Tesla owners have slapped a class action lawsuit against Tesla over software updates that allegedly caused battery range loss and failures. The lawsuit was filed under the ambit of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act. The Tesla owners claim that the automaker’s software updates violate consumer rights provisioned in the Act. The lawsuit was filed in San Francisco.
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“Tesla owners and lessors are uniquely at the mercy of the maker of their cars, and Tesla imposes software updates without consent whenever their vehicle is connected to Wi-Fi,” said Steve Berman, the attorney representing Tesla owners and lessors, according to Reuters.
The lawsuit says that Tesla issues software updates without informing and seeking consent of the car owners, while other automakers inform the owners in advance about the software updates.
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In 2021 was forced to shell out $1.9 million for settling claims emanating from a similar lawsuit. At that time, owners had claimed that a software update temporarily reduced maximum battery voltage in 1,743 Model S sedans. As per the settlement, owners of this model got $625 each.
According to the latest lawsuit, some Tesla owners say that they had to pay between $500 and $750 to third parties to fix battery-related issues after the software updates. They also allege that the updates reduced battery range by up to 20 percent. The lawsuit also says that some owners had to even replace batteries by spending $15,000.
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The lawsuit says that Tesla refused to reimburse the cost to owners of Model S and Model X.
According to Reuters, Tesla has not immediately responded to a request for comment.
In 2020, Tesla was ordered to pay $16,000 each to thousands of customers in Norway for allegedly slowing down charging speeds.
