Toyota Prius Plug-in lawsuit claims EV range was false advertising

“Your mileage may vary.” That’s the catchphrase, right, especially when it comes to plug-in vehicles. When you’ve got a Leaf or a Tesla, if you miss out on three miles or range, it’s not that big a deal. But, if you specifically bought a Toyota Prius Plug-in – with an official electric range of 11 miles and a promoted ” extended electric-only driving range of up to 15 miles” – and you want to be able to drive to your workplace that’s 12.07-miles away, missing three miles is indeed a big deal. One big enough for a lawsuit, in fact.

Richard Rosenbaum bought a plug-in Prius in 2012 specifically for that 12-mile drive to work. But, according to Top Class Action, he soon “discovered that he was only able to travel approximately 8 miles with a full electric charge,” and that was only in the summer. If the temperature was lower than 55 degrees, the car wouldn’t work in EV mode at all. Rosenbaum has filed suit in the US District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan, Detroit Division. He claims that Toyota falsely advertised what the car could do and is asking for a class action status and for more than $75,000 as well as the court costs. Toyota told AutoblogGreen it declined to comment on the lawsuit.

The upcoming Prius Prime, basically the second-generation Prius Plug-In, arrives in US showrooms this fall. It has an official range of 22 miles.

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