January 4, 2022: South Korea’s antitrust regulator stated that it would put a 2.85 billion won fine on Tesla for decreasing to inform its customers regarding the shorter driving of its electric vehicles in lower temperatures.

The Korea Fair Trade Commission stated that Tesla had exaggerated the “driving which ranges of its cars on a single price, their fuel cost-effectiveness in comparison to gasoline vehicles and the performance of its Superchargers” on its authorised local website in August 2019 recently.

The driving people of the U.S. EV manufacturer’s cars plunged in cold weather by up to 50.5% versus how they are advertised online, the KFTC stated in a statement on Tuesday.

Tesla provides winter driving tips on its website, such as pre-conditioning vehicles with external power bases and operating its updated Energy app to monitor energy consumption. However, it does not mention the loss of driving range in sub-zero temperatures.

In the year 2021, Citizens United for Consumer Sovereignty, a South Korean consumer group, stated that the driving range of most EVs dropped by up to 40% in cold temperatures when the battery needs to be heated, with Tesla that suffers the most, which cited data from the country’s environment ministry.

The previous year, the KFTC fined German carmaker Mercedes-Benz and its Korean unit 20.2 billion won, which states advertising tied to gas emissions of its diesel passenger vehicles.