A video from Ludhiana, Punjab, has gone viral after an electric car appeared to move along a road without anyone behind the wheel. The footage shows the car owner walking alongside the moving vehicle and warning people to get out of its way. The car subsequently hit a roadside vendor and later a tree.
The man in the video claimed that the vehicle was locked and that he had lost control of it. But there is an important note: the video does not establish why the car was moving.
As of September 16, 2026, no official explanation from the vehicle manufacturer or local police has established whether the incident involved a software problem, electronic control fault, driver-assistance feature, mechanical issue or another cause. The big question is:
Can an electric car move without a driver?
Experts say, an electric vehicle is not automatically an autonomous vehicle. Electric cars use electric motors and electronic control systems, but whether a vehicle can drive without a human depends on the technology installed and the level of automation.
Modern vehicles can combine cameras, radar, sensors, software and electronic control units to assist with steering, braking, acceleration and parking. Some systems can perform specific driving tasks automatically. But that does not mean the vehicle is designed to operate independently in every situation.
What could cause an electric car to move unexpectedly?
There are several possible explanations. None can be confirmed from the Ludhiana video alone:
1. Electronic or software malfunction
Modern vehicles contain multiple electronic control units that communicate with one another. Accelerator input, braking, motor control, steering assistance and other functions can involve electronic signals and software.
A fault in a component, sensor, communication network or control system could potentially produce unexpected behaviour.
The US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has previously noted that electronic vehicle data can be important in distinguishing between possible causes such as driver input, electronic malfunction and other vehicle-level problems.
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2. Driver-assistance systems
Advanced Driver Assistance Systems, or ADAS, are increasingly common in modern vehicles. Depending on the system, ADAS can assist with functions such as adaptive cruise control, lane keeping, automatic emergency braking and parking.
However, driver assistance is not the same as full autonomous driving. If an ADAS function was involved in the Ludhiana incident, investigators would need to establish which system was active, what sensors detected and what commands the vehicle received. There is currently no verified evidence showing that a particular ADAS feature caused the incident.
3. Accelerator or control input
Unexpected vehicle acceleration does not always mean a software failure. NHTSA’s investigations into unintended-acceleration incidents have documented pedal misapplication — when a driver intends to brake but presses the accelerator instead — as one known cause.
In its technical assessment of Toyota vehicles, NHTSA used event-data-recorders and physical inspections to examine what drivers were doing immediately before crashes. The agency found evidence of accelerator application in many of the incidents it investigated.
That example does not explain the Ludhiana video, because the vehicle shown in the footage appears to be moving while its owner is outside it.
The Toyota case shows why viral videos are not enough
One of the biggest historical investigations into unintended acceleration involved Toyota vehicles in the United States. Following reports of sudden acceleration, NHTSA and NASA examined possible causes including electronic throttle-control systems, floor-mat interference and pedal-related problems.
The joint technical assessment reported that it found no electronic cause for the large-throttle-opening events it examined and identified pedal misapplication and accelerator-pedal entrapment as important factors in different categories of incidents.
What about genuinely driverless cars?
Fully autonomous vehicles do exist in controlled commercial deployments in some parts of the world. Waymo, for example, reported more than 220 million rider-only miles without a human driver through March 2026.
That is fundamentally different from an ordinary road vehicle unexpectedly moving without its driver. Autonomous vehicles are specifically designed to perceive their surroundings, make driving decisions and control the vehicle without continuous human driving input.
What investigators would need to find out
The most important question in the Ludhiana incident is, what caused the vehicle to keep moving, and what systems were active at the time? An investigation could examine:
- Accelerator and brake inputs
- Vehicle diagnostic logs
- ADAS status
- Parking-assist status
- Gear selection
- Motor-control data
- Electronic parking-brake status
- Sensor and camera data
- Warning messages and fault codes
- Event-data or crash records
- Physical components after the collision
What the viral video proves — and what it doesn’t
What the video shows:
- An electric vehicle moving without an apparent driver inside.
- A man walking alongside it and warning people.
- A collision with a roadside area and later a tree.
- Smoke appearing near the front of the vehicle.
What the video does not establish:
- That the vehicle was operating autonomously.
- That AI caused the incident.
- That ADAS malfunctioned.
- That a software bug was responsible.
- That the vehicle’s electric powertrain itself failed.
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