Tesla Admits the DOJ Is Investigating Its Vehicles' Driving Range

The numbers just don't add up.

Range Inflation

The US Department of Justice is officially investigating whether Tesla exaggerated the advertised ranges of its vehicles, according to new documents the Elon Musk-led company filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

According to the documents, Tesla "received requests for information, including subpoenas from the DOJ, regarding certain matters associated with personal benefits, related parties, vehicle range and personnel decisions" — confirming the Wall Street Journal's reporting this past summer that federal prosecutors were investigating the carmaker for exaggerating the ranges of its vehicles.

None of this should be particularly surprising. The company has long been under fire for misleading its customers with inflated or "rosy" range values that often don't reflect reality, with the issue reportedly so serious that Tesla created a "diversion team" to cancel appointments with disappointed customers, according to a Reuters investigation last year.

Glass Half Full

Overall, the heat is turning up on Tesla over allegations that its claimed specs are exaggerated.

Earlier this year, Car and Driver found that Tesla's advertised ranges fell far short of real-world performance.

The company has been knocked by regulators across the globe for exaggerating its vehicles' ranges, including an investigation by the Korea Fair Trade Commission last year, which concluded in an albeit measly $2.2 million fine in January.

In August, three Tesla owners in California also filed a class action lawsuit aimed at the EV maker over the issue.

It's only one of several controversies the company is embroiled in. The carmaker is already under investigation in the US for its Autopilot driver assistance software, which was involved in a number of collisions and a growing number of deaths.

Nonetheless, it still remains to be seen whether any of these probes will have any real consequences for the teflon Musk.

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