Tesla sued over claims it ran man's dream car project off the road https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/aug/02/tesla-new-zealand-sued-claims- rebuilt-car-not-supported
https://v.gd/s2fmgb A New Zealand man is suing Tesla after it refused to support the car he rebuilt from a wreck in a case that has put the spotlight on the electric carmaker´s approach to secondhand vehicles. Niall Darwin, from the small town of Raglan, built his dream car and had it certified by Tesla, but without its ongoing approval of the vehicle, he says charging its battery will take hours and out-of-date software could eventually make it defunct. ... In Australia, written-off cars can be used only for parts. However, New Zealand allows cars to be shipped, rebuilt and made road legal. The case began a year ago when Darwin saw a wrecked Tesla S90D up for auction in Australia. In good condition it would cost about $160,000. Darwin bought the car for $40,000. ... Darwin had it fixed, recertified and approved by Tesla and then shipped it back to New Zealand. He said the rebuild cost him about $60,000. But when he went to go fill it up at Tesla´s "supercharger" station in nearby Hamilton, his new car told him it was not supported. ... Tesla finally got back to him saying it would not offer supercharging or support because it was an insurance write-off in Australia. However, New Zealand allows cars to be shipped, rebuilt and made road legal. In a statement to Newshub, Tesla said customer safety was of the upmost importance to the company and this was an isolated case because of it being an insurance write-off. "Due to the extreme amount of damage that this vehicle had, we are not comfortable it is safe and do not want to do anything that could increase this risk even further." After Darwin made a video and put it on YouTube, Tesla offered him fast charging - a slower way of recharging the car. ... The car owner called the move "a total contradiction", saying if Tesla was worried about safety it shouldn´t have given him fast charging. ... He has now filed a claim in the New Zealand Disputes Tribunal, which settles matters for a maximum of $15,000. Darwin said the whole saga has cost him about $25,000. David Roden - Akron, Ohio, USA EVDL Administrator = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = EVDL Information: http://www.evdl.org/help/ = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = Note: mail sent to "evpost" and "etpost" addresses will not reach me. To send a private message, please obtain my email address from the webpage http://www.evdl.org/help/ . = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = _______________________________________________ UNSUBSCRIBE: http://www.evdl.org/help/index.html#usub http://lists.evdl.org/listinfo.cgi/ev-evdl.org Please discuss EV drag racing at NEDRA (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NEDRA)
