Man’s Electric Jaguar Blows Up in the Middle of the Street After Making Loud “Pop”

Florida man Gonzalo Salazar is now carless after his 2019 Jaguar I-Pace electric car blew up after charging for the evening.

According to Salazar, he had purchased the Jaguar back in 2020 and had been driving the car around with no issues until one morning when he heard a loud “pop.”

Electrek reports:

Another Jaguar I-Pace battery caught on fire without any crash after simply sitting charging in a garage. This is the fourth known I-Pace battery fire that seemingly started on its own, which is starting to be significant considering the relatively small number of units on the roads.

Jaguar also uses LG battery cells like the Bolt EV and Kona EV, which were both recalled for battery fire risks. Is this another Bolt EV battery fire situation?

The I-Pace is Jaguar’s first and only all-electric vehicle.

It came out in 2018, and we positively reviewed the vehicle for its sporty design in addition to its decent range and charging capacity at the time, but that was a few years ago.

The vehicle has barely been updated over the last four years, and it is now showing its age. But now, there might an even bigger issue with the electric SUV.

“On June 16, I plugged the car in before going to bed. In the morning of June 17, I woke up and unplugged the car,” Salazar explained. “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. I decided to go see where the sounds were coming from, and upon walking into the garage, I faced a thick wall of smoke. My thought immediately was, ‘When there is smoke there is fire,’ and I need to get the car out of the house garage.”

“I went back to the house to get my phone and also noticed that all the smoke in the garage now had filled my entire house because the A/C unit is right next to the garage door,” he continued. “While I was trying to ventilate my house from the smoke I called Jaguar roadside assistance to have them come get the car. When I ended the conversation with them there were more pops, but this time it was followed by fire from under the car. I then called 911 to come help with the situation. But this was not a slow burn, once the fire started there were multiple pops, and the car was just engulfed in flames rapidly.”

WATCH the video below taken by Salazar’s neighbor:

https://twitter.com/minnermoos/status/1555275289500041216?s=20&t=R4pw5Q3SJ6vSYazWy4bI0w

Check out some photos below:

Unfortunately for Salazar, things kept getting worse.

“My insurance company sent a forensic specialist, did their investigation, and declared the car a total loss,” he told Electrek. “Jaguar on the other hand is not being helpful at all, stating they need to complete their own investigation, but because of the risk of igniting the fire once again, they are unable to find a place where they can lift the car up, therefore their “investigation” is on hold, and they are not taking any responsibility for what happened.”

Electrek continues:

Where EV fires require attention is when the electric vehicle’s battery pack catches on fire by itself without any accident or clear external factors, like what appears to be the case with Salazar’s I-Pace.

It’s also what happened with the Chevy Bolt EV. Several fires started when the electric cars were just being parked or charging raised questions about the vehicle’s battery pack, later resulting in a defect found in the LG Chem battery cells used to make those packs.

Chevy and Hyundai – who also used LG Chem cells in the Kona EV – both ended up making massive recalls over the issue. In the case of the former, it took a lot of pressure, including a lot of reporting from Electrek, to finally replace the battery modules.

In the case of the Jaguar I-Pace, the automaker also uses LG pouch battery cells in its electric vehicle:

Now a single battery fire wouldn’t raise an alarm, but Salazar’s I-Pace is not the first one to go up in flames under similar circumstances.

Electrek reported on an early I-Pace catching on fire while parked in a driveway in the Netherlands back in 2018. Last year, another I-Pace caught on fire while parked in a driveway in Oregon. Another Jaguar I-Pace caught on fire while charging in Hungary last October.

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