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Tesla has agreed to settle a class-action lawsuit over throttling battery capacity.

The court hasn’t approved the settlement, but it is expected to be and will include a payment of $625 to each affected Tesla owner.

Back in 2019, Electrek reported on several reports from Tesla owners about seeing significant drops in range from 12 to 30 miles following a software update.

Model S vehicles with 85 kWh battery packs, which were discontinued in 2016, seem to be the ones affected at that point.

For most owners, the range drop happened after updating to Tesla’s 2019.16.1 and .2 software updates.

Tesla owner David Rasmussen was among the ones affected, and he got one of the most severe drops we have seen.

At the time, he told Electrek:

My 2014 Model S 85 was getting Rated Range of 247 miles until May 13. Now after the next update, it continued to drop to now 217 miles. This is an 11% drop in 5 weeks.

Rasmussen has been plotting the battery capacity degradation of his Model S over the last 100,000 miles or so, and the drop is quite obvious:

On top of the range loss, the DC fast-charging rate at Supercharger stations has also been reduced. Affected owners are seeing much slower charging sessions.

When Electrek reported on the issue, Tesla told us that the goal of the update is to “protect the battery and improve battery longevity,” and it resulted in a range loss for only “a small percentage of owners.”

This created a lot of confusion among the owners affected by the update, who wanted more details about the sudden need to “protect” the battery pack.

It led to a series of lawsuits in different markets for Tesla to compensate the affected owners.

One of those lawsuits was a class-action in the US started by Rasmussen.

Two years later, Tesla has pushed some software updates to restore the capacity, and it is now ready to settle the matter.

The automaker has submitted a settlement with the court that involves paying $625 to each 1,743 Tesla Model S owners in the US who were affected by those updates and to pay the legal fees.

Electrek contacted Rasmussen, who confirmed that his own car saw its capacity restored, but he is aware of some owners who still have had battery capacity issues since the update.

But as far as the settlement goes, he says that he agrees with it, and he expects it to be accepted by the court.

If all goes well, this should settle the matter in the US, but Tesla is not out of the woods.

Over the same matter in Norway, Tesla was found guilty by a court and asked to pay $16,000 to thousands of owners, but the company is expected to appeal.

Electrek’s Take

I am glad to hear that most owners have seen their battery and charging capacity restore.

At the end of the day, it looks like a lot of this could have been resolve through better communications.

Tesla should have communicated the update in the first place to the affected owners and let them know what was happening.

They never communicated anything until owners started to complain, and then we reported on it, and then Rasmussen had to bring the matter to court.

That’s not a great way to operate.


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Baby Reindeer: Writer Richard Gadd tells fans to stop speculating about characters

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Baby Reindeer: Writer Richard Gadd tells fans to stop speculating about characters

Richard Gadd has urged fans of his hit show Baby Reindeer to stop speculating about who the characters in his show are based on in real life.

The Netflix series is based on the real-life story of its writer Gadd, who also plays the lead character, and his warped relationship with a female stalker.

Fans have been speculating online about the identity of the stalker played by Jessica Gunning in real life (spoiler warning), as well as who another character, seen sexually assaulting Gadd in the series, is based on.

The character, played by Tom Goodman-Hill, is a TV writer who repeatedly sexually assaults Gadd’s character and supplies him with drugs.

Gadd addressed his fans on his Instagram story on Tuesday, saying: “People I love, have worked with, and admire… are unfairly getting caught up in speculation.

“Please don’t speculate on who any of the real-life people could be. That’s not the point of our show. Lots of love, Richard.”

Read more on Sky News:
Richard Osman reveals Thursday Murder Club cast
Police launch manhunt for Home and Away star

Pic: Netflix
Image:
Pic: Netflix

The show is based on the hit Edinburgh Fringe one-man stage play Gadd performed in 2019.

Gadd, who plays Donny Dunn, a character based on himself, said he didn’t expect the show to “blow up” in the way it has since its release on 11 April.

“I’m super proud of it. I really believed in this show, but the fact it’s gone so stratospheric so quickly, for such a cult, quite niche story… it’s kind of amazing. It’s clearly struck a chord,” he said on This Morning.

The writer, actor and comedian is also an ambassador for We Are Survivors, a charity which supports male survivors of sexual abuse.

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Orpheus Pledger: Australian police launch manhunt for Home and Away star accused of assault

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Orpheus Pledger: Australian police launch manhunt for Home and Away star accused of assault

Police in Australia have launched a manhunt for former soap opera star Orpheus Pledger after he failed to appear in court to face charges of assault.

Pledger, 30, was due to appear at Melbourne Magistrates Court on Tuesday accused of assaulting a woman, Sky News Australia said.

The actor had been granted bail on Tuesday for a court-ordered hospital assessment and had been ordered to return to court the following day, but didn’t show up.

On Wednesday Victoria Police issued a warrant for his arrest and asked the public to help find him.

Pic: Victoria Police
Image:
Pic: Victoria Police

The force said in a statement he was wanted over an “assault-related matter” and hoped “someone may be able to provide information on his current whereabouts”.

Described as “approximately 170cm [5ft, 6in] tall with brown hair and tanned complexion”, police said he was known to frequent the north Melbourne suburb of Northcote and surrounding areas.

Pledger’s manager, Craig McMahon told the Sydney Morning Herald he had not been in contact with his client this week but that he had been shocked by the assault allegations.

Mr McMahon told the paper his client had suffered from mental health issues for a long time.

Read more:
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Vigil for Sydney stabbing victims
UK dog’s 17-day Australian adventure

Pledger starred in Neighbours, another Australian soap, in 2011 before joining the cast of Home and Away in 2016 where he played Mason Morgan for three years.

Earlier in his career, he appeared in other TV shows, Silversun and CrashBurn.

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John Lennon’s lost guitar found in loft after 50 years to go up for auction

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John Lennon's lost guitar found in loft after 50 years to go up for auction

A guitar used by John Lennon in the recording of The Beatles album and film Help! is going up for auction after being found in a loft.

Believed to have been lost, the 12-string acoustic guitar had not been seen or played for more than 50 years before it was rediscovered in the home of a British couple.

It is now going up for auction where it is estimated to fetch between £485,000 to £647,000.

Auctioneers believe it could set a “new world record for the highest-selling Beatles guitar”.

The Hootenanny model, made by German firm Framus, was used by the Liverpool band in the 1965 Help! film, specifically in the scene when the group perform You’ve Got To Hide Your Love Away.

It was also used during the recording sessions for It’s Only Love and I’ve Just Seen A Face and Girl along with the rhythm track for Norwegian Wood played by George Harrison.

John Lennon's Lost 1965 'Help!' Guitar Goes On Display At London's Hard Rock Cafe Ahead Of Auction ** STORY AVAILABLE, CONTACT SUPPLIER** Where: London, United Kingdom When: 23 Apr 2024 Credit: Cover Images  (Cover Images via AP Images)
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Lennon’s lost guitar on display in London ahead of the auction. Pic: AP

“Finding this remarkable instrument is like finding a lost Rembrandt or Picasso, and it still looks and plays like a dream after having been preserved in an attic for more than 50 years,” said Darren Julien, co-founder and executive director at auction house Julien’s Auctions.

“To awaken this sleeping beauty is a sacred honour and is a great moment for music, Julien’s, Beatles and auction history.”

It is believed the guitar came to be in the possession of Scottish guitarist Gordon Waller, known for being one half of the pop duo Peter & Gordon, who later gave it to his band’s road managers in the 1970s.

Read more:
Four Beatles films in the works

It is not the first piece of Beatles memorabilia to be rediscovered.

In February, Sir Paul McCartney was reunited with his 1961 Hofner bass guitar, which he used on songs such as Twist And Shout and She Loves You.

Julien’s Auctions has previously sold another Lennon acoustic guitar for $2.4m (£1.93m), Ringo Starr’s Ludwig drum kit was purchased for $2.2m (£1.77m) and a Ludwig drumhead bass used on The Ed Sullivan Show was auctioned at $2.1m (£1.64m).

The Hootenanny guitar will go up for auction along with the guitar’s Maton Australian-made case as part of Julien’s Music Icons two-day auction on 29 and 30 May.

Also being sold at the auction is an Adam Clayton stage-played and owned rose sparkle Fender bass guitar, used at the U2 Las Vegas Sphere shows, which has an estimate of $50,000 to 70,000 (£40,199 to £56,279).

Tina Turner’s Versace dress, worn during her 1996 to 1997 Wildest Dreams Tour, and Amy Winehouse’s Black Fendi gown made for the opening of the clothes shop during Paris Fashion Week, are also up for auction.

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