Elon Musk is known for his unusual and disruptive business practices.
The latest apparent example was published on Thursday in an article by the Reuters news agency: for years, Tesla has reportedly exaggerated the maximum range of the electric cars it sells. When customer complaints about range overwhelmed the company's service team, according to Reuters, Tesla created a special team to cancel those appointments and tell drivers there was nothing wrong with their cars' battery data.
The news report, citing anonymous customers and former employees, said the company created a “Diversion Team” in Las Vegas specifically to cancel as many range-related appointments as possible.
The team was reportedly created to address a growing problem at Tesla: the growth of its service center has not kept pace with the growth of Tesla car sales. “Service centers were inundated with appointments from owners who expected better performance based on the company's announced estimates,” the Reuters article said. Messages sent to customers with range-related appointments said “remote diagnostics” did not indicate battery issues and therefore the appointment was cancelled.
According to Reuters, Tesla manipulated the algorithms of its range meter to give drivers an “optimistic” idea of how far the car could travel on a full charge; When the battery was half-depleted, the software displayed a more realistic range projection, to prevent a driver from being stranded without battery power.
Customer Alexandre Ponsin told the news agency that he purchased a used 2021 Tesla Model 3 with an advertised range of 353 miles, but found that when it was cold he got only half that range. (Cold weather can reduce the range of any car battery.)
Given the opportunity to refute or explain the autonomy issue to Reuters, both Tesla and Elon Musk did not respond to repeated requests for comment.
It's unclear whether Tesla's autonomy claims violate any marketing laws. The company is being investigated by the California Department of Motor Vehicles for calling its driver assistance software Full Self-Driving, when the car is unable to drive itself without human assistance. On Wednesday, CNBC reported that California's attorney general is investigating claims the company has made about its Autopilot software.
