odometer
nounUK /əʊˈdɒmətə/ · CA, US /oʊˈdɑːmətɚ/
Etymology From French odomètre, from Ancient Greek ὁδός (hodós, “road, path, way”) + μέτρον (métron, “measure”), equivalent to odo- + -meter.
1
An instrument, usually embedded within the speedometer of a vehicle, that measures the distance the vehicle has traveled since production.
- When the car was delivered about eight weeks later, it was not the model that had been displayed on the show and it had more miles on the odometer than the car she had been promised.2007 December 14, “"Price Is Right" winner claims new car a wreck”, in Reuters:
- On Sunday, the robot rover advanced another 157 feet (48 meters) as it continued along the rim of a Martian crater, putting Opportunity's total odometer at 25.01 miles (40.25 km), according to NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory near Pasadena, California.2014 July 29, Steve Gorman, “NASA's Mars rover sets off-Earth, off-road distance record”, in Reuters:
1 more example
- Tesla (TSLA.O) faces a proposed class action claiming it speeds up odometers on its electric vehicles so they fall out of warranty faster, saving Elon Musk's company from having to pay for repairs. The plaintiff Nyree Hinton alleged that Tesla odometer readings reflect energy consumption, driver behavior and "predictive algorithms" rather than actual mileage driven.2025 April 17, Jonathan Stempel, “Tesla speeds up odometers to avoid warranty repairs, US lawsuit claims”, in Reuters, archived from the original on 18 Apr 2025:
2
A wheel used by surveyors, which registers distance traveled.
- Synonyms
- odograph
- Derived terms
- odometer fraud, trip odometer
- Related terms
- tripmeter