SAN FRANCISCO: A Tesla Inc owner has filed a lawsuit against the electric vehicle maker, claiming the company limited the battery range of older vehicles via a software update to avoid a costly recall to fix what plaintiffs allege are defective batteries.
The lawsuit filed on Wednesday in Northern California federal court alleges fraud and seeks class action status for the potentially "thousands" of such Model S and X owners around the world who have seen the range of their older-generation batteries suddenly curtailed, some by as much as 40 miles (64 km).