--- title: "Elon Musk Accused of Faking Tesla Battery Range" description: "Liar, Liar A new exposé alleges that not only did Tesla rig and inflate its battery range readouts, but that it conspired to cancel service appointments with furious duped customers to boot. As Reuters reports based on interviews with Tesla insiders, the electric vehicle maker both inflated its battery range on purpose to sell more cars […]" date: "2023-07-28" modified: "2023-07-28" authors: - name: "Noor Al-Sibai" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/nooralsibai" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/elon-musk-accused-faking-tesla-battery-range" categories: - "Advanced Transport" - "Elon Musk" - "Future Society" - "Tesla" - "The Industrialists" tags: - "elon musk" - "tesla" - "tesla range" - "the digest" --- # Elon Musk Accused of Faking Tesla Battery Range ![A new exposé alleges that Tesla rigged its battery range readouts and conspired to cancel service appointments with furious customers.]() *GRUENHEIDE, GERMANY - MARCH 22: Tesla CEO Elon Musk attends the official opening of the new Tesla electric car manufacturing plant on March 22, 2022 near Gruenheide, Germany. The new plant, officially called the Gigafactory Berlin-Brandenburg, is producing the Model Y as well as electric car batteries. (Photo by Christian Marquardt - Pool/Getty Images) \Image: Getty Images\* ## Electric Slide A new exposé alleges that not only did Tesla rig and inflate its battery range readouts, but that it conspired to cancel service appointments with duped customers to boot. As [*Reuters* reports]() based on interviews with Tesla insiders, the electric vehicle maker both deliberately inflated its battery range to sell more cars and later began employing teams to divert the crush of service appointment requests stemming from the problem. The range-inflation scheme began roughly a decade ago, the report claims, when the company created algorithms that painted a "rosy" projection of how far its cars could go on a full battery — generally around 350 miles. Once the battery fell below 50 percent of charge, however, the range would fall to projections that were closer to how far it could *actually* go, which, per various studies cited in the report, was often between [12]() and [26 percent]() lower than the inflated readouts. Employed for marketing reasons, this allegedly intentional disparity appears to have been ordered from the top down. "Elon wanted to show good range numbers when fully charged," one person familiar with the scheme told *Reuters*. "When you buy a car off the lot seeing 350-mile, 400-mile range, it makes you feel good." ## Model X(ylophone) While it's unclear how long the alleged scheme might have continued, drivers who own older Teslas continue to experience jarring disparities in range estimates, according to *Reuters* — and when they try to get the company to fix it, they're often met with members of a so-called "Diversion Team" tasked specifically with stemming the tide of range-related service requests. Employees on this Las Vegas-based team, which was allegedly created last year as the [company's sales were soaring](), are reportedly instructed to push customers to have virtual diagnostics rather than scheduling an in-person appointment at a dealership. These "virtual service advisors" are advised to tell irate customers that the range estimates are exactly that — and when they successfully "divert" an appointment, per *Reuters*, they sometimes alert their coworkers by ringing a xylophone and standing on desks and cheering. The claims get even worse from there, with *Reuters*' insider sources alleging that if advisors learn via remote diagnostics that there's something else wrong with a customer's car, they're instructed not to tell them, and that requesting service appointment issues for range issues via the app has been disabled. These jarring allegations, if true, could constitute a massive and intentional breach of customer trust and expectations — and could potentially open up the company to [legal issues]() as well, though that's [nothing new]() [for Tesla](). **More on Tesla woes:** [*Cybertruck's Bizarre Windshield Wiper Overwhelmed by Mud While Offroading*]() ## Author At Futurism, I've often been drawn to unpacking the narratives that underlie technological, scientific and medical progress, with a special interest in areas of conflict and ambiguity that end up setting agendas and steering the fates of both elites and the hoi polloi. I'm a committed generalist, but I often find myself returning to work involving NASA and the private space sector, the effects of AI on media and society, and the mechanics of the pharmaceutical industry, with a specific focus on the spread of GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy. Prior to Futurism, I worked for publications ranging from Media Matters and Truthdig to Raw Story and Bustle. I'm also the author of "Myspace Scene Queens," a 2024 title in Instar Books' acclaimed "Remember the Internet" series. My work at Futurism has been cited by outlets including the New Yorker, Slate, Nieman Lab, the Verge, the MIT Technology Review, the Sunday Times, and the Daily Beast. I grew up in North Carolina, attended the University of North Carolina at Asheville, and now live in Brooklyn, New York. In my free time, I'm an avid reader and music fan; you can probably find me at a local poetry reading, concert, underground rave, or DJ set. I'm the proud parent of an ineffable orange cat named Mee-Mow. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()