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A Scotsman felt “kidnapped” when his electric vehicle (EV) appeared to develop a mind of its own over the weekend.
Brian Morrison, 53, was heading home from work when his £30,000 MG ZS suffered a “catastrophic malfunction” on the A803 towards Kirkintilloch, near Glasgow.
He was terrified when The brake pedals stopped working and the car, designed and built in China, began driving itself at 30 mph.
Because he has mobility issues, Mr Morrison was unable to jump from the car, which only stopped after he was deliberately driven into a police van.
Fortunately, no one was injured, but the incident raised questions about whether the same problem could affect other electric vehicle users.
Speaking to MailOnline, Professor Roberto Metere, a computer scientist and professor of safety at the University of York, said: “It is a rare but potential danger that could happen to other drivers.”
Brian Morrison, 53, was heading home from work when his £30,000 MG ZS suffered a “catastrophic malfunction” on the A803 towards Kirkintilloch, near Glasgow.
Although it is difficult to say exactly what caused the problem, there may have been a problem with the ‘data bus’, the electric vehicle’s communication system that transfers data within a computer, or even a remote security attack.
“My best guess is that the car experienced incorrect timing in the communication between the main software system and the sensors,” Professor Metere said.
‘That could be due to a malfunction in the bus’ communication system or ‘overload’.
“The car could not stop because such an error would not allow other commands to be sent to the main system, which could not process them.”
Unlike conventional gasoline cars that use friction brakes, electric vehicles use a system called “regenerative braking” that involves the car’s computer.
“In general, electric cars should be as safe as diesel or petrol cars in terms of their braking system,” Amin Al-Habaibeh, professor of intelligent engineering systems at Nottingham Trent University, told MailOnline.
‘Electric cars have a regenerative braking system to brake the car by absorbing the car’s kinetic energy to recharge the car’s battery; This could save significant levels of energy and make the car more efficient.’
Describing how the incident began, the driver said: “I realized something was wrong as I was approaching a roundabout and went to slow down but it didn’t.”
Gunwant Dhadyalla is director of the Automotive Electronic Systems Innovation Network, a trade body working on electronics in the automotive industry.
Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, he said car electronic systems are “very complex” and, despite “tremendous” amounts of testing, faults rarely go undetected.
“Up to 100 million lines of software code can be found in these vehicles today, so a bug like this may be missed if the test systems are not truly state-of-the-art,” he said.
“Often what happens is that when you test systems, you write your specifications for how you want things to work and you test against these specifications.”
Dhadyalla added that “complex interactions” (two or three things happening at the same time that are not anticipated) can cause the vehicle’s software to “misbehave.”
But ultimately it can be difficult to recreate the exact conditions that caused the problem in the first place.
“Those complex interactions are very difficult to create and then recreate again to find the flaws,” he said.
“It’s the kind of thing that’s not necessarily limited to electric vehicles.”
The MG ZS is produced by Chinese automaker SAIC Motor, but appears under the British MG brand.
He added: “It’s something the EV industry needs to be aware of, given the additional use of electronics and higher voltage systems causing new types of failures.”
The MG ZS is produced by Chinese automaker SAIC Motor, but appears under the British MG brand.
MG Motor UK has acknowledged the incident and will investigate the cause of the electric vehicle’s serious malfunction.
In a statement, MG Motor UK said: “We have been urgently attempting to contact Mr Morrison so that our engineering team can fully inspect his vehicle.”
“We take this matter very seriously and now that contact has been made, we will do everything we can to resolve it quickly and completely.”