The antitrust watchdog in South Korea has announced plans to fine Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) US$2.2mln for neglecting to tell customers that its electric vehicles (EVs) have a shorter driving range in cold weather.
The Korea Fair Trade Commission (KFTC) said that from August 2019 until recently, Tesla misrepresented the driving range, fuel efficiency, and functionality of its Superchargers on its official local website.
According to the KFTC, compared to what is promised online, the driving range of Tesla's cars can decrease by up to 50.5% in cold weather.
The South Korean consumer group said Tesla is the most affected and the driving range of the majority of EVs might drop by up to 40% in cold weather when the batteries need to be heated.
This is not the first time the KFTC has imposed a fine for false advertising, as it also fined Mercedes-Benz and its Korean unit US$17.6mln for false advertising related to gas emissions of its diesel passenger vehicles in 2020.
The Korean knuckle-rap piled the pressure on Tesla, which on Monday announced a lacklustre set of quarterlies.
Vehicle deliveries in the final three months of 2022 fell short of analysts' projections, according to the automakers, prompting concerns that the demand for their electric vehicles in 2023 may be affected by rising interest rates and a slowing economy.
Tesla delivered 405,278 vehicles in Q4, falling short of the anticipated range of 420,000-430,000 despite setting records for quarterly deliveries over the previous three months.
The total number of new vehicle deliveries for 2022, however, increased by 40% from the prior year to over 1.3mln.
CEO Elon Musk had previously predicted annual delivery growth of 50%, but the company faced challenges including Covid-related production shutdowns in China and supply chain issues.
The latest figures also revealed that Tesla had excess production for the third consecutive quarter, with 34,423 more vehicles produced than delivered. The company attributed at least some of the shortfall to logistics issues as it "continued to transition towards a more even regional mix of vehicle builds".