{"id":40193,"date":"2023-07-27T14:23:19","date_gmt":"2023-07-27T18:23:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mjtsai.com\/blog\/?p=40193"},"modified":"2024-01-09T10:12:38","modified_gmt":"2024-01-09T15:12:38","slug":"tesla-range-estimates-and-suppressing-complaints","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mjtsai.com\/blog\/2023\/07\/27\/tesla-range-estimates-and-suppressing-complaints\/","title":{"rendered":"Tesla Range Estimates and Suppressing Complaints"},"content":{"rendered":"

Steve Stecklow and Norihiko Shirouzu<\/a> (via Hacker News<\/a>):<\/p>\n

\n

Tesla years ago began exaggerating its vehicles’ potential driving distance – by rigging their range-estimating software. The company decided about a decade ago, for marketing purposes, to write algorithms for its range meter that would show drivers “rosy” projections for the distance it could travel on a full battery[…]<\/p>\n

Then, when the battery fell below 50% of its maximum charge, the algorithm would show drivers more realistic projections for their remaining driving range, this person said. […] The directive to present the optimistic range estimates came from Tesla Chief Executive Elon Musk, this person said.<\/p>\n

[…]<\/p>\n

Data collected in 2022 and 2023 from more than 8,000 Teslas by Recurrent, a Seattle-based EV analytics company, showed that the cars’ dashboard range meters didn’t change their estimates to reflect hot or cold outside temperatures, which can greatly reduce range.<\/p>\n

[…]<\/p>\n

Tesla supervisors told some virtual team members to steer customers away from bringing their cars into service whenever possible.<\/p>\n

[…]<\/p>\n

Tesla also updated its phone app so that any customer who complained about range could no longer book service appointments, one of the sources said.<\/p>\n

[…]<\/p>\n

In late 2022, managers aiming to quickly close cases told advisors to stop running remote diagnostic tests on the vehicles of owners who had reported range problems[…]<\/p>\n

“Thousands of customers were told there is nothing wrong with their car” by advisors who had never run diagnostics, the person said.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n

Previously:<\/p>\n