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Tesla class action lawsuit claims over driving range estimates are headed to arbitration after 12 vehicle owners sued over 2018-2024 Tesla Model X, Model Y and Model 3 vehicles.
The 12 plaintiffs contend their driving ranges are “far less than [the] advertised range and far less than the range displayed on the range meter when fully charged.”
The plaintiffs agreed to arbitrate disputes with Tesla when the owners purchased their electric vehicles. Rather than name Telsa as a defendant in the class action, the plaintiffs sued CEO Elon Musk both in his individual capacity and in his capacity as trustee of his personal revocable trust, the Elon Musk Revocable Trust dated July 22, 2003.
According to the lawsuit, Musk and Tesla made false claims about the driving ranges of the vehicles, but Musk argues the claims should be completely dismissed. Musk says the plaintiffs agreed to arbitrate their claims and the class action should be tossed or at least stayed during arbitration.
The class action alleges few if any Tesla vehicles can travel 300 miles on a single charge.
“Plaintiffs allege that Musk and Tesla misrepresented the driving ranges of Tesla EVs in order to sell more cars. Plaintiffs also allege that many of the inflated driving ranges that Musk and Tesla promoted did not conform to EPA estimates.” — Tesla driving range lawsuit
Musk has allegedly made various false statements about the driving ranges of the vehicles on his X account. The plaintiffs assert on May 18, 2018, Musk posted the “Tesla dual motor, all-wheel drive performance Model 3” had a “310 mile Range.”
And in February 2020, Musk linked to a Consumer Reports article and said the “Model 3 achieves 350 mile actual range vs. 310 EPA sticker in Consumer Reports testing.” But the lawsuit alleges Consumer Reports reported that it achieved the 350-mile range only in a Model 3 Long Range and only using abnormal driving behavior.
Then in March 2022, Musk referenced Tesla’s “400+ mile range car” in an X post, but the plaintiffs complain no Tesla EV had such a range.
The plaintiffs also complain Musk said the Tesla Model Y had “an actual true usable range of 300 miles” in 2019. And in April 2020 Musk said “the real Model S range is 400 miles.” However, the class action lawsuit alleges those statements were false.
Mr. Musk also allegedly told engineers to alter the software controlling the dashboard meters on the electric vehicles which show how far the vehicles can travel on the remaining battery charges.
Tesla allegedly covered up the truth of driving ranges, and “rigging of the range meters was part of a fraudulent scheme that caused them to overpay for their Tesla vehicles.”
Motion to Dismiss / Motion to Compel Arbitration
The judge dismissed the claims of one plaintiff for lack of standing because she did not personally purchase a Tesla EV. For the claims brought by the remaining plaintiffs, Musk’s motion to compel arbitration of the claims against him individually is granted, and those claims are stayed.
The judge also granted a motion to dismiss the claims against him as trustee of the Musk Trust for lack of personal jurisdiction.
Judge Patti B. Saris ruled because all of the plaintiffs’ claims are either dismissed on jurisdictional grounds or referred to arbitration, she doesn’t need to tackle Musk’s arguments that the plaintiffs have failed to state a claim.
The Tesla driving range class action lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts: Watkins, et al., v. Musk, et al.
The plaintiffs are represented by the Quat Law Offices, and Watstein Terepka LLP.