In 2016, Tesla bought SolarCity, a solar panel company, founded by two cousins of Elon Musk. But customers waiting for installations of its new Solar Roof have now been informed they will have to pay as much as 50% more than they were told, in what the complaint for this class action says is “classic bait-and-switch fashion.”
The class for this action is all persons with whom Tesla entered into a contract for the purchase of installation of a Solar Roof or Powerwall in the US and whom Tesla told, on or after April 1, 2021, that they would have to pay an increased price as a condition of the performance of the contract.
Soon after Tesla bought SolarCity, the company announced a new product, a Solar Roof. The complaint describes it this way: “The Solar Roof consists of roof tiles—which resemble ordinary roof shingles, unlike traditional solar panels that sit on top of the roof—with embedded photovoltaic (PV) cells capable of generating electricity from the sun.”
It adds, “The Solar Roof system can also include a ‘Powerwall,’ which allows a homeowner to store energy generated by the Solar Roof for use when needed, such as during a utility power outage.”
Musk has promoted it as “[a] roof that looks better than normal roofs, generates electricity longer, lasts longer, has better insultation, and has an installed cost that is less than a normal roof plus the cost of electricity.”
This Solar Roof was supposed to come out in 2017, but because of design problems, it did not in fact appear until 2018. The complaint says, “As Musk later admitted, with the first two versions of the Solar Roof, Tesla was ‘still sort of figuring things out’ as it went along.” Version 3 came out in 2019, with Musk promising faster instalments and lower costs.
The plaintiffs in this case are people who agreed to buy a Solar Roof from Tesla: The complaint says they have “submitted their orders, paid deposits, agreed to a total project cost based on the specific characteristics of their roofs, and executed contracts with Tesla.” They have simply been waiting for installation.
But in April 2021, Tesla “disavowed its contracts,” the complaint alleges, and increased the prices of the agreed-upon work. “In many instances,” the complaint claims, “Tesla increased the price of components by 50% or more, which equates to thousands or tens of thousands of dollars per consumer.”
According to the complaint, Tesla has put pressure on them to agree to the price increases and pay up promptly by telling them they must do so to “keep their place in line” for installation.
Why the higher prices? The complaint alleges, “Tesla claims that the price increases are due to the ‘complexity’ of Plaintiffs’ roofs. This itself is a misrepresentation. Nothing has changed with Plaintiffs’ roofs since the time Tesla completed its inspections, surveys and/or analyses that resulted in the agreed-to contract prices.”
Article Type: LawsuitTopic: Contract
Most Recent Case Event
Tesla Raises Prices on Existing Contracts for Solar Roofs Complaint
May 17, 2021
In 2016, Tesla bought SolarCity, a solar panel company, founded by two cousins of Elon Musk. But customers waiting for installations of its new Solar Roof have now been informed they will have to pay as much as 50% more than they were told, in what the complaint for this class action says is “classic bait-and-switch fashion.”
Tesla Raises Prices on Existing Contracts for Solar Roofs ComplaintCase Event History
Tesla Raises Prices on Existing Contracts for Solar Roofs Complaint
May 17, 2021
In 2016, Tesla bought SolarCity, a solar panel company, founded by two cousins of Elon Musk. But customers waiting for installations of its new Solar Roof have now been informed they will have to pay as much as 50% more than they were told, in what the complaint for this class action says is “classic bait-and-switch fashion.”
Tesla Raises Prices on Existing Contracts for Solar Roofs Complaint