Over-the-air updates are a wonderful thing. Your car can simply park in the garage while receiving updates with new features that are ready to use the next time you hit the road. There are other benefits, too. Earlier this year, Tesla said that an issue with some vehicles' cruise control systems could be remedied with an OTA update. But no piece of technology works perfectly every time and Tesla now has to cough up $1.5 million to settle claims relating to Model S batteries that were negatively affected by one of the company's OTA updates. This update, which took place in May 2019, was a precautionary response to a Model S catching fire in Hong Kong.

Following the update, some of these cars had their battery's charging speed and maximum capacity temporarily decline, which further led to a temporary reduction in the car's range. Documents from the US District Court in San Francisco indicated the proposed amount of $1.5 million that Tesla would pay into a fund. This fund would compensate owners of these Model S models for the effects of the battery throttling and the legal fees and costs. A total of 1,743 Tesla owners were affected by the issue and so far, court filings show that 1,552 of them have had their batteries' full voltage restored. A further 57 owners had their batteries fully replaced.

One Model S owner closely tracked the performance of his car's battery and complained about the reduction in August 2019, three months after the OTA update. It's possible that some owners will receive an amount of $625 each to settle claims relating to the problem. Tesla hasn't yet commented on the latest developments in the case. On December 9, 2021, a hearing will be held to finalize the proposed settlement. Earlier this year, Tesla was ordered to pay owners of Model S and Model X vehicles in Norway $16,000 each for a similar case of reduced driving range following a software update.