The Justice Department has expanded its investigation into Tesla’s business practices, including limits on how far its vehicles can travel on a full charge and giving “personal benefits” to high-ranking executives or large shareholders. Yes, the company said without elaborating.
The revelations follow recent news reports that the carmaker appears to have misled customers about how far its vehicles can travel before needing to plug in.
Tesla also said in a regulatory filing that the government has subpoenaed documents related to “personal gain” and unnamed “related parties,” a term that often refers to top management, company directors or large shareholders.
The U.S. attorney’s office in New York is looking into whether funds were misused on a planned home for company Chief Executive Elon Musk near Tesla’s factory in Austin, Texas, the Wall Street Journal reported in August. Had reported in. The U.S. attorney’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment Monday.
Tesla did not respond to a request for comment.
“To our knowledge, no government agency has concluded in any ongoing investigation that any wrongdoing occurred,” the company said in a quarterly report filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Tesla said it was cooperating with authorities.
Reuters and Consumer Reports have reported that Tesla vehicles in road tests fell short of limits set by the Environmental Protection Agency, which tests cars on rollers in a lab. Car manufacturers have some discretion in how they configure cars for testing and can influence the results.
The range of all battery-powered cars is affected by cold weather, but the Tesla Model Y sport utility vehicle consumer Reports Even in hot weather the tested range was at least 50 miles less than the claimed range.
The Ford Mach-E and Volkswagen ID.4 SUVs exceeded their claimed hot weather limits when tested by Consumer Reports under the same conditions as a Tesla vehicle. A Hyundai Ioniq 5 came within two miles of its EPA range.
Tesla previously revealed that the Justice Department had issued a subpoena for documents related to its self-driving software. Tesla is the target of lawsuits claiming the software played a major role in crashes that caused deaths and injuries and that it did not live up to claims made by Mr Musk and the company about its performance.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the National Transportation Safety Board, the SEC and various local and international authorities have also requested information, Tesla said, without giving details.
Tesla shares have fallen 13 percent since Wednesday, when the company reported third-quarter profit fell 44 percent after cutting prices of its models.
