Tesla Suppress Thousands of Range Complaints

[st13phil]

Interesting article:

Tesla’s secret team to suppress thousands of driving range complaints

About a decade ago, Tesla rigged the dashboard readouts in its electric cars to provide “rosy” projections of how far owners can drive before needing to recharge, a source told Reuters.

www.reuters.com

In the whole scheme of things, from a manufacturer point of view it's not really any different to the shenanigans car manufacturers have been guilty of for decades to manipulate official fuel economy numbers, but from a driver's point of view, over-estimating the range remaining on an EV that already has (relatively) limited range and a significantly greater distance between "refuelling" facilities than an ICE-powered vehicle isn't very helpful.

I have no knowledge as to the truth of the article, so have the Tesla owners here experienced the "rosy" picture of remaining range until the battery is (say) 50% depleted then a rapid reduction in remaining range as they further deplete the battery's charge?

Interesting too that other manufacturer's dashboard range estimates tend to be more accurate and sometimes underestimate what's remaining. Under promise and over deliver sounds like a good way to make drivers of those cars happy.

 

[clk320x]

I have no knowledge as to the truth of the article, so have the Tesla owners here experienced the "rosy" picture of remaining range until the battery is (say) 50% depleted then a rapid reduction in remaining range as they further deplete the battery's charge?

Not noticed this at all.

There’s 2 options for range: rated and typical. Rated is what the car can achieve under lab conditions and no one ever uses this.

‘Typical’ is extremely accurate and what everyone uses/the car comes set with.

You will find most EV owners just use % display rather than range anyway.

 

[Fastcar155]

Hi , well Tesla are not alone with actual mileage figures. I stand to be corrected but aren't the actual mileage features obtained by independent agencies.

My C 207E400 in the last 1500 miles has achieved a mileage of 28.3 mpg. I am really pleased by those figures but they fall short of the actual values achieved by the lastest testing regime.

 

[MikeInWimbledon]

My C 207E400 in the last 1500 miles has achieved a mileage of 28.3 mpg.

Gott in Himmel: makes the 26mpg out of my suburban 5.5 litre look not so bad at all.

 

[MikeInWimbledon]

But how serious are these range issues in the real world ?

Given that EVangelists charge “when they can,” ie overnight or when parked for other reasons, rather than when the tank is low like Dino Juice drivers, how often does anyone see that their range remaining is wrong?

 

[Neiltodd]

Hi , well Tesla are not alone with actual mileage figures. I stand to be corrected but aren't the actual mileage features obtained by independent agencies.

My C 207E400 in the last 1500 miles has achieved a mileage of 28.3 mpg. I am really pleased by those figures but they fall short of the actual values achieved by the lastest testing regime.

My A207 E400 is at 34mpg for the last 3100 miles, happy with that. That was through lots of mountain passes in Spain and Portugal following the Lotus Car Club Tour so not driving like Miss Daisy.

 

[Fastcar155]

My A207 E400 is at 34mpg for the last 3100 miles, happy with that. That was through lots of mountain passes in Spain and Portugal following the Lotus Car Club Tour so not driving like Miss Daisy.

Hi , I live in a hilly part of Worcestershire that does not help fuel consumption.I drove to Droitwich yesterday and took the chance to fill the car up with Shell V power and on the local trip the fuel consumption gave 5 mpg more !

My preferred petrol for my car is Shell V power ( not saying it's the best fuel ) as I do so few miles but it is 20p a litre more in Worcester.

 

[markjay]

It's not surprising. We often get on this forum complaints from people buying Mercedes hybrid cars and realising that the actual range on battery powe is much lower than the official figures - i.e. It's not just a Tesla issue.

As long as EV manufacturers test their cars to the The Worldwide Harmonised Light Vehicle Test Procedure (WLTP) without cheating, then it's down to consumers getting themselves educated as to what these figures mean. Alternatively, it's not rocket science, people can just go on Google or YouTube to find dozens of reviews and tests showing the actual real life range they can expect under different conditions.

I think that the key problem is that first time owners of EVs don't appreciate the massive fluctuations in range resulting from environmental conditions and driving characteristics. My EV has an WLPT range of 285 miles, but the remaining mileage display shows on full battery between 250 and 350 miles.... no wonder it is known as GoM - Guess-o-Meter.

Like clk320x said, most owners get used to looking at battery percentage and not at the remaining mileage display.

 

[Bobby Dazzler]

This being spun as being Machiavellian, but it’s just dealing with a perceived issue in the most effective and convenient way.

 

[markjay]

From the article:

"In most cases, the complaining customers’ cars likely did not need repair, according to the people familiar with the matter."

 

[Neiltodd]

Hi , I live in a hilly part of Worcestershire that does not help fuel consumption.I drove to Droitwich yesterday and took the chance to fill the car up with Shell V power and on the local trip the fuel consumption gave 5 mpg more !

My preferred petrol for my car is Shell V power ( not saying it's the best fuel ) as I do so few miles but it is 20p a litre more in Worcester.

Yep I was using 99 Octane and find better mpg too.

 

[markjay]

Yep I was using 99 Octane and find better mpg too.

Noooo.... now look what you've done..... you started another thread.....

 

[Mactech]

Interesting, but not in any way surprising. It seems there are very few drivers with any grasp of the theory of conservation of momentum, or indeed, energy.
My very limited experience of EV's is the total opposite. On the one long drive I have done in the little BMW i3, the range started with an estimate of 173 miles facing a 155 mile journey. There was a small headwind, I put the car in 'eco-pro' mode and drove in a moderate 15 deg temperature in my normal smooth style home. I did kept to the speed limits, but certainly did not restrict my average speed. At the end of 155 miles, the range was a predicted 65 miles. This correlated with the % battery remaining. My one frustration was that I could not find an altitude read out in the idrive system to allow me to estimate the potential energy in the car due to the elevation changes along the way!
I fully understand that I am an 'outlier' and engineer who does not represent the majority of the motoring public, but my initial experience is that BMW have used a reasonably good algorithm to predict range, which, in my case, under promises and over delivers.

I fully expect that driving fully loaded in sub-zero temperature, in mountainous terrain and Into a gale force head wind ...then the range predicted may be just a little optimistic.

 

[st13phil]

My one frustration was that I could not find an altitude read out in the idrive system to allow me to estimate the potential energy in the car due to the elevation changes along the way!

There are no elevation changes in Norfolk

 

[Mactech]

There are no elevation changes in Norfolk

….but earlier in the week I’d been in the Highlands of Scotland and I collected the car from ’down‘ in Kent….

 

[SpikyMikey]

….but earlier in the week I’d been in the Highlands of Scotland and I collected the car from ’down‘ in Kent….

Yep, it's all uphill to Scotland.

 

[markjay]

MB Suppress Thousands of Rear Subframe and Red Paint Complaints

FTFY

 

[Bobby Dazzler]

….but earlier in the week I’d been in the Highlands of Scotland and I collected the car from ’down‘ in Kent….

I’ve seen the weather map, and Kent go Norfolk is definitely uphill.

 

[Tonygw]

Speaking with the authorized Tesla service manager near me. (name no names)

The last one in for a service was offered on the over the air update service and software patch to increase the range of the car by 50 miles. (popped up on screen during its service)

Great you think...

No

It wasnt free it was £3000!!!!! and yes there was a "buy it now" option....

And its not just Tesla...

JLR offer a similar patch.. but they can finance it over 12 months for you.. how nice of them...

 

[chic0821]

Yep, it's all uphill to Scotland.

That's the reason Mercedes me gives my S63 average consumption as 16.5mpg. I'm better not looking at these things