Electric car driver feared for his life after Jaguar ‘went rogue’ on motorway
An electric car driver whose £80,000 Jaguar I-Pace “went rogue” on the M62 has told how he feared he would “kill an innocent person” as he swerved through traffic at speeds of up to 100mph.
Nathan Owen, 31, was overtaking another vehicle on the motorway on Wednesday when his 2019 model apparently malfunctioned forcing him to lose control of the vehicle for about 35 minutes.
A major police operation was scrambled to bring the car to a stop with officers forced to close a stretch of the motorway and ram the vehicle after forming a protective convoy.
Mr Owen, from Bolton, Greater Manchester, told MailOnline that he feared for his life during the ordeal which he likened to the Grand Theft Auto video game.
He claimed the car also malfunctioned in December, reaching speeds of up to 120mph, but that Jaguar had assured him it was safe after checking the car.
He now claims he will never get in a Jaguar or an electric car again.
‘I pressed the brakes but nothing happened’
The latest incident happened as he was travelling home from his first day as a crisis support worker with children in Ormskirk, Liverpool, on Wednesday at 2.30pm.
“The car literally just started speeding up,” he told the MailOnline.
“The speed was going towards about 100mph in the high 90s, going to 100. I thought this was a bit wrong.
“It came up on the dashboard saying there was a battery malfunction in my car. I kept trying to press the brakes but nothing was happening. So the next thing I thought I should do was call 999 and tell them what was happening.”
At least eight vehicles from Merseyside Police and Greater Manchester Police were forced to escort him down the busy motorway.
Officers closed off two lanes of the four-lane motorway as they tried to bring the Jaguar to a stop.
Driver worried he would kill someone
Mr Owen said: “It was just scary I was just hitting the back of this police officer. I was hitting them at about 90mph.
“In the back of my mind, I was thinking I’m going to end up crashing the car, I’m going to kill myself or I’m going to kill an innocent person on the roads.’
He said that every time he was hitting the police vehicle, the car was swaying side to side.
The 31-year-old said police officers he had spoken to said they had never before dealt with a similar incident as he described feeling like a criminal at the centre of a chase, likening it to Grand Theft Auto.
Mr Owen’s vehicle, which is valued at about £80,000 when new, finally came to a stop after it ran out of miles and he was able to escape unharmed.
He told the MailOnline that a similar incident happened on Dec 23 when he was also forced to call police as the car reached speeds of 120mph.
He said Jaguar checked the car but handed it back to him 24 hours later saying it was fine to drive.
A Jaguar Land Rover spokesman said: “Following the incident involving a Jaguar I-Pace on the M62 on the afternoon of March 6, we are looking into this matter with urgency.
“A full review is under way to determine the cause of this incident, which is still yet to be established. The safety of our clients and vehicles is JLR’s highest priority.”
