U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers suggested that Tesla owners pursue individual arbitration under California's unfair competition law and other stipulations instead of the proposed class action in the battery range lawsuit against the automaker. She mentioned that she could issue an injunction against Tesla if the allegations are pursued via this route. According to a plaintiffs' lawyer, Tesla’s attempt to dismiss the class action is a strategic move to evade collective liability for its alleged deceptive practices.
The lawsuit was lodged against the electric vehicle manufacturer, accusing it of falsely enticing customers with exaggerated claims about the distance its cars and SUVs can cover on a single charge. The plaintiffs argued that Tesla had considerably overstated the range of its electric vehicles to boost sales, exploiting customers' belief that this would be a substantial feature.
In response to the allegations, Tesla dismissed them as baseless. However, a investigative report by Reuters discovered that Tesla had formed a dedicated team to cancel customer appointments relating to battery range assessments, alleging that employees were directed to discourage customers complaining about subpar driving range from servicing their vehicles.
The report went on to discover that Tesla's algorithms give fallacious mileage range estimates until the battery's charge drops below 50%, at which point more precise readings are provided.
