Tesla To Pay $14,000 To Owners In Norway For Charging, Range Drop

The automaker admitted to lowering charging speed and range in the 85 kWh Model S in order to protect the battery.

By: Andrei Nedelea

Dec 3, 2021 at 6:47am ET

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Tesla has been ordered by a Norwegian local court to pay the equivalent of $14,000 to owners of older Model S sedans equipped with the 85 kWh battery pack. This decision came after a retrial prompted by the fact that Tesla claimed it was unaware of the problem, but now even after the retrial, it has still been ordered to compensate owners of affected cars.

This didn’t just happen in Norway, since it affects cars with the 85 kWh battery sold all around the world. The problem was observed after 2019.16.1 and 2019.16.2 updates were installed; immediately after, owners noted a sharp decrease in their vehicle’s range, as well as lower charging speeds when using a Supercharger.

Some owners even noted that their range had dropped by over 10 percent (between 20 and 50 km / 12 to 30 miles) soon after the update was installed. Regarding the issue, Tesla admitted to limiting battery voltage and told Norwegian media that its goal with the problematic updates was to protect the battery and increase its longevity and it added that only a small number of vehicles had seen large range or charging speed reductions.

Tesla has since released another update that brings back the range in affected vehicles, but owners are still reporting lower-than-normal charging speeds when hooked up to a Supercharger.

The manufacturer’s point of view on the matter was that while it did admit to making the changes that owners noticed, it did not consider they were entitled to any kind of compensation. It is worth noting that in the United States, the automaker reached an agreement with owners over the same issue, but it ended up paying them a lot less, $625 per affected vehicle. Dagens Næringsliv says Tesla is looking to appeal the decision at the district court level.