Ah I misread this

It started refunding deposits for the $16,000 extra battery pack.

You are correct. People make mistakes, not everything is “a narrative”.

“Thanks for all the $16k loans at 0% shmucks. We’ve kept the interest we made while rates have been up and now you can have it back while they’re dropping. Of course, your money is now worth less than it was when you gave it to us during high inflation. Suck it losers. Love, T E S L A”

EDIT: deposit was $150. Still shitty but not the same impact

EDIT 2: Or $2000? … tl;dr: shitty