On Monday, South Korea’s antitrust commission said it would charge a 2.85 billion penalty ($2.2 million) fine on Elon Musk owned Tesla Inc for not telling its customers about the shorter driving range of its electric vehicles (EVs) in low temperatures.
The Korea Fair Trade Commission (KFTC) said that Tesla had overastated the “driving ranges of its cars on a single charge, their fuel cost-effectiveness compared to gasoline vehicles as well as the performance of its Superchargers” on its official local website since August 2019 until recently.
On its website, Tesla provides winter driving tips, such as pre-conditioning vehicles with external power sources, and using its updated Energy app to monitor energy consumption, but does not mention the loss of driving range in sub-zero temperatures.
In a statement on Tuesday, the KFTC said that the driving range of the U.S. automaker’s EV cars drop in cold weather by up to 50.5% in comparison to how they are advertised online.
Tesla did not immediately respond to Reuters’ request for a comment. Tesla’s website provides winter driving tips, such as pre-conditioning vehicles with external power sources, and using its updated Energy app to monitor energy consumption, but does not mention the loss of driving range in sub-zero temperatures.
A south Korean consumer group, Citizens United for Consumer Sovereignty, said in 2021 that the driving range of most EVs drop by up to 40% in cold temperatures when batteries need to be heated, with Tesla suffering the most, citing data from the country’s environment ministry.
In 2022, the KFTC fined German carmaker Mercedes-Benz and its Korean unit 20.2 billion won for false advertising tied to gas emissions of its diesel passenger vehicles.
It is challenging to determine the performance of electric vehicles in extreme temperatures is widely known, though EVs are popular in markets like Norway, where four out of five vehicles sold last year were battery-powered, led by Tesla.
A study conducted in the year 2020 of 4,200 connected EVs of all makes by Canada-based telematics provider Geotab found that most models had a similar drop in range in cold weather, primarily because the battery is also used to heat the car for the driver and passengers.
The study concluded that at just slightly above 20 degrees Celsius, the average EV outperformed its stated range, but at minus 15 degrees the average EV had only 54 per cent of its rated range.
