Car manufacturer Jaguar recently announced a massive recall of all I-Pace electric vehicles sold in the United States over a concerning battery fire risk. Jaguar is also suggesting owners of said vehicles park their cars outside to avoid a potential battery fire that could burn homes down.
The recall of the I-Pace vehicles follows reports over the past year of concerns that the cars could have similar battery issues to the Chevy Bolt EV, which had dozens of dangerous fires. Electrek has reported on four separate battery fires with I-Pace Jaguar vehicles. The outlet noted that given Jaguar’s premium market, the car is much more low-volume than Chevy. Therefore, this makes the few instances of battery fires statistically significant.
Furthermore, the Jaguar I-Pace vehicles use the same LG Energy batteries as the Chevy Bolt EV, which were determined to be the root of the Bolt’s battery fires. Jaguar has recalled all “2019-2024MY” Jaguar I-Pace vehicles manufactured from a specific assembly plant from 2018 onward. Jaguar described the issue as a “thermal overload,” which could show as smoke or fire occurring underneath the vehicle at the location of the high-voltage battery.
Jaguar noted that recalled vehicles would receive an update to the “Battery Energy Control Module (BECM)” software which will monitor the battery for thermal overload conditions. This will give drivers of the vehicles enhanced warnings about battery conditions, with heightened risk detection. The update would provide a warning message to the driver, informing them to take the car to a Jaguar retailer to mitigate the issue. The battery issue with the Chevy Bolt EV led to a complete, sweeping recall of the battery.
The American Tribune covered a high-profile Jaguar fire last year, where the vehicle made a loud “pop” before erupting in flames in the middle of the street. Gonzalo Salazar was the owner of a 2019 Jaguar I-Pace, which he purchased in 2020. In June 2022, Gozalo plugged the car in to charge for the night before disaster struck.
He said that he heard loud pops after leaving the car to charge overnight in his garage. Upon investigating the source of the noise coming from his garage, he was faced with thick smoke. Fearing a potential fire that could burn his house down, he was able to remove the car from the garage and onto the street. The vehicle proceeded to burst into flames that rapidly engulfed the entire vehicle.
A picture of the aftermath was posted to Twitter with the caption, “Another EV fire… this one from Florida earlier this summer. A Jaguar i-pace was parked in an attached garage when the owner heard “popping” sounds and saw smoke puffing from the car. The car was moved outside before it burst into flames. I guess you can call them “lucky”.”
Another EV fire… this one from Florida earlier this summer. A Jaguar i-pace was parked in an attached garage when the owner heard "popping" sounds and saw smoke puffing from the car. The car was moved outside before it burst into flames. I guess you can call them "lucky". pic.twitter.com/JUOwthCSb4
— Old Brass (@StoichioGuy) August 2, 2022
The American Tribune pointed out that the fire was the fourth incident with a Jaguar I-Pace. Furthermore, there are only about 50,000 I-Pace vehicles on the road, which bears some statistical significance, as Eletrek pointed out. This issue with some EV batteries poses a serious threat to homeowners who park their EV’s in their garage.
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