– General Motors has told a federal judge that a Florida GM Ultium PowerUP Charger lawsuit should be dismissed because the class action won’t hold up in court.
GM’s class action lawsuit currently includes:
“All persons who purchased – in Florida and directly from General Motors (GM) or from an authorized GM store and/or dealer – a model year 2022, 2023 or 2024 Ultium PowerUP Charger.”
The chargers are used to charge GM’s electric vehicles, but Florida plaintiffs Rick and Kerry Kriseman claim the chargers don’t do the job.
The plaintiffs purchased a GM Ultium PowerUP charger from a Cadillac dealer in August 2024, but quickly experienced problems with the EV charger. Specifically, the GM Ultium Charger would trip the internal circuit breaker, requiring customers to flip their home circuit breaker to allow the GM Ultium to begin charging.
Additionally, the class action claims that the charger could overheat due to multiple attempts to get it working.
The plaintiffs further complain that advertisements for the chargers are the opposite of real-world use, and General Motors allegedly knew the Ultium PowerUP chargers were defective before the first ones were sold, but hid it from customers.
Motion to dismiss the lawsuit against GM Ultium Charger
General Motors has filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit, insisting it would not be necessary because the plaintiffs would have agreed to arbitration of their claims.
GM argues that the plaintiffs “attempt to confuse the Court by purposefully failing to attach or even acknowledge the documents containing these provisions. But plaintiffs’ artful pleading does not allow their claims to survive these deficiencies.”
However, the automaker told the judge that the charger class action should still be dismissed because the lawsuit ignores the warranty that came with the Ultium Charger. The warranty provides the plaintiffs with a repair or replacement of their charger, but instead they paid $405 to file the class action for more than $5 million.
GM says the plaintiffs describe symptoms of the allegedly “defective” Ultium Charger “without any further description of what is actually defective in the product.” The lawsuit also says, “GM was aware of the defects,” without providing any further factual support or definition of “the defects.”
“Under the Limited Warranty, Plaintiffs were promised free repair or replacement of the Product during the warranty period if an inspection reveals a defect in materials or workmanship. Plaintiffs do not claim to have ever exercised remedies under the Limited Warranty.” — GM’s motion to dismiss
GM also argues that the limited warranty clearly states that any implied warranty “does not cover:… loss of time, inconvenience, loss of use of the vehicle, or other consequential damages….”
The class action claims that GM’s advertising does not reflect reality because GM markets its EV charger as “capable.” But GM argues that whether the product is “suitable” cannot be empirically verified, meaning the plaintiffs have no claims based on misrepresentation.
The plaintiffs also reportedly do not specify “which” marketing or promotional products contained the alleged misstatements about the Ultium Charger being “suitable.” And GM claims the plaintiffs further fail to plead “when,” “where” and “how” they viewed the alleged misrepresentations about the Chargers.
General Motors also told the judge that the plaintiffs were required to give GM advance notice of the lawsuit, but did not do so. The purpose of this requirement is for a company and a customer to work out their differences before fighting them out in court.
The lawsuit against GM Ultium Charger has been filed in the US District Court for the Middle District of Florida (Tampa Division): Kriseman, et al., v. General Motors, LLC.
The plaintiffs are represented by Morgan & Morgan.
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