The EPA denies Elon Musk's claim that an open door hurt the Model S' range estimate (TSLA)

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• Elon Musk claimed this week that a botched test by federal regulators hurt the Tesla Model S’s official range estimate. 
• “When we did the last EPA test, unfortunately, EPA had left the car door opened and the keys in the car; this is overnight,” Musk said on a conference call. 
• The EPA says that’s a lie, and that it’s willing to discuss technical issues with the company. 
• Visit Business Insider’s homepage for more stories.

Elon Musk isn’t happy with the official range estimate given to Tesla’s Model S by the Environmental Protection Agency, but the office says there were no issues with its tests.

“We increased the range of Model S and X yet again, this time to 391 miles for Model S and 351 miles for Model X,” the chief executive said on a conference call Wednesday.

“Actually, the model — the real Model S range is 400 miles. But when we did the last EPA test, unfortunately, EPA had left the car door opened and the keys in the car; this is overnight. And so the car actually went into waiting-for-driver mode and lost 2% of its range and, as a result, had a 391 test,” Musk said on the call.

Reached for comment, the EPA said this isn’t true.

“We can confirm that EPA tested the vehicle properly, the door was closed, and we are happy to discuss any technical issues with Tesla, as we do routinely with all automakers,” a spokesperson said in an email. 

Tesla did immediately not respond to a request for comment.

The EPA tests electric-vehicle range by simulating real-world driving on a machine called a dynamometer.

“To evaluate exhaust emissions and fuel economy performance in a way that is accurate and repeatable, vehicles are driven on the dynamometer over standard test cycles,” the agency says on its website. “This means all the cars are driving the exact same way for our tests.”

Tesla’s first-quarter earnings call was full of other headline-grabbing moments, too. Here are some more:

• ‘GIVE PEOPLE BACK THEIR GODDAMN FREEDOM’: Elon Musk bashes US shelter-in-place orders as ‘fascist,’ says they’re ‘forcibly imprisoning’ people in their homes
• He’s a rich, arrogant guy who cares about nothing but his money’: Some Tesla workers slam Elon Musk after he went on a rant calling stay-at-home orders ‘fascist’
• Elon Musk is worried about not being able to resume production in the Bay Area, says it’s a ‘serious risk’ to Tesla’s business
• Elon Musk ripped US infrastructure, calling many American airports an ’embarrassment’

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