Tesla Inc.
TSLA,
created a “secret team” to stifle complaints about driving range and cancel service appointments by Tesla owners who sought to check on discrepancies between advertised range and real-world driving, Reuters reported Thursday. Going back a decade ago, the electric-vehicle maker “rigged the dashboard readouts in its electric cars to provide ‘rosy’ projections of how far owners can drive before needing to recharge,” and last summer created a “diversion” team in Las Vegas to cancel “as many range-related appointments as possible,” the report said. That was needed because Tesla’s service centers were “inundated” with appointment requests by owners baffled by worse-than-expected range, both from company’s advertising and dashboard estimates, Reuters said, citing “several” people familiar with the matter. In most cases, the cars did not need service, with Tesla’s deceit creating the problem, the report said. Neither Tesla nor Chief Executive Elon Musk responded to questions from Reuters for the story, the news agency said. Tesla’s investor relations department did not immediately return a request for comment from MarketWatch. The EV maker disbanded its public relations team sometime in 2020. The stock edged higher on Thursday, looking to end the week up 2%.
