A new lawsuit accuses Jaguar Land Rover of sitting on a known defect in the DC-to-DC converters used across hundreds of thousands of Range Rover, Range Rover Sport, and Defender models for years before finally recalling them this spring. The suit, Sumrell v. Jaguar Land Rover North America LLC, was filed July 9, 2026, in U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey, case number 2:26-cv-08452.
What the Recall Covers
In April 2026, JLR recalled more than 170,000 U.S. vehicles, NHTSA campaign 26V248000, over the risk of DC-to-DC converter failure in its mild-hybrid lineup, according to WardsAuto’s reporting on the filing. The recall spans the 2020-2024 Range Rover, 2019-2024 Range Rover Sport, 2021-2024 Range Rover Velar, 2020-2023 Range Rover Evoque, 2021-2024 Discovery, 2020 Discovery Sport, and 2020-2024 Defender, along with related Jaguar F-Pace and E-Pace models built on the same mild-hybrid architecture.
How the Defect Disables a Vehicle
The converters, supplied by LG Innotek and Yazaki, are supposed to step down power from the 48-volt mild-hybrid battery to the 12-volt system that runs a vehicle’s electronics and engine controls. An internal fault in the converter’s boost control microchip can cause it to fail outright, cutting off that charging path and draining the 12-volt battery, which can knock out drive power, exterior lights, and lane-keep assistance while the vehicle is moving, CarComplaints.com reported.
The Lawsuit’s Central Claim
The complaint alleges JLR knew about the failure pattern for roughly seven years before recalling the affected vehicles, pointing to nearly 6,000 converter-related claims and field reports the automaker had logged since July 2019, according to ClassAction.org’s summary of the filing. Rather than warning owners or issuing a fix earlier, the suit claims JLR continued selling and leasing the affected models while the defect went unaddressed.
No Fix Yet, Despite the Recall
Even with the April recall on the books, JLR has not offered owners a repair or compensation. The company’s own notice describes the remedy as still “under development,” meaning owners of recalled vehicles are, for now, driving with a known risk and no confirmed date for a permanent fix. The lawsuit seeks damages for diminished resale value and shortened vehicle lifespan on top of whatever repair JLR eventually rolls out, arguing that owners paid premium prices for vehicles the automaker knew carried a hidden defect.