100 Owners Claim This EV Has a Safety Problem That Volvo Won't Acknowledge | Carscoops

      A new lawsuit alleges that the XC40 Recharge may be unsafe, with one owner reporting instances of sudden surging and unintended acceleration.

      Filed 22 hours ago by Brad Anderson, the lawsuit claims that Volvo is facing serious safety issues regarding its electric XC40 Recharge SUV.

      The plaintiffs state that the EV exhibits surging and jerking movements during low-speed driving and gear shifts.

      Over 100 drivers have joined the lawsuit, which contends that there are significant safety flaws and undisclosed defects.

      Volvo appears to be experiencing a series of setbacks. Following an NHTSA advisory that advised owners of several plug-in hybrid and electric models to refrain from using ‘B mode’, or One Pedal Drive, until a software fix is implemented, the company is now confronting a class action lawsuit addressing safety concerns connected to its all-electric XC40 Recharge.

      This lawsuit, filed in the United States, claims that the compact SUV has significant defects, including unintended acceleration, which jeopardizes the safety of both drivers and passengers. More than 100 owners are part of the lawsuit, which requests a jury trial and alleges that Volvo was either aware of or should have been aware of these issues.

      At the heart of the complaint is lead plaintiff Robert M. Becker, who asserts that the XC40 Recharge can unexpectedly surge forward, lurch, or accelerate unintentionally. The filing indicates that these occurrences are most likely during low-speed driving, when shifting gears, or while utilizing the vehicle’s One Pedal Drive mode.

      Becker argues that these defects present a “substantial risk of accident, injury, or property damage” and that Volvo failed to take necessary measures.

      Claims of Prior Awareness

      The lawsuit claims that Volvo either knew or was negligent in not being aware of the issue based on pre-release testing, consumer complaints (including those regarding the mechanically-related Polestar 2), dealership service reports, internal engineering evaluations, and data from the NHTSA. Despite this, the automaker is accused of minimizing or hiding the complete scope of the problem. The complaint also asserts that Volvo’s recall efforts were “piecemeal and unduly narrow.”

      Robert Becker leased a 2024 XC40 Recharge on September 13, 2024, and reports experiencing multiple instances of the vehicle surging and lurching during regular operation. Within less than a month of acquiring the electric SUV, he had to take it to a Volvo dealership for diagnosis and repairs.

      Volvo’s Recalls

      The lawsuit highlights two recalls that Volvo issued in the US. The first concerned a software glitch that could cause a sudden loss of propulsion in XC40 Recharge models; however, the complaint states that it did not address deeper control logic issues. The second recall was directed at 2021–2022 models due to the potential for water to enter the accelerator pedal sensor harness. Plaintiffs argue that this recall was too limited, leaving similar defects in other vehicles unresolved and failing to fix the underlying problem.

      Becker is suing Volvo for breaches of the Consumers Legal Remedies Act, the Unfair Competition Law, the False Advertising Law, fraudulent concealment, and unjust enrichment. The plaintiffs are seeking a combination of compensatory and punitive damages, in addition to restitution, disgorgement, and injunctive relief aimed at rectifying the reported defects.