It was a nightmare situation in which one man found himself trapped inside his relatively new car, speeding down the highway with no brakes but a very clear sense of impending doom. It wasn't a movie, but real life. It was also quite possibly a lie.
Last week (March 6), a 31-year-old man from the UK named Nathan Owens called the police to report that his 2019 Jaguar I-Pace was malfunctioning. The real problem, of course, was that he was inside the electric vehicle at the time, and it was moving at 100 mph (161 kph) on the very busy M62 motorway, with no signs that the brakes were working anymore and, as such, no possibility to safely pull over.
Merseyside Police advised him to pull into the hard shoulder and try to stay there to reduce risks of an impact with another vehicle, but Owens couldn't. He later told the media that he had to swerve between cars to avoid junctions and exits, which saw him fearing for his and others' lives.
Police dispatched eight vehicles to intercept the rogue I-Pace and shut down two lanes of the motorway, which prompted extended delays in traffic. In the end, after 35 minutes of chasing the runaway EV, the incident came to a happy ending when the same EV ran out of battery. No one had been injured.
Photo: North West Motorway Police
In the hours that followed, Owens told the media that this was actually the second mishap of the kind in less than 4 months. It was scarier than the first because it happened in heavy traffic, but the first time it happened, the I-Pace had actually shot to speeds of 120 mph (193 kph) without him being able to do anything about it.
Owens compared his experience to chase scenes you see in action movies and spoke of how he feared he might injure drivers or come to harm himself, saying "the car was in its own world." His fear was understandable, as anyone who has seen Christine and has a shred of empathy can see.
The Merseyside Police and Jaguar Land Rover launched separate investigations into the terrifying incident while Owens made the media rounds, and angry voices started to rise about the dangers and unpredictability of electric vehicles in case of malfunctions. Those investigations are now nearing conclusion, but we have a feeling the findings will probably not make Mr. Owens happy.
Police arrested Owens on suspicion of dangerous driving and causing a public nuisance, taking him in for investigation. JLR also issued a statement to say they've been cooperating with the police. It only confirms the arrest and refrains from offering details, but the implication is that the automaker's investigation is over and that it didn't find proof of the malfunction Owens blamed on his driving.
All signs point to the fact that there is evidence that the "I-Pace gone rogue" incident didn't go down as Owens said it did.
"JLR seeks to investigate all reports of issues relating to product safety and will continue to cooperate with Merseyside Police and the Driver & Vehicle Standards Agency where required," the statement concludes.
A man has been arrested in relation to an incident on the M62 on 6th March when officers from the force Roads Policing Unit were called to help stop a vehicle safely. A 31-year-old man from Bolton has been arrested on suspicion of dangerous driving and causing a public nuisance. pic.twitter.com/CeBeDx8FHQ
Elena has been writing for a living since 2006 and, as a journalist, she has put her double major in English and Spanish to good use. She covers automotive and mobility topics like cars and bicycles, and she always knows the shows worth watching on Netflix and friends. Full profile
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