Tesla guilty of throttling owners’ charging speeds in Norway – may have to pay US$160 million in damages

Tesla was found guilty of throttling the charging speeds of Model S and Model X owners in Norway, and was subsequently ordered by a Norwegian court to pay thousands of owners a sum of US$16,000, each. Tesla has yet to appeal, but an Electrek report stated that the US automaker could face more serious fines in other countries where similar legal efforts are underway.

The issue stems from a software update – specifically versions 2019.16.1 and .2 – for both the cars in 2019, which caused owners to lose anywhere from 19 km to 48 km of range. This seemed to only affected models equipped with the 85 kWh battery packs, of which were discontinued in 2016.

That’s the first problem. The update also apparently caused the DC fast-charging rate to be reduced, with affected owners reporting much longer charging periods. Plaintiffs of a class action lawsuit filed against the automaker claimed that Tesla “fraudulently manipulated its software with the intent to avoid …legal obligations to customers to fix, repair, or replace the batteries” of the cars.

Tesla’s official response to throttling charge speeds has to do with its attempt to protect the battery from overcharging/overheating and improve longevity, and claimed that the range loss only affects a small percentage of owners.

If the court rules in favour of the plaintiffs, Tesla could be forced to pay as much as US$160 million to approximately 10,000 affected Norwegian owners. Tesla has several more weeks to file an appeal, so watch this space for more updates.

The post Tesla guilty of throttling owners’ charging speeds in Norway – may have to pay US$160 million in damages appeared first on Paul Tan's Automotive News.

from Paul Tan's Automotive News
Read The Rest:paultan...