Maybe multiplying each driven distance by the number of owners? I wouldn’t put it beyond them if they code that crap with AI.
Comment on Tesla odometer uses “predictive algorithms” to void warranty, lawsuit claims
sexy_peach@feddit.org 1 month ago
For this six-month period, Hinton says his Model Y odometer gained 13,228 miles (21,288 km). By comparison, averages of his three previous vehicles showed that with the same commute, he was only driving 6,086 miles (9,794 km) per 6 months.
That’s 2x. Seems too obvious to be happening on all teslas
taladar@sh.itjust.works 1 month ago
Auntievenim@lemmy.world 1 month ago
The important bit in the article was that he had bought it used. I’m sure its not a standard feature for brand new Tesla, but I would absolutely believe that some kind of fuckery to keep pre-owned buyers from taking advantage of the warranty is SOP. It’s counting double the miles, there’s no possible way for that to happen on accident unless the odometer is completely independent of the cars systems.
I’m pretty sure old odometers literally spun according to the wheels turning as you drove. If Tesla is “calculating” mileage then they would absolutely be able to just inject commands to ignore the correct algorithm and make it hit 50k as fast as possible. I’m sure most of the people they did this to weren’t keen eyed enough to notice.
Certainly not all Tesla, just the ones they think they can get away with. 38k miles is not very far from 50k, they assumed he would be a rube and just suck it up when they told him his warranty was invalid.
billiam0202@lemmy.world 1 month ago
It would absolutely not surprise me if Teslas calculate miles driven via GPS instead of tire rotation or some other mechanical means.
It’s the kind of “reinventing the wheel, only worse and more expensive” that Musk would do.
xthexder@l.sw0.com 1 month ago
Oh perfect, that means I can resell this Tesla I’ve been using and abusing for dyno testing and other stationary things as having 0 miles driven! /s
Ilovethebomb@lemm.ee 1 month ago
I really doubt it, a lot of people would notice their odometer doing twice the work it should be doing.
I think the most likely explanation is someone wrote down the wrong value.
Auntievenim@lemmy.world 5 weeks ago
You would think, but this guy didn’t lmao
orcrist@lemm.ee 1 month ago
[deleted]Ilovethebomb@lemm.ee 1 month ago
If it’s his lawyers, they’ll take your money on the most ridiculous things.
NuXCOM_90Percent@lemmy.zip 1 month ago
I definitely lean toward this being genuine manufacturing error (or user error).
That said? Never underestimate the power of market research. I was just chatting with a friend about how neither of us understand cars beyond the most basic of emergency maintenance and I could 100% see a predatory system target us (moreso than the ones we know target us).
Similarly, I would assume most former grad students are used to actually monitoring mileage because we are trying to push our crap for as long as we can. Whereas someone who has been a tech bro for a decade probably expects to buy a new car every time they get a bonus and wouldn’t care.
That said? Assuming this IS fraud on tesla’s part (and that is generally a safe assumption), my money is on something like:
The odometer nudging is designed to make sure everyone hits their mileage based warranty after N years. Every M months it will estimate your average use and “nudge” you based on heuristics. Hinton had a particularly low mileage the period before so it scaled them much higher for the next period while they were monitoring it.
LandedGentry@lemmy.zip 1 month ago
UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world 1 month ago
Open up your Google Maps (or navigation app of choice) and you’ll likely have a record of how far you’ve traveled within a given time period.
Subtract off any cab rides and rides in friends’ cars, and that’s your number plus or minus some distance in driveways or parking garages that the app can’t accurately measure.
LandedGentry@lemmy.zip 1 month ago
UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world 1 month ago
Sure. But then you’re still relying on an accurate odometer. I assumed the question was how you do it when disputing one.
In the case of the article, the plaintiff is using prior vehicle mileage rates as countervailing evidence.
1rre@discuss.tchncs.de 1 month ago
Obviously UK consumer protection is different so they may not have the “feature” here, but cars get their milage recorded yearly (after the first 3 years) as part of roadworthiness testing, available online given the licence plate, so I can see I did 7041 miles in the last year.
Does the DMV not have something similar?
frezik@midwest.social 1 month ago
If you don’t have an especially long commute, good chance you’re between 12k to 15k per year. That’s a typical yearly amount, and leases are usually set around there.
13k in six months is about twice the average.