More than 100 electric cars are stopped for alleged battery fraud
Batteries are now the critical point of electric cars and are apparently being used as a new business. The Judiciary Police is investigating an alleged scam involving the sale of cars with rented batteries.
The case happened with Renault Zoe cars purchased at a stand in Vila do Conde and has already affected more than 100 drivers.
Jornal de Notícias reported this morning that the Judiciary Police is investigating an alleged scam involving a stand in Vila do Conde, for the sale of electric cars, but with rented batteries.
There will have been more than 100 drivers, including private individuals, companies and city councils, who will have bought electric cars thinking that they were also buying their batteries. However, from one day to the next, cars gained ground.
Currently, there are several complaints in court and even on the Portal da Queixa by injured customers. In the purchase invoices, it is explicit that they are "vehicles without battery hire" and registration of ownership without reservation, with cars that, from one day to the next, lost connection and started to show the message "blocked charge".
The company E-Drive has already responded to the accusation and asks customers to contact Mobilize Financial Services (financial of the Renault group), the company that blocked the batteries and which owns the rental contracts. The contracts were signed abroad with an importer called Famaburgo, who later sold them to E-Drive — with whom it shares a tax address, in Vila do Conde. However, Mobilize Financial Services has already said that “it was E-Drive itself that requested the block”.
According to what is advanced, E-Drive would announce the sale of electric cars with their own batteries at lower prices than the competition, with savings of around 1,000 to 3,000 euros.
Some complaints have already happened in 2021, but the affected cars are still stopped pending a resolution.