New Zealand Transport Agency<\/a> register listed the vehicle as structurally damaged. <\/p>\nTesla designated it an \u201cunsupported vehicle\u201d and transmitted an \u201cover-the-air\u201d update to disable fast-charging capability.<\/p>\n
It did the same a few days later on the second vehicle under its \u201cunsupported vehicle policy\u201d, which prevented a Tesla from being charged on a direct current or supercharger system.<\/p>\n
The Teslas were repaired, inspected and re-registered.<\/p>\n
The vehicles charged normally when Goodricke accessed them using only his key. <\/p>\n
But the software updates downloaded when Goodricke used the Tesla app, immediately disabling the vehicles\u2019 access to any fast-charging network, including Tesla\u2019s proprietary network of \u201csuperchargers\u201d.<\/p>\n
Justice Boldt said that for most vehicles, re-registration would have been the end of the story.<\/p>\n
However, in this case, Tesla New Zealand had been monitoring the NZTA register. <\/p>\n
Goodricke wrote to Tesla protesting that it had interfered with his vehicles without his permission. <\/p>\n
Tesla pointed him to its website and unsupported vehicle policy, which defined a vehicle as one the company considered unsafe for service or fast-charging.<\/p>\n
Goodricke argued in the tribunal that Tesla had breached consumer and trade laws by sending updates that reduced his cars\u2019 functionality.<\/p>\n
He claimed Tesla\u2019s failure to disclose the risk of remote disabling before he bought the car had misled him about the vehicles\u2019 ongoing functionality.<\/p>\n
![\"Justice]()
Justice David Boldt said in dismissing the case it had one \u201cimmediately troubling aspect to it\u201d. Photo\/ George Heard<\/p>\n
He said it was \u201cunconscionable for Tesla\u201d to require an inspection only it could perform, and which cost more than $1600.<\/p>\n
Tesla NZ general service manager Michael Belenkij said if the test showed the car was safe, the functionality was turned back on.<\/p>\n
The claim was dismissed in September last year when the tribunal ruled for Tesla.<\/p>\n
The referee found the company\u2019s policy was not misleading, deceptive or unconscionable.<\/p>\n
He noted it was publicly available and the onus was on Goodricke, as purchaser of a damaged vehicle, to satisfy himself of the potential implications of buying a car that had been deregistered.<\/p>\n
The tribunal said Tesla had a legitimate interest in ensuring its cars were safe.<\/p>\n
Goodricke applied for a rehearing focused on the tribunal\u2019s alleged failures, but that too was dismissed.<\/p>\n
When the matter reached the High Court, Justice Boldt noted Goodricke had not been legally represented at any stage. <\/p>\n
Goodricke raised multiple grounds of review challenging the merits of the tribunal\u2019s decision.<\/p>\n
He also argued Tesla had unlawfully interfered with his property and committed an act of trespass.<\/p>\n
Justice Boldt said the fundamental rule that a car belonged to its owner, who then assumed responsibility for its safe operation, could only be displaced if there was a clear legal basis to do so.<\/p>\n
Tesla acknowledges boundaries<\/p>\n
Tesla, through its lawyer, acknowledged it had no unilateral right to alter the functionality of a Tesla vehicle once it belonged to someone else, and that it must be able to point to a lawful entitlement to do so.<\/p>\n
The judge said Goodricke\u2019s case depended on his proposition that Tesla publicly maintained that its vehicles would have access to fast-charging networks throughout their working lives, but that proposition was incorrect. <\/p>\n
He said whatever Tesla may say about its vehicles\u2019 general suitability for fast-charging, it made a clear exception for damaged and deregistered vehicles.<\/p>\n
NZME has sought comment from Goodricke.<\/p>\n
Tracy Neal is a Nelson-based Open Justice reporter at NZME. She was RNZ\u2019s regional reporter in Nelson-Marlborough and has covered general news, including court and local government for the Nelson Mail.<\/p>\n
Join the NZ Herald\u2019s Open Justice team for Case by Case<\/a>, a video and podcast series examining the disputes and decisions making headlines across New Zealand. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Tesla justified its position by the risk posed by damaged high-voltage batteries. In rare cases, a damaged battery…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":641518,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[38144,138,6799,1121,9525,9084,32294,17153,9522,6376,290546,793,2079,6712,111,139,69,90,2738,9769,64784,26525,150549,19098,65570,5536,23965],"class_list":["post-641517","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-batteries","tag-business","tag-cars","tag-case","tag-caught","tag-challenges","tag-charge","tag-damaged","tag-disabled","tag-dismissed","tag-fastcharging","tag-felt","tag-fire","tag-legal","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-on","tag-owner","tag-owners","tag-plug","tag-pulled","tag-remotely","tag-safe","tag-secondhand","tag-tesla","tag-werent"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/641517","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=641517"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/641517\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/641518"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=641517"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=641517"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=641517"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}