Jaguar Land Rover whistleblower sacked after raising concerns about safety of electric cars
A mechanical engineer who raised safety concerns about electric cars was sacked from Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) after posting warnings on Reddit.
Confidential emails reveal executives at Tata Group, JLR’s parent company, orchestrated Hazar Denli’s dismissal in retaliation for his public safety warnings.
Denli, from Milton Keynes, had initially identified serious safety issues while working at Tata Technologies, where he tested prototypes designed for Vietnamese car maker VinFast.
He later found work at JLR but was terminated in July this year after posting online about his safety concerns, the BBC has found.
Both JLR and Tata Group declined to comment when approached by the broadcaster.
During testing at Mira Technology Park, Denli discovered components in the car’s chassis were failing after just 25,000km, far short of the expected 150,000km lifespan.
“In the drive units, some of the brackets were completely failing and falling out on to the road,” he said.
He identified improperly designed parts in the suspension system that were snapping off during low mileages.
The faults created risks of wheels becoming misaligned or detaching entirely, potentially causing drivers to lose control.
When Denli escalated his concerns and recommended redesigning the faulty components, VinFast opted to continue with production rather than postpone it.
He subsequently resigned from Tata Technologies in May last year, refusing to be associated with the project.
Internal documents obtained through a Data Subject Access Request show Tata Technologies HR director Patrick Flood contacted JLR executives to seek Denli’s dismissal.
Flood discussed the matter with JLR’s HR director Dave Williams, expressing concern that “if he has done this now, he could do the same at JLR”.
On the day of his dismissal, Denli was blacklisted on industry recruitment platform Magnit, which “red-flagged” him for future applications.
The documents revealed another Tata Technologies engineer had confirmed to JLR there were problems with components Denli had warned about.
Denli is now taking JLR to an employment tribunal over his dismissal.
US authorities are now investigating VinFast’s VF8 model after 28 reports of safety defects, including a crash in California where a family-of-four were killed.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration launched its investigation in September, focusing on 3,118 VinFast vehicles following complaints about faulty Lane Keep Assist systems.
VinFast said it would cooperate fully with the investigation and expressed confidence in its safety standards.
Meanwhile, a new bill is being introduced in Parliament today proposing to establish an Office of the Whistleblower.
Baroness Susan Kramer, a former transport minister, says Denli’s case demonstrates why stronger protections are needed.
“Whistleblowers very typically find themselves fired, blacklisted for future jobs and they pay a huge price in terms of their personal career,” she said.