Tesla committed fraud by “grossly” exaggerating EV range, class action says

Re:Tesla committed fraud by “grossly” exaggerating EV range,... by mrguyorama on Thursday August 03, 2023 @04:56PM (#36991760)

But Tesla is using that metric in a place most normally don't, and they are doing that purposely as elsewhere they use an in house estimation like everyone else.

No gasoline car uses the EPA fuel economy to do it's range estimation, EVEN WHEN IT WOULD BE BETTER FOR THEM TO DO SO, because it's wrong enough often enough to make a range estimation using it lose significant value.

Tesla has made a choice to stray from normal industry practice. If they have done so in an attempt to sway customers with the incorrect numbers, that should be considered fraud. That's pretty damn difficult to prove as a crime, but not hard to make likely in a civil case.

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Re:Tesla committed fraud by “grossly” exaggerating EV range,... by freerobby on Thursday August 03, 2023 @05:04PM (#36991871)

I think the suit is just referencing the rated range meter. The trip planner (which is what predicts how much battery you need to get to your destination) uses real world conditions, not rated range.

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Re:Tesla committed fraud by “grossly” exaggerating EV range,... by omgwtfbyobbq on Thursday August 03, 2023 @10:44PM (#36994861)

I thought it was common in all cars these days. My gas car (Prius) uses the EPA fuel economy rating to estimate range at full, and is progressively pessimistic as I use up gas in the tank. On empty I can still get another 50-100 miles. My 3 also exhibits this behavior, although it's not quite as pessimistic as the Prius.

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Re:Tesla committed fraud by “grossly” exaggerating EV range,... by mrguyorama on Friday August 04, 2023 @01:55PM (#37003431)

> My gas car (Prius) uses the EPA fuel economy rating to estimate range at full, and is progressively pessimistic as I use up gas in the tank

Do you have more convincing evidence of this because I have used many Toyota vehicles and they do not use EPA figures to do their range estimation, and can be conclusively shown to be using their internally measured "average mpg" figures to estimate range.

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Re:Tesla committed fraud by “grossly” exaggerating EV range,... by omgwtfbyobbq on Sunday August 06, 2023 @03:13PM (#37025491)

That sounds right. It could just be coincidence that the range estimate for the Prius is close to the product of EPA fuel economy figure and the tank size.

I'm mostly commenting on all manufacturers being conservative with fuel/energy use/metering. Even older vehicles I've had (carbureted pickup truck) usually have a gallon to so left in the tank on empty.

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