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Evening Standard
Evening Standard
World
Jordan King

Driver tells of horror ordeal as electric car 'goes on rogue 90mph drive when brakes wouldn't respond'

A driver told of how he was trapped behind the wheel of his electric car when it sped up to 90mph and would not respond to him pressing the brakes.

Nathan Owen, 31, described how he was on his way back from a new job in Ormskirk, Liverpool, on Wednesday when he lost control of his Jaguar I-Pace on the motorway.

He tried to overtake another car when it “literally just started speeding up, going towards the high 90s” and would not let him press the brakes.

The dashboard showed there was a battery malfunction, he told the MailOnline.

Mr Owen called 999 and police sent at least eight cars to essentially escort the support worker down the motorway.

He was told to use the fast lane to follow police, who formed a convoy in front, behind and alongside his car.

Officers also closed off two of the four lanes to try and make sure Mr Owen and everyone else on the road would be safe.

The car eventually stopped when it ran out of miles (NW Motorway Police)

At one point, they tried to help slow Mr Owen down by allowing him to hit the back of a police car.

Mr Owen said: “It was just scary I was just hitting the back of this police officer. I was hitting them at about 90mphs.

“I was still talking to the operator, and I was worried. I was thinking I could potentially kill myself hitting this police officer at 90, or I could kill him if he loses control.”

After 35 minutes of feeling like he was a “criminal in a police chase” or a character in Grand Theft Auto, the car eventually came to a stop when the miles ran out.

North West Motorway Police confirmed what happened when they informed the public about the lane closure that was in place.

They posted: “Police currently have a lane 3 and 4 closure on M62 EB J11 to 12.

“This is following the use of tactics to stop an electric vehicle with an electric fault where the driver was unable to brake. Motorway officers from Merseyside, Cheshire and GMP brought the vehicle to a safe stop.”

A Jaguar Land Rover spokesperson said: “We are aware of an incident involving a Jaguar I-PACE on the M62 on the afternoon of March 6. An investigation is underway into the cause of the incident.”

Mr Owen has since revealed to the MailOnline that this is not the first time something like this has happened.

He says that, on December 23, “it happened exactly the same” but with the car speeding up to about 120mph.

This time, Mr Owen managed to get the car into neutral and was able to stop it with the help of police cars in the front and back of him.

He said: “The car then got recovered to Jaguar Land Rover in Bolton and within 24 hours I got a phone call saying they looked over the car and the car is fine and I should pick it up.

“I just know I'll never be getting into this car again. I just wish that I would have got help with it the first time I had the problems, and I didn't just get given back the car.”

The Standard has contacted Jaguar Land Rover about this incident as well – the company is currently looking into the details.

The West Midlands Ambulance Service operates two Jaguar iPaces and says they have covered more than 160,000 miles without any incidents.

“The iPace continues to be an excellent response vehicle for us and is popular with staff,” they said.

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