More than a hundred drivers bought electric cars thinking they were also paying for their batteries, but ended up with their vehicles blocked without warning, according to Jornal de Notícias. The alleged scam was repeated in several purchases of the Renault Zoe model at the E-Drive stand, in Vila do Conde, by individuals, companies and even two municipalities: Vila Pouca de Aguiar and Oliveira do Bairro.
There are several complaints in the courts and in the Portal da Queixa by the injured parties, who have purchase invoices for a “vehicle without battery rental” and property registration without reservation, with cars that, from one day to the next they stopped calling and started showing the message “charge blocked”. The complaints are being investigated by the Judicial Police.
In the face of complaints, the E-Drive dealer tells buyers to contact Mobilize Financial Services (Renault group financier formerly RCI), the company that locked the batteries and owns the rental contracts. Those same contracts they were signed abroad with an importer called Famaburgo, who later sold them to E-Drive —with whom they share a tax address, in Vila do Conde.
E-Drive attracted these customers precisely because it sold self-battery trams at lower prices than the competition, with savings of between €1,000 and €3,000. Even so, the concessionaire refers the situation to Mobilize Financial Services, which indicates, quoted by JN, that “it was E-Drive itself that requested the blocking” of the batteries of these vehicles, in order to stop paying the respective rents. rents whose contracts were signed with Famaburgo.
Although some complaints date back to 2021, the cars of the injured are still parked awaiting a resolution.
Source: Observadora
