Meghana KandraA Jaguar I-Pace electric car caught fire while the vehicle was being charged. It is the fourth battery fire in the I-Pace series globally. It is the company’s first and currently the only EV. It is said that the automaker uses LG battery cells, like the Bolt EV and Kona EV.
Image credits- HT Auto
The latest battery fire was reported by Jaguar I-Pace owner Gonzalo Salazar in the state of Florida. “On June 16, I plugged the car in before going to bed. On the morning of June 17, I woke up and unplugged the car. Later that morning, I set out to run some errands. I drove about 12 miles that morning before returning back home and parking the car back in the garage, leaving the garage door open. As I was doing things at home, I heard pops coming from the garage,” he told.
“I decided to go see where the sounds were coming from, and upon walking into the garage, I faced a thick wall of smoke,” he added. He then called 911 for help, as the car got engulfed in flames rapidly. “The fire department showed up and poured flame retardant foam on the vehicle until the fire was extinguished,” said Salazar, adding that “there was debris flying everywhere so I kept my distance”. Chevy and Hyundai, also used LG Chem cells in the Kona EV. It had made massive recalls in the past. In the case of the Jaguar I-Pace, the automaker also uses LG pouch battery cells in its electric vehicle.
Last year fires
In 2018, an I-Pace caught fire while it was parked in a driveway in the Netherlands. “Last year, another I-Pace caught fire while it was parked in a driveway in Oregon. Another Jaguar I-Pace caught on fire while charging in Hungary last October,” according to the report.
Even though the Jaguar I-Pace isn’t regarded as one of those EVs that can spontaneously catch fire, well, that doesn’t mean it doesn’t happen, and when it does there’s a strong chance its battery cells may be to blame. The most recent is a fire that destroyed a 2019 I-Pace in Florida while the vehicle was reportedly parked and charging in a garage, with its owner driving it out (even though it was already billowing smoke) just before it went up in flames. The owner decided to drive the vehicle out of the garage, even though it was already smoking, thus saving his garage and house from also going up in flames. After taking it outside, he says he heard even more pops and the smoke turned into a visible flame that quickly engulfed the entire vehicle, burning much of it completely away.