A lawsuit was filed against Tesla which alleged that the company has used a software update that reduces the maximum battery voltage of some of its Model S sedans. According to the latest sources, in the settlement of the lawsuit, the company has agreed to pay off $1.5 million.
According to the lawsuit, the software update, released in 2019, was the reason behind slower charging speed and also resulted in diminished range for around 1,743 vehicles. For the settlement of the issue, Tesla agreed to pay $625 to each of the affected vehicle owners.
“This amount is many times the prorated value of the temporarily reduced maximum voltage, and thus represents an excellent and efficient result for the Settlement Class. In return, the Settlement Class will release claims related to the software updates that imposed and then restored the batteries’ maximum voltage.”
The lawyers who represented the drivers in the court also stated that their investigation found that “voltage limitation was temporary, with a 10% reduction lasting about 3 months, and a smaller 7% reduction lasting another 7 months before the corrective update was released in March 2020. Following that second update, the vehicles’ voltage showed steady restoration over time.”
As of now, there has been no public announcement as to how the amount will be transferred to the claimers of the lawsuit. All is known is that a US district court judge will be convening a hearing on the settlement on December 9th.
Well, this is nothing new for Tesla and I am pretty sure this won’t be the last time the company is paying off a settlement for its lawsuit, especially when it’s related to them playing tricks on the EV’s batteries. Just last May, the company was ordered to pay 136,000 kroner ($16,000) each to thousands of customers in Norway for slowing down charging speeds. For more info stay tuned.
