Jaguar I-Pace drivers claim their £70,000 electric cars are ‘going off like a rocket’ and accelerating without warning – sparking crashes and near-misses…with suggestions the size of its PEDALS could be to blame

A growing number of drivers who snapped up Jaguar’s first electric car have revealed how they were left terrified after the £69,995 I-Pace appeared to accelerate on its own, and in some occasions crash into fences, brick walls, and houses. 

Some who invested in the luxury EV have shared with MailOnline how they experienced ‘unexpected acceleration’ while driving the car, with some suggesting the size of the car’s pedals could be to blame for the incidents. 

Several homes had to be evacuated in north Manchester on Tuesday after an I-Pace shot across two lanes of traffic – narrowly avoiding a woman with a pushchair – and crashed into a home, with the scene compared to an ‘earthquake’ by residents. 

The horror smash has prompted a string of Jaguar owners to share their experiences of ‘unexpected acceleration’ with one woman telling an I-Pace forum she was left ‘unnerved’ after her EV ‘suddenly went off like a rocket’. 

Stuart Masson, from Car Expert, told MailOnline instances of ‘unintended acceleration’ could happen to any car regardless of if it was an EV or powered by petrol or diesel. 

The vehicles have been on sale since 2018 but the issue hasn’t resulted in a safety recall.  

A Jaguar spokesperson told MailOnline: ‘The safety of our clients and vehicles is JLR’s highest priority and any allegation we receive will always be thoroughly investigated. Where there has been an investigation into reports of un-commanded acceleration, they have been confirmed as driver commanded application of the accelerator pedal.’

A woman told a Jaguar I-Pace forum she had been picking up her son when the car ‘went off like a rocket’. She crashed into two cars and ended up on top of a fence (pictured)

The I-Pace ploughed into a Porsche (right) which then crashed into a Volkswagen (left). The woman said the Porsche had to be written off after it was rear-ended by her Jaguar

One man told an I-Pace forum his wife had been left confused and seeking answers after their I-Pace (pictured) was driven into the house opposite them and written off as a result

The woman told the I-Pace forum the airbags were activated after she crashed into the back of a parked Mercedes as she pulled up to her son’s house. 

‘It ploughed into a Porsche in front of me that went into a Volkswagen that pushed a lamp post over. Then I swerved across the road into a wall and ended up on top of the wall on a fence,’ she wrote. 

‘Thank god there was nobody walking past or sat in the cars. The airbags activated and I opened my door and got out uninjured. What on earth happened? I’m 62-years-old and have been driving safely since I was 17 and own two companies with numerous vehicles. No way would I have put my foot on the accelerator by mistake.’

The woman said when the slammed on the brakes ‘the car kept accelerating anyway and was unstoppable until it crashed’. 

She said the incident has ‘really unnerved’ her and that she was seriously considering giving up EVs for good and returning to a diesel car.  

Patrick Macnamara told MailOnline the crash in Manchester on Tuesday had reminded him of an accident that his parents’ friends had in their I-Pace. 

The couple were forced to part ways with the luxury vehicle after it accelerated into a wall at high speed while they were driving in south London. 

‘The driver had no control over speed or braking,’ Patrick said. 

‘They initially began proceedings against Jaguar but then withdrew them due to their age and the cost etc. I believe the car was left in situ where it crashed pending case and examination by an independent assessment.’

MailOnline is not suggesting the Manchester crash was caused by the same issue. 

Neil Turner said his father, Colin, suffered two close calls in his I-Pace after it accelerated suddenly while he was trying to park in November 2019.

In footage of the near-collision, the car suddenly takes off and almost collides with a flagpole before Colin manages to slam on the brakes. 

The car was left with a small scratch on its front bumper while the wheels left two deep grooves in nearby grass after it shot forward at high speed. 

The I-PACE driver asked her fellow forum members ‘what on earth’ they think happened. ‘No way would I have put my foot on the accelerator by mistake,’ she wrote

Neil Turner said his father, Colin, had suffered a close call in his I-Pace after it accelerated suddenly while he was trying to park in November 2019 (pictured)

‘The car tried to accelerate by itself and was stopped just in time before doing any damage,’ Neil told MailOnline. 

‘We reported it to Jaguar, who said nothing was wrong with the car. It did it again while I was driving it and we decided to sell it not long afterwards. 

‘I have the original CCTV footage of it accelerating while the brakes were on, almost hitting the flagpole – you can see the car trying to suddenly launch. 

‘Fortunately he was quick on the brakes! When it happened to me in a carpark I was convinced it was faulty.’

Neil said Jaguar had taken the car in for assessment but that technicians, as well as roadside assistance, were unable to replicate the fault. 

In an email exchange with Jaguar’s customer service team, Neil wrote that there had been two occasions ‘whereby the vehicle launched itself dangerously’. 

‘I decided not to drive the car from 14 to 17 November in case of reoccurrence at say a junction or a zebra crossing,’ he wrote in an email to customer service. 

‘Given that I have irrefutable CCTV proof, what am I to do? Please treat this matter as urgent, do I wait at home, miss work, until someone takes an interest or what?’ 

One forum user said his wife had been left ‘confused’ after their I-Pace was driven into the house opposite them and had to be written off. 

‘My wife was driving our I-Pace last month and had an almost identical incident that resulting in the car being written off after being driven into the house opposite,’ the man wrote. 

‘Again no one harmed thank goodness, but she would love to understand exactly what happened.’

Another driver said his wife was left with whiplash after she crashed their I-Pace after having it repaired at a garage. 

‘My wife experienced this today whilst gently maneuvering into a forward-facing parking space,’ he wrote.

‘After making the first gentle turn into the space she lightly touched the accelerator (regen set to high) and the vehicle instantly set off at full speed launching her into a wall. 

‘As we were ironically at a garage, a technician ran over (with others) to assist. He helped her out and tried to reverse the vehicle from the wall.  As soon as he engaged reverse it launched again at full speed. 

‘His exact words were if anyone had been behind me I’d have killed them. The forum suggests this is not an isolated incident.

‘How do you put you grandkids in the car after an event like this, my wife is very luckily ok with whiplash and some discomfort from the seat belt but her confidence in EV’s is non existent…’

Colin’s I-Pace was left with a small scratch on its front bumper after it suddenly accelerated

The I-Pace left two deep grooves in nearby grass after it shot forward at high speed (pictured)

However, other I-Pace drivers insist it is the best EV on the market and say the acceleration issue is not specific to Jaguar. 

Tom, who has driven an I-Pace for the last few years, told MailOnline he has covered well over 30,000 miles in his EV and never encountered any problems.

‘I could have chosen from virtually any electric car when I got the Jaguar and chose the I-Pace as I still think it’s one of the best all-round EVs on the market,’ he said. 

‘I’ve never had the car do anything unexpected on me. Having researched the issue, I’d be dubious about anyone claiming theirs accelerated on its own.

‘It’s a high-performance vehicle, and it’s much more likely that an inexperienced driver caught the accelerator instead of the brake and can’t bring themselves to admit their mistake.’

Stuart Masson, editor of the Car Expert, told MailOnline that instances of ‘unintended acceleration’ could happen to any car regardless of if it was an EV or powered by petrol or diesel.

Several houses had to be evacuated on Moston Lane, north Manchester, on Tuesday after the electric car zoomed across two lanes of traffic and crashed at 3.45pm (pictured)

A Jaguar I-Pace smashed into a home on Moston Lane, north Manchester, on Tuesday. Police said the driver didn’t sustain any serious injuries

‘The issue is unlikely to be related to the I-Pace being an electric car. Almost all modern cars have electronically controlled accelerators, gear selectors, parking brakes and start-stop buttons, so there’s no mechanical way to take the car out of gear, pull up the handbrake or switch it off in an emergency,’ he said.  

‘The accelerator is no longer physically connected to the engine (or electric motor), the gear lever is no longer physically connected to the gearbox, the parking brake button is no longer physically connected to the brakes, and the start-stop button is no longer physically connected to the ignition system.

‘In an old-school manual car, you could simply put your foot on the clutch and pull the gear-lever out of gear to put the car into neutral to stop it accelerating – even if the engine kept revving until it blew up, the car would slow down. 

‘But with all of these systems now controlled electronically, a system failure could mean that the car simply ignores driver input. Doesn’t matter if it’s a petrol, diesel, hybrid or electric car.’

In August, Jaguar announced the I-Pace will be discontinued along with the rest of the brand’s ICE models to allow the brand a fresh start. 

Jaguar is set to reveal its new-era cars at the end of 2024 and will launch in 2025. The I-Pace first went on sale in 2018 and was JLR’s first electric model.