SEOUL – South Korea’s antitrust watchdog said it would fine Tesla Inc 2.85 billion won ($2.2 million) for failing to inform its customers of its electric vehicle (EV) driving in cold temperatures. The mileage is shorter.
The Korea Fair Trade Commission (KFTC) said that since August, Tesla had exaggerated “the range of its cars on a single charge, their fuel cost-effectiveness compared to gasoline cars, and the performance of their superchargers” on its official local website since August. 2019 to recent.
The KFTC said in a statement on Tuesday that the U.S. electric carmaker’s vehicles had seen a drop of up to 50.5% in cold weather range compared with online advertising.
Tesla could not immediately be reached for comment.
On its website, Tesla offers winter driving tips, such as preconditioning the vehicle with an external power source, and using its updated Energy app to monitor energy consumption, but makes no mention of driving mileage in sub-zero temperatures. loss.
In 2021, South Korean consumer group Citizens United for Consumer Sovereignty, citing South Korean environmental data, said the range of most electric vehicles would drop by as much as 40% in cold temperatures, with Tesla most affected.
Last year, the KFTC fined German automaker Mercedes-Benz and its South Korean subsidiary 20.2 billion won for false advertising involving exhaust emissions from its diesel passenger cars.
The performance challenges of electric vehicles in extreme temperatures are well known, despite their popularity in markets such as Norway, where four out of five cars sold last year were battery-powered, led by Tesla.
In 2020, Canada-based telematics provider Geotab conducted a study of 4,200 connected electric vehicles of all makes and found that most models experienced a similar drop in range in cold weather, largely because of battery life. Also used to heat the car for the driver and passengers.
The study found that at temperatures slightly above 20 degrees Celsius, the average EV performed outside its stated range, but at minus 15 degrees, the average EV performed only 54% of its rated range.
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