A section of Garden City Road was closed off for the better part of Tuesday evening after two cars collided near Walmart.
A video, which has since gone viral on social media, shows a black SUV crashing into a white sedan at an intersection before flipping over and severing a nearby power line pole. An ejected EV battery pack was also reported to have caught on fire.
Clement Chew, who submitted the video to the Richmond News, said the incident was caught on his wife's rear vehicle camera shortly after she made the turn onto the street.
Cpl. Dennis Hwang, Richmond RCMP spokesperson, told the Richmond News that the crash happened between a "late model Audi SUV" and a "late model Toyota sedan."
"The battery pack of the Audi, an EV, was ejected from the vehicle and combusted," said Hwang.
"The inherent safety concerns from the downed power line pole and the battery pack fire required the area to be cordoned-off until safety and proper repairs could be met."
The Audi driver, a 31-year-old man, was not seriously injured while the 49-year-old Toyota driver was sent to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. Both drivers were from Richmond.
“We are actively investigating this collision and are in the preliminary stages. What we can say is that speed was a factor," said Hwang.
“The safety of our community during the entire incident remained at the forefront. To our knowledge, this is the first such instance of an EV battery pack being ejected post collision."
Those with any information or dash cam footage are asked to contact Richmond RCMP and quote file: #2023-3281.
