OSLO: More than 100 disgruntled Tesla owners in Norway have sued the US automaker because the electric cars don’t accelerate as quickly as promised, their lawyers said Wednesday.

The 126 plaintiffs claim their electric vehicles don’t accelerate from 0 to 100 kph in 3.3 seconds, as marketed.

“At the core of the matter is that there are consumers seeking compensation because the cars have less horsepower than promised,” one of the lawyers for the owners, Kaspar Thommessen, told AFP without specifying the amount of damages sought.

They are suing Tesla for breach of consumer law.

The dispute concerns the Tesla S P85D, a sedan featuring one of the fastest accelerations in the world, listed at 700 horsepower by the carmaker. But according to the dissatisfied owners, the real horsepower is only around 469, making accelerations.

Tesla owner Frode Fleten Jacobsen told business daily Dagens Naeringsliv, “Many people pushed their financial limits in order to own a car with 700 horsepower, and when you notice that you didn’t get what you paid for you feel cheated.”

Published in Dawn September 22nd, 2016