• @markr
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    51 year ago

    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, according to a person familiar with an early design of the software for its in-dash readouts.

    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. To prevent drivers from getting stranded as their predicted range started declining more quickly, Teslas were designed with a “safety buffer,” allowing about 15 miles (24 km) of additional range even after the dash readout showed an empty battery, the source said.

    From the article.

    • @krische
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      21 year ago

      Oh duh, the car display thing. I was just thinking of the EPA rated range for some reason, which doesn’t really seem possible for them to defraud with.

      I forget that the car even displays that range on the display since I changed mine to percentage the day I got it.

      And Tesla can obviously predict range well, since they do such a good job with the navigation predicted arrival range. That has always been spot on for, like predicting my arrival percentage with in a percent or two even when I’m like 2 hours away.

      • Dr. Dabbles
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        11 year ago

        The EPA doesn’t test the EPA range, the manufacturer does. So it’s entirely possible to cheat, and it’s likely you’ve heard of some famous cases of cheating. Maybe a case involving VW and emissions?

        Tesla’s EPA estimate is the most out of line with real world tests whenever any independent organization tries to recreate the claimed range, and that shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone given Teslas long history of bending the truth. They also have the most egregious “correction factor” for their range test that I’ve seen any manufacturer adopt.