Toyota And Subaru Sued For Failing EV Batteries

Both Toyota and Subaru are being sued for failing EV batteries on the bZ4X and Solterra, respectively. For many consumers looking at EVs, battery failures are pretty much the worst fear they can conjure up. After all, replacing the battery on an electric car can be incredibly expensive, so it’s something people would understandably like to avoid if at all possible.

GM is bragging about its new EV battery tech.

Fortunately, we’re not talking about the batteries that supply power to the EV’s drivetrain. Instead, the batteries in question are little 12-volt ones that power the accessories. While that isn’t as expensive, some owners of these two models claim the little battery fails repeatedly in just a few thousand miles of driving.

That’s according to a report from Road & Track, with a class action suit which was sparked by a single Toyota bZ4X owner. That individual claims to have replaced the small battery on the EV several times after driving just 5,000 miles.

We know those little auxiliary batteries can be an issue in non-electric cars these days. Many times, when people’s main battery fails they and their mechanic neglects to change out that battery, which can lead to different issues.

But this claim for the class action lawsuit is something else.

Even more interesting, there doesn’t seem to be a proposed reason for the battery failures. Usually, a class action lawsuit like this will detail out a believed root for the problem. But this one apparently leaves that all up in the air.

That makes us wonder if nobody really knows what the problem is, including Toyota and Subaru.

But, as Road & Track points out, other EVs suffer similar issues. Owners of the Mustang Mach-E, Hyundai Ioniq 5, even Teslas has complained of their 12-volt auxiliary battery dying prematurely repeatedly. Why would that be?

Image via Toyota