Toronto, Ontario – In this weekly electric and autonomous vehicle report, Jaguar faces a class action lawsuit over “dangerously defective” I-Pace batteries, while BC Transit grapples as its electric bus provider files for bankruptcy protection.
Cat-astrophic
Jaguar Land Rover North America is facing a class action lawsuit over defective I-Pace battery packs that have the potential to overheat and catch fire.
The lawsuit alleges that certain models of the Jaguar I-Pace have been equipped with “dangerously defective battery packs.”
One of the plaintiffs is a California-based I-Pace owner who purchased a 2020 model in 2019. They later experienced a high-voltage battery failure in Feb. 2021, followed by another failure in April 2023.
The legal action came after a May 2023 product recall by the automaker and alleges that Jaguar was aware of the issue and knowingly concealed the information from its customers.
The lawsuit also claims that there are no remedies available for the battery issue; in the May recall notice, Jaguar said it would replace battery modules or packs free of charge, should a defect be detected.
Bus goes bankrupt
The company that BC Transit selected to provide 10 battery-electric buses to the public transit authority has filed for bankruptcy protection.
California-based Proterra, which manufactures battery-electric buses, voluntarily filed for bankruptcy protection last week to “protect its business and product lines.”
The company says it intends to restructure itself and “ensure business continuity for customers.”
BC Transit told local news site Daily Hive that it will continue to monitor the situation and work with Proterra to navigate the situation and assess how it will impact current orders.
BC Transit selected Proterra, following a bidding process, in May 2022. The contract was worth approximately $20 million.
