Mahindra XUV400 Crashes Into Restaurant: Narrow Escape For Cashier [CCTV Video]

Car crashes can be as unforeseen as this one! In a recent incident, a Mahindra XUV 400 electric SUV crashed into the front door of a restaurant in Thrissur, Kerala. The accident happened at Sree Vinayaka hotel in Thrissur’s Oorakam, and was captured on the hotel’s CC TV.

The visuals show a Blue Mahindra XUV 400 approaching the hotel from the other side of the road. It is coming slowly and seemingly has an intention to park. At the same time, a gas delivery personnel is making an exit through the front door. The door is finished in glass with no visible wooden/metallic frames.

The XUV 400 was just about to park when it suddenly accelerated and almost ran over the gas delivery guy. The man made a narrow escape- probably the biggest close call of his life- and had just minor injuries. The car, however, did not stop. It climbed the stairs and thrashed into the glass door. The door got shattered in seconds. At this point, the cashier gets a hang of the approaching danger and makes a flee.

The driver slams the brakes hard and the electric SUV finally comes to a halt, closely avoiding running into the cashier’s desk. A huge amount of smoke and fumes are soon seen, coming from the EV. This could be caused by a phenomenon called thermal runaway.

We are not certain if the vehicle in this case suffered a thermal runaway, but it sure remains a possibility. The XUV 400 comes with a 39.6 kWh Lithium-ion battery pack, the cells of which use NMC chemistry. These are less stable and more prone to thermal runaways than any other type of Li-ion batteries- say LFPs for example. In case of punctures or overcharging, NMC batteries are more likely to encounter runaways and ignitions.

A severe crash and its impact could expose the cells of the EV battery to conditions outside of their normal working range. This would, in turn, trigger a chain reaction that would further cause the battery temperature to increase rapidly. This is called thermal runaway.

As the chain reaction escalates, the battery releases toxic and flammable gases and could even get ignited. Furthermore, such a battery has the potential to reignite days or weeks after the initial impact. In short, thermal runaways are dangerous. Thankfully, in this case, the vehicle didn’t catch fire.

The reason to suspect this to be not the case of thermal runaways is that the fumes here are seen to stop and settle down towards the end of the video. In the case of a proper thermal runaway, they would not stop until the most combustible matter in the battery gets burnt.

What could have caused this accident?

The CCTV visuals show that the driver could be at fault here. While parking the vehicle, he/she could have stepped on the accelerator instead of the brakes, causing the car to speed instead of stopping. The XUV 400’s electric powertrain could have delivered its 310 Nm of torque instantly, leading to the mishap.

The hotel’s steps hitting against the floor-mounted battery pack ( rather the housing) could have caused the accident. The vehicle’s outer shell remained intact in the crash. The hotel, on the other hand, took significant damage. It is unlikely that the XUV occupants suffered major injuries, as most parts of the cabin seem to be intact post-crash.