For many years, Tesla exaggerated the potential range of its cars
Last summer, Tesla secretly created a “Diversion Team” in Las Vegas to cancel as many meetings as possible with car owners who had problems with the car’s range. This is written by Reuters.
People familiar with the situation claim that Tesla created such a team because service centers were flooded with requests from owners who expected better mileage from their cars. Their hopes were based on the advertised estimates of the company and the forecasts shown by the meters of the range of the cars themselves.
In most cases, the cars of the customers who complained probably did not need repairs. Most likely, Tesla “created” this wave of complaints on its own, inflating the “capabilities” of its futuristic electric cars, thereby raising consumer expectations.
According to three automotive experts who have tested or studied the company’s vehicles, Tesla often falls short of the claimed range estimates and predictions provided by the cars’ own equipment.
Tesla years ago began exaggerating the potential range of its cars by tampering with the range-estimating software. About a decade ago, for marketing purposes, the company decided to write algorithms for its odometer that would show drivers “rainbow” predictions of how far it could go on a full battery charge.
When the battery charge fell below 50% of the maximum, the algorithm showed drivers more realistic predictions about the trip range. So that drivers do not get into a difficult situation when the projected range starts to decrease faster, Tesla are designed with a kind of “safety buffer” that allowed to drive about 15 miles (24 km) more.
According to the interlocutor of the agency, the instruction to present optimistic estimates of the range came from Tesla CEO Elon Musk.
“Elon wanted to show good range numbers when fully charged,” the person said, adding: “When you buy a car off the lot seeing 350-mile, 400-mile range, it makes you feel good.”
It was previously reported that the California Attorney General is investigating the feature’s safety Tesla’s autopilot, as well as the company’s marketing practices.