Some Tesla workers celebrated canceling service appointments by striking a metal xylophone purchased by a supervisor, Reuters reported.
The detail is part of a Reuters investigation which says Tesla was so overloaded with complaints about driving ranges that it created a secret team to cancel appointments.
The electric vehicle manufacturer advertises its Model 3 as being able to travel 374 miles on a full battery, but some owners have reported ranges of less than half of that, particularly in the cold.
In January, Insider reported that one driver said his rental Tesla’s battery drained so quickly in cold weather that he needed to stop virtually every hour to recharge.
One Model 3 owner told Reuters that he booked a service appointment to check out a similar issue, but Tesla said “remote diagnostics” had determined there was no problem and the visit was canceled.
That was linked to the “Diversion Team” in Las Vegas, designed to cancel as many range-related appointments as possible, according to Reuters.
And it was inside this office that the xylophone ritual took place, with some coworkers reportedly standing up on their desks to applaud cancellations.
Tesla managers told staff that they were saving the company $1,000 for each cancellation, per Reuters.
It’s likely that there was never a problem with the batteries, but Tesla had overhyped the ability of its vehicles.
Tesla is the biggest EV company in the world based on its market cap of $828 billion, but Reuters’ investigation is the latest in a series of controversies.
It’s also come under fire for its Autopilot feature, which has been involved in 19 deaths since 2019 according to the Washington Post.
Tesla did not immediately respond to Insider’s request for comment.
