Tesla gives you access to precise trip data, surely this would be blatantly obvious when matched with gps on something like teslafi.com. Sounds like just a silly lawsuit.
Tesla’s odometer system uses predictive algorithms, energy consumption metrics, and driver behavior multipliers, rather than direct distance measurements, resulting in inflated mileage readings (Complaint ¶¶ 3-4, 62-65).
These readings deviate from traditional odometers, over-registering mileage by 15% to 117% compared to industry standards (¶ 71).
Tesla intentionally designed, manufactured, or tolerated this system to manipulate mileage, violating California Vehicle Code § 28050 (¶¶ 69-73, 133-136).
If Tesla is actually fudging the odometer numbers, that also means that all of the other trip data collected by the car is suspect. You couldn't rely on it for this purpose.
It would be interesting if someone installed an independent odometer, though, to provide a trustworthy data source for verification.
GPS-derived data can also underestimate the distance if the recording frequency is too low. Probably not a big effect though. It can also overestimate distance travelled if there's a lot of jitter.
The actual complaint :
https://www.classaction.org/media/hinton-v-tesla-inc-et-al.p...
https://archive.is/2025.04.17-223338/https://www.reuters.com...
Tesla gives you access to precise trip data, surely this would be blatantly obvious when matched with gps on something like teslafi.com. Sounds like just a silly lawsuit.
Why do you say silly? Have you looked at the plaintiffs' teslafi data?
Plaintiff’s Arguments
Misleading Odometer System:
Tesla’s odometer system uses predictive algorithms, energy consumption metrics, and driver behavior multipliers, rather than direct distance measurements, resulting in inflated mileage readings (Complaint ¶¶ 3-4, 62-65).
These readings deviate from traditional odometers, over-registering mileage by 15% to 117% compared to industry standards (¶ 71).
Tesla intentionally designed, manufactured, or tolerated this system to manipulate mileage, violating California Vehicle Code § 28050 (¶¶ 69-73, 133-136).
If Tesla is actually fudging the odometer numbers, that also means that all of the other trip data collected by the car is suspect. You couldn't rely on it for this purpose.
It would be interesting if someone installed an independent odometer, though, to provide a trustworthy data source for verification.
We have that already, it's called GPS...people know how far things are.
GPS-derived data can also underestimate the distance if the recording frequency is too low. Probably not a big effect though. It can also overestimate distance travelled if there's a lot of jitter.