The Jaguar I-Pace is not one of those cars you see catching fire frequently. There have been a few instances in the past where an I-Pace went up in flames, but it is neither a common enough vehicle or particularly prone to it, so whenever we hear about a new one, it’s surprising.
One I-Pace that was charging next to a chemical warehouse in the Hungarian town of Székesfehérvár went up in flames on October 25. According to a report published by the local fire department, they had some trouble putting the fire out, because as is often the case with EV fires, it kept reigniting after it had apparently been extinguished.
Gallery: Jaguar I-Pace Hungary Fire
We translated the official statement and it says
While charging, an electric car caught fire on Szárcsa Street in Székesfehérvár on October 25. When the firefighters of Székesfehérvár arrived, the car was already burning in its entirety, and the high temperature damaged the insulation of the surrounding buildings and the packaging of the various building materials stored there. Firefighters extinguished the flame with two jets of foam and then removed the remains of the vehicle from near the buildings. It took nearly five more hours to fully extinguish as the battery pack began to heat up again and re-ignited.
For reference, the Jaguar I-Pace has a battery pack made up lithium-ion cells supplied by LG Chem, which also supplied the defective batteries that prompted General Motors to recall the Bolt EV and Bolt EUV models; LG Chem cells were also in the Hyundai Kona EV, also recalled due to a high risk of battery fire. The reason why we’re not seeing as many Jaguar fires definitely has something to do with the fact that the Bolt EV (or the electric Kona) outsold the I-Pace three to one.
There was another I-Pace fire reported a few weeks ago, this time in Redmond, Oregon. We’re not sure if the vehicle in this instance was plugged in to charge, but the rest of the incident is very similar to what happened in Hungary - firefighters had trouble making sure they put out the battery fire, as it kept coming back, and it took them two hours to ensure it was completely extinguished.
According to Battalion Chief Ken Brown for the Redmond fire department,
Crews made a quick initial knockdown, but called for reinforcements, as the severely damaged batteries posed a unique firefighting obstacle.
Adding that they needed
Copious amounts of water to fully douse all flames and heat.
More recent EV fires