Volvo Owners Want Electric Car Mileage Class Action Moved to N.J.

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Plaintiffs in a Volvo electric car mileage class action lawsuit argue that the litigation should move out of Illinois and into New Jersey.

The plaintiffs allege in their class action lawsuit that Volvo inflated the mileage range of their hybrid vehicle in advertising.

According to the Volvo class action filed two years ago, the XC90 T8 electric sport utility vehicle can only go eight to 10 miles on the battery despite the company marketing the SUV as having a 25-mile range.

Volvo won dismissal of the class action lawsuit; however, the Seventh Circuit reversed the dismissal and set the case back in motion in August 2017. The plaintiffs say that the Volvo class action lawsuit should be moved to New Jersey, the headquarters of Volvo, to avoid questions about jurisdiction in the case.

“Defendants are based in New Jersey, and the employees that were involved in the creation and dissemination of defendants’ marketing materials are all located in New Jersey,” noted the plaintiffs in their motion. “Finally, New Jersey is a more convenient forum for the parties and witnesses. The employees of defendants that were involved in the creation and dissemination of marketing materials are all located in New Jersey.”

The plaintiffs allege that they spent an additional $20,000 on their more than $80,000 Volvo XC90 T8 in 2015 because of representations about how far the vehicle would go on one battery charge. The plaintiffs say that they were dismayed to find that, in practice, the car only went eight to 10 miles before switching to gas.

Volvo argued for dismissal of the class action lawsuit because they offered the plaintiffs a full refund on the vehicle. Originally, the federal court in Illinois agreed and dismissed the Volvo class action lawsuit.

The plaintiffs appealed that decision to the Seventh Circuit, however, and was able to win a reversal and set the Volvo class action lawsuit in motion again.

Volvo maintained during its arguments that out-of-state Class Members should not be subject to the Illinois court. Although the plaintiffs say that Volvo has waived this argument, they say they will agree to proceed with the Volvo class action lawsuit in New Jersey.

“After two years of litigation, [Volvo] now seek[s] to minimize liability by claiming that this Court lacks specific personal jurisdiction over the claims of all out-of-state class members,” say the plaintiffs in their motion. “Plaintiffs believe that Defendants have waived this argument and that, in any event, this Court can assert personal jurisdiction over the claims of out-of-state class members. However, this procedural issue does not exist if this case were to proceed in the District of New Jersey, where Defendants are headquartered. Rather than have this case clouded by a jurisdictional issue, Plaintiffs are willing to proceed instead in New Jersey.”

The Volvo class action lawsuit is seeking compensatory damages, as well as actual damages, a disgorgement of revenues, and a court order stopping Volvo from the alleged false advertising.

The plaintiffs are represented by Joseph Siprut, Todd McLawhorn and Ke Liu of Siprut PC.

The Volvo Electric Car Mileage Class Action Lawsuit is Xavier Laurens and Khadija Laurens v. Volvo Cars of North America LLC, et al., Case No. 16­3829, in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit.