TV star shaken after Jaguar brakes fail during drive

Craig Phillips, former winner of the reality TV show Big Brother, has described his fear when the brakes failed on his Jaguar I-Pace electric vehicle while he was driving.

It is the second report of the brakes failing on this particular model while in motion.

Mr Phillips said it was “terrifying” to feel “out of control” of the vehicle while his family were also inside.

Jaguar said it was investigating and took both claims seriously.

Earlier this week, another I-Pace driver claimed to have found himself unable to brake on a motorway as the car accelerated and had to be flanked by police.

“Following the incident involving a Jaguar I-Pace on the M62 on the afternoon of 6th March, we are looking into this matter with urgency,” Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) said.

“A full review is underway 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.”

It said it was also taking Mr Phillips’ claims seriously.

Mr Phillips’ experience, first reported by the Daily Mail, happened on New Year’s Eve 2023.

He told BBC News: “In the afternoon, I’d set off from home with my wife and kids in the back of the car. I’d barely gone a mile from home and as I came to traffic lights, travelling at about 30mph, three cars away from the lights I could not brake.

“I was pushing on the pedal, but the hydraulic felt like it was pushing my foot up. My whole body was locked up trying to push down on the brake.”

He said fortunately the lights then changed from red as he could not have physically stopped.

“I immediately returned home really slowly. I didn’t want to go above 10 to 15mph. I would not want anyone else to be in the same situation, particularly with children in the back.”

He had owned the car for more than three years and has now returned it. He called for a full recall of the model by Jaguar as a safety precaution.

A Jaguar Land Rover spokesperson said: “We are taking these recent claims by Mr Phillips very seriously and are looking into his complaint. In addition we are concerned to hear that Mr Phillips may not have received the high levels of care to which we hold ourselves accountable.

“Our client experience as well as the safety of our clients and vehicles is JLR’s highest priority.”

Like many electric vehicles, the Jaguar I-Pace offers regenerative braking, in which the energy created as the car brakes is re-captured and sent back to the battery. Thousands of the cars have been sold in the UK since 2018, which cost nearly £70,000.

In 2019, some Jaguar I-Pace vehicles were recalled in North America because of a fault with the system.

Jaguar was already due to end production of the I-Pace, which was its first electric car, next year.