Journalist recounts the moment a new Ford Everest SUV catches fire on a test drive

HE has been driving test vehicles for 35 years, but nothing could prepare him for this. Peter Barnwell details the moment a Ford Everest burst into flames.

2015 Ford Everest catches fire while being road tested by CarsGuide journalist Peter Barnwell. Picture: Supplied

I’VE been driving press test vehicles for 35 years now, but none of that prepared me for this type of meltdown.

It all happened so quickly. One second the Ford Everest conked out and next thing flames were shooting out from the bonnet.

I instinctively bolted, grabbing some personal effects on the way and moving to what I thought was safety. Then the explosions started and flaming shrapnel began firing out of the wreck. I took shelter behind a tree.

The journalist in me decided to get some pics in the bag — from a safe distance. I’ll leave dodging the shrapnel to the war correspondents, thanks.

The Fire Brigade turned up within five minutes, but it took them a while to put the thing out.

The thing that makes my blood run cold is that this could easily have been a mum on a school run with half-a-dozen kids on board.

Shocking ... Smoke pours from the engine as the fire rages on. Picture: Supplied

I don’t really want to think of that scenario, given the amount of acrid smoke produced and the intensity of the blaze.

The whole thing escalated so quickly after the car conked out, but there had been warning signs.

Things started to go belly up three days into my test drive. There was a warning about the car needing Adblue (an additive for diesel) otherwise the engine was going to shut down in 750km.

I phoned the Ford dealer who said they’d fill up the Adblue tank when I returned the vehicle.

But the warning continued cycling every 10 minutes or so.

The next day, the phone started dropping out and rebooting and there was a battery warning.

I parked the Everest and returned to find it wouldn’t unlock using the key fob despite a number of attempts. The electric tailgate wouldn’t open either.

Destroyed ... Firefighters turned up within five minutes but it took some time to extinguish the blaze. Picture: Supplied

I finally gained access through the driver’s door and tried to unlock the other doors — no go. Lucky that didn’t happen when the thing went up in flames.

The Everest took two attempts before it fired up. Once on the road, things began to go haywire again. Warnings flashed on the instrument panel that the radar cruise and other functions weren’t available. Then the screen blinked off and the engine cut out. I rolled down the hill about 300m to a bus stop, pulled in and stopped.

That’s when the fireworks began.

Ford’s engineers have already been in touch to get more details. They need to sort this quickly.

FORD’S INVESTIGATION IS ESCALATED

FORD Australia may not know for at least several days what caused its brand new Everest SUV to suddenly burst into flames — or if the 1000 examples already in Australia need to be recalled.

As reported exclusively yesterday, Ford’s latest model caught fire in suburban Newcastle during a road test by one of News Corp Australia’s motoring journalists, Peter Barnwell.

Gutted ... The brand new Ford Everest is almost unrecognisable after becoming suddenly engulfed in fire and smoke. Picture: Supplied

As the investigation was escalated to the highest levels in the company, Ford Australia’s “fire incident” specialists began inspecting the burnt wreckage at the company’s engineering headquarters in Broadmeadows.

Although the Ford Everest is made in Thailand, it was designed and engineered by the same team who developed the homegrown Ford Falcon sedan and Territory SUV.

The Everest was Ford Australia’s first heavy-duty four-wheel-drive developed for the Ford world, sold in more than 130 countries.

A Ford Australia fire investigation specialist told Mr Barnwell “you’d be surprised how much information you can get” even though there appeared to be little left of the vehicle to determine the cause of the blaze.

If a production fault is found and if a recall is issued, there is a chance it could also affect 100,000 Ford Ranger utes sold since 2011.

The Ford Ranger is made on the same production line, has the same engine, and uses the same electrical systems as the Ford Everest involved in the fire.