San Francisco, CA: A proposed $10 million settlement has been reached in a defective automotive class action lawsuit pending against automaker Nissan. The lawsuit alleged that the Nissan Leaf suffered from a thermal management defect, that its lithium-ion battery loses capacity over time at an excessive rate when operated in a high temperature environment and that the vehicle does not have the driving range represented by Nissan.
The terms of the settlement involve Nissan agreeing to expand battery warranties for approximately 18,588 current and former owners of the 2011-2012 Nissan LEAF throughout the US. Additionally, Nissan will extend the Leaf warranty to add battery capacity loss to its existing limited warranty for up to 60 months or 60,000 miles, requiring Nissan to repair the battery to at least 70 percent of its full capacity, and if repair is not possible, to replace the pack with a newly manufactured or reconditioned one.
All class members will be automatically included in the settlement unless they choose to opt out and Nissan will mail notice of the new warranty once the agreement is finalized.
The case is Klee at al. v. Nissan North America Inc. et al., case number in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.
