A luxury $98,000 EV exploded into flames after it “spontaneously combusted” while sitting idle in the rain outside a home in a quaint English village. Its owners have described a sound “like a bomb going off” before flames destroyed the vehicle and spread to their garage, with the incident captured on CCTV footage. “The pace and ferocity at which the fire took hold and engulfed the entire car and pretty much the entire front of our house was scary beyond belief,” owner Scott Bayliss told The Sun .
Pictures and video of the September incident show flames rising above head height as the Mercedes EQA burned, with Mr Bayliss’ wife Georgina saying her family was “lucky we got out safely”. In CCTV footage, the SUV can be seen sitting just a few feet from the home in Spratton, Northamptonshire when a cloud of vapour appears underneath the car. Then it suddenly burst into a blaze, appearing to start underneath the motor on the left-hand side.
MORE: China’s EV ‘bloodbath’ is already here An EV erupted in flames outside a home in Northampton, UK. Within ten seconds, the fire leapt to the bonnet and the windscreen, despite the fact it was raining at the time. Mr Bayliss can be seen rushing out of the house and grabbing the hose pipe in an effort to douse the flames.
Neighbours also rushed to help, but the entire car is swallowed by the inferno within a minute of it starting. “My son thought someone was letting off fireworks but then there was a very loud bang l.