Tesla cuts electric car range amid scrutiny

TESLA has cut back claims about how far its electric cars can travel as it faces scrutiny from the US government.

Elon Musk’s company has reduced the estimated range of several cars on its US website by as much as 37 miles.

Tesla, which was this week overtaken by China’s BYD as the world’s best-selling electric car maker, did not give a reason for the adjustment.

However, the US Department of Justice has been investigating Tesla’s range claims amid concerns they may be exaggerated.

Tesla updated its website to say that its Model Y Performance vehicle has a range of 285 miles, down from its previous 303-mile claim. Meanwhile, the Long Range model has been cut from 330 miles to 310. One version of its luxury Model S car has seen its estimated range reduced from 396 miles to 359 miles.

In October, Tesla said it had received legal requests from the Department of Justice over issues including vehicle range.

According to internal company documents reviewed by the Drive Tesla website, the changes are in response to new testing conditions from US regulators, and “comfort and functionality improvements” that require more energy from the battery.

An investigation by the Reuters news agency last year claimed that Tesla often exag- gerated ranges to attract drivers, while the US organisation Consumer Reports found that Tesla cars were among those whose ranges fell short of what was claimed.

Tesla owners have sued the company in the US over false advertising related to the range claims. The company has responded to the lawsuits calling the Reuters investigation “error-ridden” and the lawsuits “legally untenable”.

Separately, Tesla was forced to issue a recall to 1.6m cars in China to fix its Autopilot system.