Tesla has to pay compensation because the company had reduced the charging speed and battery capacity with a software update. In Norway, according to a report by the newspaper Nnettavisen, Tesla has to pay the equivalent of 13,300 euros in damages (136,000 Norwegian kroner) to owners whose properties have been changed by a software update. That was the verdict of a court in Norway.
After a software update in 2019, Tesla owners had noticed a decrease in the range of their cars of around 20 to 50 kilometres. Owners of the Model X and Model S with an 85 kWh battery were affected. These vehicles have not been built since 2015. The range reduction should have taken place through the updates 2019.16.1 and 2019.16.2, reported the blog Electrek at the time.
In addition to the loss of range, which could also be seen in the onboard computer, there was another problem: From now on, the vehicles could no longer be charged on the Supercharger as quickly as before.
Tesla justified this approach by protecting the batteries and trying to increase their longevity. Tesla left open why the battery had to be protected all at once. According to Nettavisen’s report, the automaker can still appeal the judgment. How Electrek estimates in the case of a group decision in Norway could be affected than 10,000 Tesla owners of the verdict more. There is still only compensation for the 30 plaintiffs.
The Norwegian consumer protection organization Bilklager.no welcomed the verdict and wants to file a class-action lawsuit: Torbjorn Stolen from Bilklager said:
“A deterioration in the quality of a product after the sale is completely unacceptable and should not be accepted by the buyers concerned”.