How long is unlimited? Driver v Tesla over charging promise
Since 2019, Tesla has expanded from 12 to 31 supercharging sites, but some customers can only use 11 of them.
In August 2019, Tesla announced free unlimited Supercharging for new Model S and Model X orders. Mrs Chew was persuaded to buy her Tesla Model S under this marketing campaign, believing she would have access to unlimited Supercharging. However, the company expanded its supercharging network and changed the charging system, making her car incompatible with the majority of the new superchargers.
Only 11 out of the 31 supercharging sites were compatible with her vehicle without incurring a cost of $483.79 to retrofit her car. Despite Tesla acknowledging she still retained lifetime free supercharging, the inconvenience of driving a significant distance to use a compatible charger and potential issues with commercial superchargers led Mrs Chew to feel aggrieved.
Consumer law expert Alex Sims believes Tesla's promotional claim of unlimited charging may have been misleading, as the charging technology was evolving and not all new sites were compatible with her car. Consumer advocacy group Consumer NZ also suggested Mrs Chew could take Tesla to the Disputes Tribunal for a potential refund or reimbursement for the retrofitting cost. Tesla, however, declined to comment on the matter.
Written by urgent.news from RNZ Business's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
