Tesla lied about & actively suppressed driving range data

[pixy0stix]

www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/tesla-batteries-range/

[pixy0stix]

I just remembered about this because a friend was talking about buying a Tesla, and beyond Musk being repugnant knew there was other shady Tesla shit happening.

[wawa]

why can't we just...have nice things? with like, people who make a good product that they actually stand by?

why does our world have to be run by shadymotherfuckers?

[pixy0stix]

Aug 2, 2023 13:18:58 GMT -5 wawa said:

why can't we just...have nice things? with like, people who make a good product that they actually stand by?

why does our world have to be run by shadymotherfuckers?

Nope, we can't. There's also some ambiguous shadiness happening with the Tesla charging network. This spring Biden announced that money was going to funnel into Tesla to expand the charging infrastructure, but there's news starting to come out that Tesla isn't keeping the existing chargers working.

[penguingrrl]

Oh good, Musk furthering people’s fears about the range of electric cars is exactly what we need when we’re trying to get people to adopt them.

[Saudade]

I am 0% surprised by this

I bought a brand new Tesla 3 Long Range in Fall 2020. Living in MN I knew I would get "less" range in the winter due to the severe cold but it was ridiculous how little range I got. My daily work commute was 55 miles. I could not go to work and back more than once. I had to charge to full every night to get back the next day. However, this happened even in the summer when it wasn't cold. I would have to charge at the SuperCharger at the cost of about $16 per charge and 45 minutes. It was so disappointing.

[waverly]

We had this experience with our leased Tesla. DH worked from home so it wasn't a huge issue, but we really noticed it on road trips. You would just see the miles going down pretty much double what they should have.

We ended up giving up the lease and switching to a Mach-E.

[msmerymac]

"Tesla conducts additional range tests on all of its models. By contrast, many other automakers, including Ford, Mercedes and Porsche, continue to rely on the EPA’s formula to calculate potential range, according to agency data for 2023 models. That generally produces more conservative estimates, Pannone said.

Mercedes-Benz told Reuters it uses the EPA’s formula because it believes it provides a more accurate estimate. “We follow a certification strategy that reflects the real-world driving behavior of our customers in the best possible way,” the German carmaker said in a statement."


Okay, but I swear I heard years ago that Mercedes had bought battery technology from Tesla. Did they not vet it? Not implement it? Assume that they just weren't going to get the advertised range?

[wawa]

Aug 2, 2023 13:25:51 GMT -5 pixy0stix said:

Aug 2, 2023 13:18:58 GMT -5 wawa said:

why can't we just...have nice things? with like, people who make a good product that they actually stand by?

why does our world have to be run by shadymotherfuckers?

Nope, we can't. There's also some ambiguous shadiness happening with the Tesla charging network. This spring Biden announced that money was going to funnel into Tesla to expand the charging infrastructure, but there's news starting to come out that Tesla isn't keeping the existing chargers working.

GREAT.  
at least this is happening.  techcrunch.com/2023/07/26/leading-automakers-partner-to-create-massive-ev-charging-network/
see look...throw insane amount of federal dollars at a goal we maybe make progress.

[bee20]

I don't have a Tesla but often ride in a friend's. She is constantly checking the range, but it doesn't get all that cold around here and I hadn't noticed anything like 50% of what is advertised. She has noticed a drop-off of about 15% of range now that her car is 3-4 years old, and it's made us wonder what that means for someone like her who only drives 5-7k miles in a year.

[basilosaurus]

Related

www.bloomberg.com/graphics/2023-tesla-survey/elon-musk-brand-analysis/

[goldengirlz]

I’ve noticed this too but just thought it was normal performance. I always make sure I’m charged to 2x the stated mileage (so if I’m traveling 90 miles, I make sure I have at least 180 battery life when I leave.) I don’t usually go 100% over, but it’s pretty typical to go 50-70% over (it wouldn’t be unusual for a 90-mile drive to burn 150 battery miles.) I know that acceleration burns a lot of battery though, and most of my longer trips are on the freeway, so I just blamed it on that.

It’s so hard to prove these things because there are so many variables that go into battery performance; it’s easy for Tesla to say, oh, it’s the driver/weather/terrain and not the battery. But I’d be so curious to do the same trip side-by-side with another EV and compare notes.

[mpc]

I switched my range display from miles to percent early on in my ownership. The normal places I go, I feel very comfortable about how much battery will be used (approx 10% to get to work, 10% to get home, etc). When going somewhere new or somewhere far I always plug in the address and the car will give an estimate of arrival state of charge (which the article did say was a more realistic calculation). It also gives an estimate of round trip state of charge to that address and back. Recently I was driving 1.5 hours home from my BILs house. The arrival estimate was dropping during the drive enough to make me nervous, so I stopped at a supercharger on the way for about 5 minutes to ease my mind.

[akayf]

Aug 3, 2023 9:26:05 GMT -5 goldengirlz said:

I’ve noticed this too but just thought it was normal performance. I always make sure I’m charged to 2x the stated mileage (so if I’m traveling 90 miles, I make sure I have at least 180 battery life when I leave.) I don’t usually go 100% over, but it’s pretty typical to go 50-70% over (it wouldn’t be unusual for a 90-mile drive to burn 150 battery miles.) I know that acceleration burns a lot of battery though, and most of my longer trips are on the freeway, so I just blamed it on that.

It’s so hard to prove these things because there are so many variables that go into battery performance; it’s easy for Tesla to say, oh, it’s the driver/weather/terrain and not the battery. But I’d be so curious to do the same trip side-by-side with another EV and compare notes.

We have a Chevy Bolt. We have found the range estimates are very accurate. Pre-covid, DH used to have a 60 mile drive to work. Before we installed a level 2 charger at home, he mainly charged at work. Plugged it in and drove 60 miles home with a fully charged battery. Left in the morning and drove 60 miles. This was on the NJ and PA turnpike. Fully charged is over 250. He would arrive at work with around 120 miles left in the battery. So his 120 mile round trip used around 10 extra miles.

Last night, we had a 30 mile drive on the NJ turnpike so 60 round trip. Left with a fully charged car so over 250 miles. Pulled back in our driveway with about 185 miles of charge left. And that was with the AC running the entire time both ways.