— Porsche has told a federal judge a mobile charger lawsuit should be stopped now because a recall took care of all potential problems.
The Porsche class action lawsuit was filed by plaintiffs Paul Herdtner and John Holby.
They complain Porsche didn't warn them the Mobile Charger Plus and Mobile Charger Connect chargers were defective.
The chargers are used to charge hybrid and electric vehicles, with the Porsche class action lawsuit including:
"All persons or entities who purchased or leased a Porsche vehicle and paid for a Porsche Mobile Charger Plus or a Porsche Mobile Charger Connect in the United States."
Porsche Level 2 charging uses a 240-volt industrial electrical outlet, and the charger owner's manual recommends a customer use a qualified electrician to install an industrial electrical outlet.
Plaintiff Herdtner purchased a new 2020 Taycan 4S and a Porsche Mobile Charger Connect in June 2021. But within months he noticed the charger “would overheat and shut down” and the “charging cable felt hot to the touch where it plugged into the vehicle’s charging port.”
The plaintiff received a letter in September 2022 directing him to bring his mobile charger to the dealership, which he did. Then in August 2024 he purchased a third-party charger from a retailer and received a reimbursement check from Porsche for the total cost of the mobile charger.
Porsche claims Herdtner was "aware of the recall but decided not to take advantage of it."
Plaintiff Holby purchased a new 2021 Porsche Taycan Turbo and a Mobile Charger Plus in May 2021. Months later the charger would “overheat and shut down.” He complained to his dealership multiple times and in August 2022, his dealer instructed him to “turn down the charging rate to 50%.”
The mobile charger recall was completed on his vehicle in August 2024.
According to the class action, “[n]o later than 2022,” customers began to notice the chargers sometimes caused the home outlets to melt. In 2022, Porsche issued a bulletin to remind customers their outlets must be high quality and industrial strength because if not, the temperatures can be too high.
Then in September 2022, Porsche notified customers and asked them to bring their mobile chargers to Porsche dealers to adjust the default settings and so Porsche dealers could add warning stickers on the Mobile Charger Plus and Porsche Mobile Charger Connect chargers.
The settings reduced charging current to 50%.
Porsche says customers had the ability to manually change the default current settings back to 100%, although the automaker recommended they first confirm their electrical infrastructure was sufficient to handle the current.
Then in December 2023, a Porsche recall was issued for 2020-2024 Taycan, Panamera E-Hybrid and Cayenne E-Hybrid vehicles because the mobile charger cables were getting hot and melting.
However, Porsche said the mobile charger cables were not the problem. The automaker found some home power outlets were not strong enough and were incapable of handling the electrical current required to use the mobile charging system.
This caused the charging cables and power outlets to overheat at the 100% charge setting.
Because the problem was out of the control of Porsche, owners were told they would receive a new stronger supply cable optimized with an integrated temperature sensor to detect any overheating while charging.
But it would take time to get the new mobile charger cables to dealerships, so for customers who didn't want to wait, Porsche offered to reimburse customers up to $600 for the purchase of third-party chargers.
The two customers who sued complain the mobile chargers cannot reach the advertised charging speeds.
The class action claims it takes twice as long to charge hybrid and electric Porsche vehicles due to the supposedly defective Porsche Mobile Charger Plus and Porsche Mobile Charger Connect devices.
The class action lawsuit asserts Porsche customers paid a lot of money for their Mobile Charger Plus and Mobile Charger Connect devices only to be stuck with 50% charging speed.
The lawsuit further alleges Porsche hasn't issued a "recall, repair, replacement, or other program" to repair the purported mobile charger problems.
Motion to Dismiss the Porsche Mobile Charger Lawsuit
Porsche argues the plaintiffs don't have a case and the mobile charger class action lawsuit should be pulled from court.
Porsche references the mobile charger recall announced nearly two years before the class action lawsuit was filed. Porsche says the mobile charger recall, supervised by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, took care of any alleged problems.
According to Porsche, the plaintiffs “must allege and show that they personally have been injured, not that injury has been suffered by other, unidentified members of the class to which they belong and which they purport to represent.”
But Porsche argues because the recall "removes the defect upon which their theory of damages is based, they cannot allege a concrete and particularized injury."
“[I]f the defendant provides an adequate remedy for the problem, the plaintiff has not suffered an injury.” — Motion to dismiss
Porsche told the judge the recall repairs resolve "the very defect Plaintiffs allege caused their financial harm, and they lack standing to pursue damages. It follows that Plaintiffs likewise have no claim for punitive damages."
Porsche alleges plaintiff Holby does not assert his mobile charger has continued to overheat or shut down since receiving the recall remedy. Instead, the plaintiff complains the charging speed on his vehicle “remains at approximately half the advertised speed” after the recall.
But according to Porsche, the plaintiff hasn't been injured because he has always had the ability to adjust the default charging speed to 100%. Porsche argues it is not the fault of the automaker if a customer doesn't adjust the charging speeds.
As for plaintiff Herdtner, Porsche argues he cannot avoid the same result by refusing to participate in the recall. Because Herdtner "chose not to avail himself of the recall, he cannot allege an injury fairly traceable to PCNA’s alleged wrongdoing, and his claim for economic damages should be dismissed."
According to the motion to dismiss, the mobile charger lawsuit must be dismissed because the "recall resolved all the relief requested" in the class action lawsuit.
Porsche also argues all fraud-based claims must be dismissed because the plaintiffs fail to show Porsche knew the mobile chargers were defective when the vehicles were first sold.
The automaker points out how the plaintiffs claim Porsche was aware of mobile charger problems since at least August 2022, but that was more than a year after the plaintiffs purchased their mobile chargers.
"It strains credulity to suggest that a defendant with no knowledge of the alleged defect was acting unjustly. But Plaintiffs’ allegations utterly fail to suggest PCNA had knowledge of the alleged defect when Plaintiffs purchased." — Porsche
The Porsche Mobile Charger lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia (Atlanta Division): Herdtner, et al., v. Porsche Cars North America, Inc.
The plaintiffs are represented by Webb, Klase & Lemond, LLC, Handley Farah & Anderson PLLC, Sauder Schelkopf LLC, and Varnell & Warwick, P.A.
