A court in Norway has found Tesla guilty after it was sued by owners who complained of reduced battery capacities and charging speeds. It has been ordered to pay 136,000 kroner ($16,000) each to buyers of certain Model S owners, a judgement that could run into the hundreds of millions of dollars, according to Nettavisen .
Owners in Norway and elsewhere complained about drops in range of up to 30 miles following a 2019 software update, as Electrek reported. They also noticed reduced DC fast-charging rates at Tesla's Supercharger stations. The issues reportedly involve 2013-2015 models and Tesla said at the time that the aim was to "protect the battery and improve battery longevity." The company added that it would only affect "a small percentage of owners."
Some owners saw precipitous drops in battery capacity of up to 11 percent, compared to the normal gradual declines expected. Those issues have led to lawsuits not only in Norway, but in Denmark, the US and elsewhere.
Tesla reportedly failed to reply to the suit, so the judgement was made in absentia. As a result, the 30 owners behind the lawsuit will be awarded $16,000 each unless Tesla appeals. EVs are huge in Norway, however and Nettavisen notes that there are over 10,000 buyers of the affected models in Norway — as such, the lawsuit could get considerably more expensive.