Tesla is appealing a decision by Norway’s Conciliation Board, which instructed Tesla Norway to pay 31 Norwegian customers NOK 130,000 each. The customers alleged that an update from Tesla in 2019 slowed down their vehicle’s charging.
All 31 had Tesla Model S‘s from 2014 and 2015 and experienced a significant slowdown in terms of charge time after an over-the-air (OTA) update.
Prior to the update, the owners could charge their vehicles 50 per cent in twenty minutes and 80 per cent in forty minutes at Superchargers. However, after the update, charging took more than an hour.
Due to the increased charge time, the customer’s lawyer argued that their vehicles had become less suitable for long-distance driving.
Tesla admitted to a slight reduction in charging speed that year for Model S vehicles, but as per the court documents, it was to increase the car’s life. However, Tesla did not inform owners of this change.
Tesla Norway argues that they should not bear any responsibility as the update was provided by the parent company Tesla Inc. The board noted that “individual agreements between Tesla Norway and the buyer do not set Norwegian law aside.”
The original decision was made in the fall of 2021. The appeal will be heard in Oslo District Court in January 2023.
In addition to the original 31 customers, the law firm brought another 87 Tesla Model S owners bringing the claim to 118, according to the publication dn.no.
Tesla faced a similar case in the US, which was settled out of court with each impacted owner receiving $625.
