And like most of the tesla mess, this is just going to hurt EVs in the long run.
Because a lot of the exageration can be attributed to weather. You are going to have shorter range in the winter. How much shorter will depend on technology, build quality (uh oh), and so forth. And that is what this will mostly focus on which will make people even more afraid of getting an EV.
Which has more or less been what tesla ran on to begin with. Plug-in Hybrids were AWESOME… a decade ago. And tesla marketing basically made everyone terrified of their range because clearly you need a massive battery that takes up most of your car because everyone is going on long distance drives every day. And you also need the fastest possible charging because you need to charge up your entire battery in one go and need to sit in your car while you do it.
All of which is bullshit. PHEVs were pretty much perfect as a stopgap. Regenerative braking more or less would stretch a tank of gas out by weeks, if not months (to the point you have to start worrying about the gas in that tank) for the vast majority of commuters. And for longer distance drives, you still had a less efficient ICE.
And same with range for the longer drives or even charging during the week. Because tesla wanted to push their network (which is nice) and their massive batteries (which are overkill), the idea was that EVERYONE is going on massive road trips all the time and you should only ever charge up at a special tesla branded station. Rather than the reality that you plug your car in while you are food shopping or while you take a piss on a road trip and stay in the 20-80% range.
Which gets to the upcoming debacle. Yes, EVs have significantly less range in the cold. So do the vast majority of ICE vehicles. But also? How likely are you to go on a long road trip when it is snowing an inch an hour and is below zero? And, much like with driving in the cold, you have to be more aware of where to stop because you might need to pull off on the side of the road and rely on your car to keep you alive.
In a less shitty and less musk infested world? We would have seen the traditional automakers continue on the path they were on and would likely have most lines over the past three or four years being PHEV, bare minimum. With a gradual migration to full EVs because people trust their charging networks and so forth. Instead of a mad rush to get massive batteries with super fast charging being the requirement and the idea of a sedan being even less viable.