[Dippy]

Tesla faces a lawsuit claiming it speeds up odometers on its electric vehicles so they fall out of warranty faster, saving the EV company from paying for repairs.

The plaintiff, Nyree Hinton, alleged that Tesla odometer readings reflect energy consumption, driver behaviour and "predictive algorithms" rather than actual mileage driven.

Hinton, a Los Angeles resident said that the odometer on the 2020 Model Y he bought in December 2022 with 36,772 miles on the clock, ran at least 15% faster, based on his other vehicles and driving history. For a while, it even showed that he drove 72 miles a day when at most he drove 20.

He said that this caused his basic 50,000-mile warranty to expire well ahead of its due date leaving him with a $10,000 suspension repair bill that he thought Tesla should cover.

"By tying warranty limits and lease mileage caps to inflated 'odometer' readings, Tesla increases repair revenue, reduces warranty obligations, and compels consumers to purchase extended warranties prematurely," the complaint said.

Hinton is seeking compensatory and punitive damages for Tesla drivers in California, potentially encompassing more than 1 million vehicles, court papers show.

Tesla and its lawyer have denied all material allegations in the lawsuit and have refused to comment on the matter. The company has moved the lawsuit to Los Angeles federal court this month from a state court in that city.

Tesla has also faced litigation that has accused it of inflating vehicle driving ranges.

Source: Reuters

Link to Team BHP news

[t3rm1n80r]

Isn't this the case with almost all vehicles? If there is a speedo error of +5% on an average, it would mean the odometer reads +5% more than the actual distance covered. Thus reducing its warranty period by a bit.

[EV Fan]

Originally Posted by t3rm1n80r

Isn't this the case with almost all vehicles? If there is a speedo error of +5% on an average, it would mean the odometer reads +5% more than the actual distance covered. Thus reducing its warranty period by a bit.

We should do in reverse. Upsize the tires and make the odometer count the mileage slower. How about that?

No whistle blower, no study - so the burden to prove is on the customer.

I guess it's "Sit Tight and Assess" for others.

[TorquePull]

Originally Posted by t3rm1n80r

Isn't this the case with almost all vehicles? If there is a speedo error of +5% on an average, it would mean the odometer reads +5% more than the actual distance covered. Thus reducing its warranty period by a bit.

I think that variation applies only to the speedometer. Odo readings have been off by just a few kms at most when compared to Google Maps distance, for 400-500km trips.

[WhyMe]

If such malpractice is intentional than it can't be a one off case and has to be common in all units, so at some point it would be detected by most Tesla owners. Otherwise another software bug ? 🤔

[Jeroen]

Originally Posted by TorquePull

I think that variation applies only to the speedometer. Odo readings have been off by just a few kms at most when compared to Google Maps distance, for 400-500km trips.

I think it does vary by brand and type. But speedo and odo can be calibrated seperately.

But it would not surprise me at all if in general ODO readings are more accurate than Speedo.

The reason to some extent is similar. Manufacturers calibrate the speedo to show a slightly higher speed. They don’t want to be sued over it reading too low.

When it comes to ODO, you don’t want over or under reading. You might get sued! So it needs to be fairly accurate.

I must admit I find the Tesla owners story baffling to say the least. If that was a deliberate Tesla move it would have been noticed much earlier. It’s not some small errors he is reporting.

It’s fairly easy to check of course. A decent road of a few kilometers, preferably few curves and a GPS device and a steady speed will give you a pretty good understanding of speedo and odo accuracy.

Jeroen

[Sid94]

Odometers and speedometers aren’t always spot-on. Sure, the devices themselves can have some error, but things like tire size can throw them off too.

That said, if Tesla odometers were way off—like 15%—people would’ve definitely noticed. That’s the kind of thing most drivers would pick up on pretty quickly.

By the way, do any countries have government agencies that randomly check how accurate stuff like odometers and speedometers are?

[SmartCat]

Originally Posted by Jeroen

I must admit I find the Tesla owners story baffling to say the least.

Tesla owner's odometer might indeed be faulty, but Elon Musk intentionally rigging it to save on warranty costs is comic book villain stuff.

Let me add some fuel to the fire - apparently, Tesla's warranty costs are 4% of revenues!
https://www.investing.com/news/compa...s-93CH-3534387

[Chaman K]

15 percent seems a little too much to be true but tesla has pursued many anti consumer policies which have thus been changed a little bit.
1) Not selling parts to salvage title vehicles which has changed now.
2) They didn't honour takata airbag recall for model S salvage title owners till the NHTSA got involved.
3) They had a programme where salvage vehicles could be inspected by tesla for a substantial sum of money so that one could enjoy the autopilot and free supercharging. They abruptly stopped this and also reversed these on those who had already paid for it. (No Elon didn't return their money)

[narayans80]

Originally Posted by Dippy

Hinton, a Los Angeles resident said that the odometer on the 2020 Model Y he bought in December 2022 with 36,772 miles on the clock, ran at least 15% faster, based on his other vehicles and driving history.

15 percent error is way too blatant an odometer error to go unnoticed for over 2 years. That is 6 km error on a 40 km commute.

This is a big red flag that should go off on day 1.

For a while, it even showed that he drove 72 miles a day when at most he drove 20.

Let alone 200%+ error claims like above

Originally Posted by TorquePull

Odo readings have been off by just a few kms at most when compared to Google Maps distance, for 400-500km trips.

They can be off by a km or 2 at most vs Google Maps, as no navigation app covers indoor distance, certainly not a few km

[Jeroen]

Originally Posted by SmartCat

Let me add some fuel to the fire - apparently, Tesla's warranty costs are 4% of revenues!
https://www.investing.com/news/compa...s-93CH-3534387

That is on the high side I believe? Its likely to increase. There is a real chance of Tesla being forced to replace the ECU and various other parts on million of cars. Tesla has been claiming for many years that from a hardwarenpoint of view all Teslas are ready for full automatic driving. (FSD)

All it needed was a software update. Apparently that claim doesn't hold true for millions of Tesla’s which will require substantial platform upgrades. As they were sold as “ready for auto drive” Tesla might have to replace all necessary hardware!

Jeroen