A Canada man bought a new, fully-electric vehicle in March and, because of it, has now been evacuated from his house, his garage is all blown up and he no longer has a means of transportation.
On Friday, Montreal firefighters were called to the residential neighborhood Île-Bizard to put out a fire in someone’s garage. That someone was Piero Cosentino, the relatively new owner of a Hyundai Kona Electric. The car exploded inside the garage, ripping the door clean off and throwing it across the street, and making a huge hole in the roof.
Miraculously, no one was injured, but the car was totaled. Cosentino’s house and a neighboring one had to be evacuated while firefighters put out the flames, CBC reports. It doesn’t say whether they suffered structural damage from the blast, but it’s clear from pictures posted online that the garage is completely dunzo.
Cosentino says that the car wasn’t charging at the time of the explosion. He insists it wasn’t even plugged in, and CBC notes that firefighters are looking at other “factors inside the garage that could have caused the explosion.”
Meanwhile, Global News spoke to an unnamed source with the investigators and they claim the Kona was plugged in when it blew up.
Until the investigation concludes, Cosentino chooses to focus on how lucky he and his family were for not getting hurt, even though they were inside the house when the car blew up. “If we were in front of the garage door, we could have been in the hospital,” he says for CBC.
In a statement for Fox News, Hyundai Canada says they’re cooperating with the authorities to determine the cause of the incident.
“We are currently working with authorities and fire investigators in Montreal to understand the root cause of the incident, as this is not yet known. As is always the case, the safety of our customers is our first priority and we will push to fully understand the issue as quickly as possible,” a spokesperson says.
Miraculously, no one was injured, but the car was totaled. Cosentino’s house and a neighboring one had to be evacuated while firefighters put out the flames, CBC reports. It doesn’t say whether they suffered structural damage from the blast, but it’s clear from pictures posted online that the garage is completely dunzo.
Cosentino says that the car wasn’t charging at the time of the explosion. He insists it wasn’t even plugged in, and CBC notes that firefighters are looking at other “factors inside the garage that could have caused the explosion.”
Meanwhile, Global News spoke to an unnamed source with the investigators and they claim the Kona was plugged in when it blew up.
Until the investigation concludes, Cosentino chooses to focus on how lucky he and his family were for not getting hurt, even though they were inside the house when the car blew up. “If we were in front of the garage door, we could have been in the hospital,” he says for CBC.
In a statement for Fox News, Hyundai Canada says they’re cooperating with the authorities to determine the cause of the incident.
“We are currently working with authorities and fire investigators in Montreal to understand the root cause of the incident, as this is not yet known. As is always the case, the safety of our customers is our first priority and we will push to fully understand the issue as quickly as possible,” a spokesperson says.