— Volvo is celebrating a victory after a federal judge granted Volvo's motion to dismiss a lawsuit that alleges 2016 Volvo XC90 T8 SUVs were marketed and sold with overstated estimates of mileage capabilities on a full charge of the battery.
Plaintiff Xavier Laurens filed the lawsuit in July 2016 alleging his 2016 Volvo XC90 T8 was advertised with mileage estimates that were not even close to reality. Laurens claims the hybrid SUV can make it no more than 10 miles on a full battery charge when Volvo advertised the SUV would get 25 miles per single charge.
After paying about $72,000 for the T8, the plaintiff says he expected to save money on driving to and from work, but instead the alleged low battery mileage caused him to take the SUV to a dealer. Laurens says the dealer tested the XC90 T8 plug-in hybrid battery mileage and determined the SUV got 18 miles on a single charge of the battery.
Additionally, the dealer said the window sticker for the Volvo says the battery range on a single charge is 13 miles, not the 25 miles the plaintiff claims he should get.
The lawsuit alleges the test conducted by the dealer was flawed and the plaintiff would have never paid an extra $20,000 for the hybrid SUV if Volvo wouldn't have originally marketed the vehicle as getting up to 25 miles per charge.
The plaintiff claims the only reason the test showed 18 miles on a single charge was due to the dealer driving the SUV with additional features turned off while the test was conducted at 40 miles per hour, far below typical highway speeds.
While the lawsuit may have sounded good to the Volvo owner, U.S. District Court Judge Harry Leinenweber didn't think much of the arguments and granted Volvo's motion to dismiss.
In its motion to dismiss, Volvo argued the plaintiff didn't prove the automaker falsely represented the distance that the 2016 Volvo XC90 T8 could travel with the battery fully charged. Additionally, the automaker told the judge that Laurens misunderstood the information Volvo provided about the SUV getting 25 miles on a single charge.
Volvo says the original advertisements made it obvious the 25-mile claim was based on estimates according to certification standards in Europe. Those standards are different than the U.S. because testing methods are different based on U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulations.
Volvo also told the court the window sticker makes it clear actual mileage may be different than advertised mileage. Court documents say that based on EPA regulations, a window sticker must say, "Actual results will vary for many reasons, including driving conditions and how you drive and maintain your vehicle."
Volvo also says Mr. Laurens shouldn't have filed the lawsuit in the first place because it was his wife who bought the XC90 T8.
But the final blow to the lawsuit came when the judge pointed out how the plaintiff was offered a complete refund of the purchase price by Volvo but turned it down and chose to sue the automaker.
Judge Leinenweber said Volvo tried to please the plaintiff by offering a complete refund without requiring Mr. Laurens to sign any type of release, and the plaintiff could have received all his money back and bought any vehicle he wanted. With the offer of a complete refund, the plaintiff has no grounds for claiming any harm by Volvo.
The Volvo XC90 T8 mileage lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois - Laurens v. Volvo Cars of North America LLC.
The plaintiff is represented by Siprut PC.
