Norwegian Jaguar I-Pace owner Stian W. Aakeberg has been waiting almost a year for a new battery for his electric car. In the meantime, he is driving a loaner car for 20,000 kroner a month.
Almost a year has passed for Stian W. Aakeberg without seeing his Jaguar I-Pace. The Norwegian electric car owner is still waiting for a brand new battery for his Jaguar.
Meanwhile, he drives around in a loaner car for 20,000 Norwegian kroner a month.
He has had to deal with the battery problems in Stian's I-Pace three times. Now it has come to the point where he has demanded a completely new battery be put in the car. Previous solutions involved replacing individual cells.
However, this requirement is proving difficult to meet. A global shortage of batteries has significantly complicated matters for the owner. The waiting time is also unusually long.
The battery shortage is partly related to a safety issue. Jaguar has previously recalled I-Pace models due to a risk of fire in the batteries. This created a huge pressure on spare parts globally.
In the US, the importer has bought back over 3,000 copies of the car, and in Norway it concerns 130 cars. Precisely because of the problematic battery pack.
Stian's car was not directly affected by the recall, but the car's problems still hit him hard and significantly extended the repair time.
Long wait for Jaguar I-Pace battery
His Jaguar I-Pace has been sitting idle at a dealership for almost a year. The car is in disrepair and still waiting for a new battery. Stian is concerned about possible rust due to the long downtime.
– Someone has to pay for this, he tells the Norwegian media outlet Motor.no about the situation.
In the meantime, Stian has a Volvo XC60 plug-in hybrid. It is a loaner car, to which he is entitled under the warranty. The car importer covers all costs associated with the loaner car.
The costs include loan, fuel, insurance, road tolls and VAT. The hybrid is more expensive to run than the pure electric car he usually drives.
Stian can also show Motor what the importer actually pays for him to drive around for free.
The invoice shows a monthly cost of approximately 20,000 Norwegian kroner for the loaner car alone. This corresponds to around 12,800 Danish kroner each month.
After ten months, the bill has reached 200,000 Norwegian kroner. That's over 128,000 Danish kroner paid by the importer. And the battery in the Jaguar? It hasn't been changed yet.
Expensive loaner car while the electric car waits
Jaguar Land Rover Norway cannot say anything about when Stian's electric car will be able to drive again. But there are early signs of progress in deliveries. Other customers are starting to get appointments for battery changes.
Glenn Klemetsen, technical manager at the importer, confirms that batteries are on the way. They will come from Jaguar in England.
– We expect to be finished with the changes during the spring, he tells Motor.no.
The importer acknowledges that the case is expensive. They accept responsibility for the delay and costs.
PR manager Fam Christina Gudim elaborates in an email to Motor.no.
– We are obliged to correct errors and defects in accordance with the manufacturer's functional warranty.
"When repairs are delayed due to a lack of spare parts, we try to minimize the inconvenience to customers, which in some cases means offering a replacement vehicle."
Stian praises the treatment from the importer despite the long wait. He feels well treated and emphasizes that the delay is not directly the fault of the workshop or the importer.
However, he is surprised by the high costs associated with the loaner car. "It is certainly strange that replacing an electric car's battery can cost as much as a brand new small car – because the replacement itself has been done at all," says Stian W. Aakeberg.
When Stian finally gets his Jaguar I-Pace back, he plans a thorough warranty check. He wants to make sure that the long downtime has not caused any further problems with the car.
Waiting times for repairs and challenges with electric car batteries are something that many car owners can experience. But in Denmark, the importer denies that Danish cars are affected. Read more about it here .
