Tesla Simply Lowered Vary Estimates on Its Automobiles After Years of Complaints

Tesla’s EVs are less efficient than they were just a week ago.

The automaker has reduced range estimates across its lineup due to changes to the way that the U.S. government tests battery-powered vehicles, reports Reuters. The changes follow years of complaints by Tesla drivers about the accuracy of these claims.

Last summer, the news wire ran a story accusing Tesla of exaggerating the range of its EVs— which has long been one of its main selling points—for close to a decade. The article claimed that the company had rigged its range estimate software to deliver a “rosy” and inaccurate projection of how far its vehicles could travel before they needed to be charged. The story also included evidence showing that Tesla had gone as far as to set up a secret team to suppress complaints about the range of its EVs.

A few months after the article was published, Tesla revealed that the U.S. Justice Department subpoenaed information about the range of its vehicles.

Now, new EPA rules have gone into effect applying all 2024 models that require automakers to test a vehicle’s driving range or fuel efficiency in the default driving mode, as opposed to one meant to maximize efficiency. If there is no default driving mode, the range will then be an average of the vehicle’s most- and least-efficient driving modes. The new regulations do not appear to be a result of the Reuters story, as automakers were made aware of the changes back in the summer of 2022.

In the wake of the new regulations, Tesla has reduced the range estimates for several of its vehicles in its lineup, according to MotorTrend. A comparison of the numbers on the EPA and Tesla websites shows that the best-selling Model Y Performance has had its range listing dropped from 303 miles to 285 miles and the Model Y Long Range from 330 miles to 310 miles. No EV was affected more than the Model S Plaid (pictured up top) with 19-inch wheels, which saw its range reduced from 396 miles to 359 miles. The range of the Model X Plaid, meanwhile, has only been adjusted from 333 miles to 326 miles. There does not appear to have been changes made to estimates for the Model 3.

A representative for Tesla did not respond to a request for comment from Robb Report on Tuesday.

While Tesla may not have said anything publicly about reducing the range of its EVs, it would seem the company is readying a response. Inside EVs reports that the automaker is working on a software fix that’s being referred to as an “Efficiency Package” that would help make up for some of the lost range.