then attach to the car. I'd be afraid of a fire or ruining the charger by leaving it plugged in.

 

My 22 F8 left me stranded with a dead battery and I had less than 500 miles on it. It was and always has been on the charger when not driven. I even detailed the car with it plugged in to the charger. These cars have some crazy battery and parasitic power draw issues.

 

As always, I recommend replacing the provided tender with a CTEK 7002. You can leave it plugged in, because the tenders are designed to be left plugged in. I often leave one of my cars on a CTEK 7002 for six months at a time (that battery lasted ten years). My 458 went eight years on the original battery. The CTEK tenders follow the below steps:

STEP 1 DESULPHATION
Detects sulphated batteries. Pulsing current and voltage, removes sulphate from the lead plates of the battery restoring the battery capacity.
STEP 2 SOFT START
Tests if the battery can accept charge. This step prevents that charging proceeds with a defect battery.
STEP 3 BULK
Charging with maximum current until approximately 80% battery capacity.
STEP 4 ABSORPTION
Charging with declining current to maximize up to 100% battery capacity.
STEP 5 ANALYSE
Tests if the battery can hold charge. Batteries that can not hold charge may need to be replaced.
STEP 6 RECOND
Choose the Recond program to add the Recond step to the charging process. During the Recond step voltage increases to create controlled gassing in the battery. Gasing mixes the battery acid and gives back energy to the battery.
STEP 7 FLOAT
Maintaining the battery voltage at maximum level by providing a constant voltage charge.
STEP 8 PULSE
Maintaining the battery at 95–100% capacity. The charger monitors the battery voltage and gives a pulse when necessary to keep the battery fully charged

 

Lol

 

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Were you absent the day in grade school when they discussed maturity?

 

i was eating glue in grade school

 

He’s the funniest guy around. At least in his own mind. I bet he is a riot at parties. Kind of get olds that every post is the same. Think it’s time for ignore button.

 

Well - the diagnosis came back, battery is bad. There is nothing wrong with any of the "modules". I always leave it on the tender (Ctek 7002). Makes no sense that the car has to be "driven" in order for the battery to be kept in shape. I do not know if they will replace it under warranty. Apparently my F8, in its first six months has not been driven enough. I hope they do the right thing.

 

Bummer, I'll be interested to hear what happens. As others mentioned above, I'm guessing the current 3+ months transportation between factory and delivery has damaged a lot of batteries. I just took my wife's Portofino M for its first service. Battery seems fine, but definitely takes much longer to get through all the cycles on the 7002 than any of my other cars.

 

what the hell is a ctek7002? why don't you guys just use the friggin genuine Ferrari charger that comes with the damn car? So complicated. So many topics on this site with people trying their hardest to change something in place of what Ferrari did or provided.

 

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Outstanding battery charger/maintainer. Was used on my last Ferrari for years. Genuine Ferrari chargers are made by Ctek with "Ferrari" stamped on them. This model is a better charger.
Regardless - brand new battery from the factory, six months old on ANY tender should not go bad this quick. I agree it is the months long transportation without being on a tender which stresses the batteries. Some make it some don't.

 

More info here:

https://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/threads/f8-battery-dead-after-1-month.671804/

 

The three Ferrari provided tenders I have are OEM versions of the CTEK 4.3 It's good, not great. For a couple hundred $$ you can make your life much easier with a significantly better CTEK tender:

Battery tender: CTEK 7002 https://www.amazon.com/CTEK-56-353-12-Volt-Battery-Charger/dp/B000FRLO9Y/ref=sr_1_5?crid=12L1Q97YCLE22&keywords=ctek+7002&qid=1671214566&sprefix=ctek+7002,aps,194&sr=8-5&ufe=app_do:amzn1.fos.f5122f16-c3e8-4386-bf32-63e904010ad0 (I have one on all my cars, including my 458 and Portofino M)

optional extension cable: https://www.amazon.com/CTEK-56-304-Comfort-Connect-Extension/dp/B00ADIHUVG/ref=pd_bxgy_img_sccl_1/135-0256143-7726263?pd_rd_w=TuMbP&content-id=amzn1.sym.7f0cf323-50c6-49e3-b3f9-63546bb79c92&pf_rd_p=7f0cf323-50c6-49e3-b3f9-63546bb79c92&pf_rd_r=5MHR20CHVPTK489XNW6H&pd_rd_wg=RKKXi&pd_rd_r=8cfbf7e0-0ea9-4d9e-8140-8d44e3e88a75&pd_rd_i=B00ADIHUVG&psc=1

magnetic connector: https://www.cccharger.co.uk/product-page/ctek-ferrari-magnetic-connector

 

This is an excellent thread. Just confirms that its a roll of the dice with Ferrari OEM batteries. I was told, in the future, to not just press the start button to start the car, but instead, to press the start button without brake pressure to activate the electronics and then start the car. Less chance it gets confused.

 

Because I live in a high rise and do not have constant access to a plug, I have been plugging in twice a week, every 3-4 days, until green. When I first got the car from the dealer it took an overnight plug in to go green. Now it takes 2-3 hours max. The car has LoJack and the LoJack app lets me monitor battery voltage from my phone. Once it turns green and I unplug the tender I will be at 13.0 volts. In 2-3 days of sitting it will drop to 12.7-12.6. If I drive it around and park it again, its generally back up to 13.0. Once it starts to not return to 13.0, I will plug it back in.