Three Tesla owners in California filed a proposed class-action lawsuit against the automaker on Wednesday, accusing the company of falsely advertising the estimated driving ranges of its electric vehicles.
The legal action, which follows a recent Reuters report that brought forth unproven allegations, aims to represent all purchasers of Tesla’s Model 3, Model S, Model Y, and Model X vehicles in California.
The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, cites a Reuters article published last week, which reported that Tesla had formed a “Diversion Team” in Nevada. This team’s objective was to cancel as many range-related appointments as possible following a surge in owner complaints regarding vehicle ranges.
Furthermore, the article revealed that Tesla, around a decade ago, wrote algorithms for its in-dash range meter to display “rosy” projections of travel distance on a full battery. The directive for such optimistic estimates allegedly came from Tesla CEO Elon Musk, although it remains unclear whether the company still employs these algorithms.
The lawsuit alleges that Tesla breached vehicle warranties and engaged in fraud and unfair competition. One of the plaintiffs, James Porter, a Model Y owner, claimed that he “lost approximately 182 miles of range—despite only driving 92 miles” on a particular trip.
“Put simply, Tesla has a duty to deliver a product that performs as advertised,” said Adam A. Edwards, an attorney representing the Tesla owners, in a statement.
The complaint seeks class-action status and unspecified damages, stating that consumers might not have bought the vehicles or would have paid substantially less if Tesla had honestly advertised the electric vehicle ranges.
The range of Tesla vehicles is established by the EPA, under what are near-perfect conditions. Of course range will fluctuate depending on a variety of factors, such as how much you’re stomping on the pedal, terrain, weather and more.
