Tesla locks 80 miles of customer’s battery range for $4,500 ransom (2024)
Tesla tried to force a customer to pay $4,500 ransom over 80 miles of range that the company software-locked in his battery pack. The automaker only started to walk back on the strategy to squeeze $4,500 out of its customers after an uproar on social media.
Tesla used to sell Model S vehicles with software-locked battery packs. For example, Electrek‘s Seth Weintraub’s first Tesla was a Model S 40, which was actually a Model S with a 60 kWh battery pack software-locked at 40 kWh of capacity.
This was a way to offer different range options without having to make production more complicated with different battery pack sizes.
Later, Tesla started to offer owners of those software-locked vehicles the option to unlock the capacity for an additional cost. Tesla phased out the practice over the years, but the company still used software-locked battery packs when doing warranty replacements of battery packs of certain capacities that it doesn’t produce anymore.
This has created a situation for a customer that Tesla has completely mishandled.
Jason Hughes, an infamous Tesla hacker, revealed the situation after trying to help the customer who bought a used Model S 90 that used to be a Model S 60:
Car is sold twice since, and now has a new owner (my customer). It says 90, badged 90, has 90-type range.
The customer went to a Tesla service center to get a computer upgrade so that his vehicle can stay connected to the internet – older Tesla vehicles only had 3G connectivity, which is going away. After the Tesla visit, he received a call from the automaker telling him that they found an error in his vehicle configuration and that they would push a “fix” to his car.
The “fix” reverted his configuration to a Model S 60 and locked about 80 miles of range from his battery pack. The customer tried to explain the situation to Tesla and have them reenable the capability, which he paid for since he bought the car as a Model S 90, but Tesla told him that he had to pay $4,500 to unlock the capability:
Imagine walking out to your car to find it's now 1/3rd as good as it was 15 minutes ago, and Tesla making it out like this is a good thing! They fixed the problem!
That’s when the customer came to Hughes, who has been known to be able to enable software-locked features inside Tesla vehicles. However, he couldn’t get a solution that wouldn’t cause other issues.
Instead, he took the problem to social media, and his thread on the situation went viral.
Only after the thread went viral did Tesla reportedly reach out to the customer to say that they would “take care of it right away”:
While I don't think it's ideal to need a huge social media push to get things accomplished, thanks to the momentum this thread has generated it seems like we've got a path forward with Tesla towards getting this taken care of the right way.
It sounds like Tesla will revert the capacity back to a 90 kWh battery pack for the customer.
Electrek’s Take
This is wild. Now, I understand that mistakes happen. And, I can actually see that if this car came on Tesla’s radar, and a tech saw that it should have been configured as a Model S 60, they might try to reverse it.
However, what is inexcusable is that when the customer reached back out to Tesla to explain the situation to them – that he is the third owner of the vehicle and bought it as a Model S 90 with clear proof – they demanded an additional $4,500 to give him what he had already paid for.
Tesla made $2 billion last quarter. There’s no reason to try to squeeze $4,500 from a customer who did nothing wrong. It took the story going viral for Tesla to address the situation.
I think Tesla is a great company doing great things, but sometimes it gets it so wrong that it’s hard to understand.
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Tesla tried to force a customer to pay $4,500 ransom over 80 miles of range that the company software-locked in his battery pack. The automaker only started to walk back on the strategy to squeeze $4,500 out of its customers after an uproar on social media.
A judge has ruled Tesla owners must go through arbitration to pursue their driving-range claims. The owners accused Tesla of falsely advertising how far the cars could drive on a single charge. The ruling is based on an "order agreement" signed by the owners when they purchased their vehicles.
And he's not too keen on the fact that he can't use that extra power without forking out $4,500. Tesla got into the practice of selling a car with a software-limited battery pack more than half a decade ago. It would sell a 60 kWh battery pack in a car but limit it to just 40 kWh unless the buyer paid extra.
When it's time to charge, it's often smarter to stop at 80% and then get back on the road, instead of waiting for the battery to completely fill up. Doing so maximizes your use of time. For example, if your EV has 300 miles of range when fully juiced up, that means it can go about 240 miles with an 80% state of charge.
March 7 (Reuters) - Tesla (TSLA. O) , opens new tab owners who accused it of falsely advertising estimated driving ranges for its electric vehicles must pursue their claims in individual arbitrations rather than banding together in proposed class action lawsuits, a federal judge ruled.
According to Tesla CEO Elon Musk, Tesla car batteries are supposed to last around 300,000 to 500,000 miles or about 1,500 times of charging and discharging.
If a Tesla's 12-volt battery loses its charge while you're in the vehicle, you have options. Even if the locks are not working, you and your passengers can open the doors on a Model 3, S, and Y using a mechanical release in front of the window switches.
Tesla's batteries are covered by a warranty. Models have slightly different warranties, but they're generally covered for eight years or between 100,000-150,000 miles, whichever comes first.
We recommend plugging in every evening to top off the battery. If your utility has low, overnight electricity rates, set your charging schedule to match those off-peak times.
We recommend plugging in as often as possible. This does not apply to LFP batteries, for which Tesla has LFP-specific advice: If your vehicle is equipped with an LFP Battery, Tesla recommends that you keep your charge limit set to 100%, even for daily use, and that you also fully charge to 100% at least once per week.
It's all to do with keeping your battery as healthy as possible, for as long as possible. And while it's perfectly safe to charge your electric car to 100%, the Lithium-Ion batteries that power most electric cars are most efficient working in ranges from roughly 20 to 80%.
If you poll Tesla Model Y owners most would indicate they usually charge daily to between 70% and 80%. Any set charging limit between 50% and 90% will be OK. With the large number of current Supercharger network charging locations in most regions you no longer need to charge above 90% before starting a trip.
The Tesla Model 3 RWD's battery pack uses the LFP chemistry which Tesla recommends charging to 100% at least once per week. Tesla recommends setting the charge limit to 100% for daily use.
Try to avoid keeping the battery below 20% charge for an extended period of time. When the battery is too low in charge, the battery icon will turn yellow and the available range will drop if the vehicle is parked in colder temperatures.
Tesla owners have filed about 260 complaints with NHTSA over suspension and steering problems this year, compared to about 750 for General Motors and 230 for Toyota. That makes Tesla's complaint rate far higher when considering the number of GM and Toyota vehicles on the road.
One of the key components in any Tesla vehicle is its high-capacity battery pack. While Tesla's battery technology has come a long way, issues related to charging and battery life can still arise.
Burrows filed a commissioner's charge alleging that Tesla violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 by subjecting Black employees to an unlawful hostile work environment and retaliating against employees for opposing harassment.
It is normal for estimated range to decrease slightly over the first few months before leveling off. Over time, you may see a gradual, but natural, decrease in range at full charge – this depends on factors such as Supercharging regularly or the mileage and age of the battery.
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