Tesla Admits Its Cars Have Shorter Driving Range Than It Claimed

It's a meaningful first step.

Down Range

After being accused of artificially inflating range figures, Tesla has downgraded the estimated number of miles of numerous versions of its Model Y, S, and X cars in the US.

As first spotted by Electrek, the vehicle configurator on the EV maker's website now shows that its Model Y Performance SUV has an estimated range of 285, a drop of 18 miles over previous estimates. The Long Range trim of the Model Y fell from 330 to 310 miles.

While we still don't know with absolute certainty why Tesla made these changes, Electrek suggests it may be related to how Tesla tests its vehicles to arrive at Environmental Protection Agency range estimates, which are the most common yardstick for the range of EVs in the US.

According to internal documents obtained by Drive Tesla, the range decrease may have also been due to "comfort and functionality improvements," which draw more energy from the vehicle's reserves.

Rosy Projections

It's nonetheless a noteworthy admission. Tesla has garnered a reputation for overstating the range of its vehicles, culminating in a Justice Department investigation last year.

In July, Reuters revealed that the EV maker had created an entire team to divert customer complaints regarding "rosy" range numbers, which were reportedly intentionally inflated.

The news also comes after YouTubers tested out Tesla's latest Cybertruck, finding that it fell far short of its advertised, EPA-rated range of 320 miles, covering only 254 highway miles, albeit at a brisk 46 degrees Fahrenheit.

Given Tesla's complete lack of a communications department, we're unlikely to get any answers as to why it chose to downgrade the estimates of only some of the trim levels of its vehicles and not others.

At the end of the day, real-world ranges of EVs are affected by a huge number of external factors, including weather, tires, driving habits, and so on. In other words, even official EPA estimates should be taken with a huge grain of salt.

At the same time, a bit of clarity, especially regarding accusations of having willfully inflated ranges, could go a long way — not that we'd expect the Elon Musk-led company to have such a change of heart.

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