A Bridge Too Far: EV Explosions?

The lies regarding EVs abound everywhere on the Internet. The Left is busy once again creating an apocryphal reality. Entry after entry assures us that EVs are safer and cheaper to run than gas-powered vehicles. One site, for example, insists that EV sales are on fire, but not EVs. My own research, conversations with EV owners, and inquiries at dealerships have proven otherwise. 

Of course, the Law of Narrative Gravity — the more widely known or weightier a story is, the more likely it is to be accepted as fact — provides for EV enthusiasm, such as it is, but it is countered by Hutber’s Law, which states that deterioration is masked as progress. This law is considered unduly cynical, but experience tells us it is often the case. 

I have found on average one truthful internet entry for every 30 or so fictitious claims affirming the value, efficiency, and safety of these problematic vehicles. The salespeople at the dealership I patronize are at their wits’ end trying to clear their lots of EVs, which, despite government incentives and tax credits, are becoming increasingly unpopular. Inventories continue to pile up. The reasons for their unpopularity, as detailed in part in a previous article, are glaringly obvious:

• What is called “range anxiety,” assurances to the contrary are deceptive
• Inordinately long recharging periods 
• Complete inadequacy of the electrical grid
• High unit price
• The exorbitant cost of maintenance and running costs, despite the false promises of EV promoters; the true cost of fueling an EV would equate to $17.33 per gallon of gasoline.
• The prohibitive cost of battery replacement
• Negligible resale value
• Child slave labor in Africa to produce the 60 pounds of cobalt, 30 pounds of lithium, 130 pounds of graphite, and nearly 500 pounds of steel, aluminum, manganese, nickel, plastic, etc. needed for a half-ton EV battery
• The enormous waste of scarce water resources per kilo of lithium 
• Though routinely denied by interested sources — left-wing fact-checkers, government agencies, electric car firms, and profiteering automotive organizations — electric vehicles are indeed fire-prone and burn at tremendous heat, making extinction difficult and prolonged. Lithium-ion batteries tend to become unstable.

With respect to EVs as fire hazards, according to a report presented to the Huntsville, Ontario, Council at its General Committee meeting on May 24 by Deputy Fire Chief Paul Calleja, the instability is caused by “an internal short circuit and is a violent chemical reaction that takes place causing the battery cell to rupture.” 

Extremely high temperatures are produced, as well as gas, particulates, and/or shrapnel. “A vehicle fire involving an Electric Vehicle (EV) where the batteries experience Thermal Runaway  will require approximately 12,000L (3,000G) – 16,000L (4,000G) of water and can take up to 4 hours to extinguish.”

There have been hundreds of EV fires in New York City alone, injuring 66 people and killing 13. According to NYC Fire Commissioner Laura Kavanagh, “the vehicle literally explodes.” This brings us to the fireball that shut down the Niagara Falls International Rainbow Bridge on November 22 when a vehicle traveling at high speed exploded and burst into flames. New York Governor Kathy Hochul said, “You actually had to look at and say, was this generated by AI because it was so surreal to see how high in the air this vehicle went. And then the crash and explosion and the fire.”

In the early days speculation was rife as to whether the event was caused by a prematurely detonated IED transported across the bridge by a pair of terrorists planning to target a sensitive municipal area, perhaps in New York City itself, if not the actual bridge. The FBI eventually concluded that “no terrorism nexus was identified.” 

Questions remain. Why was the car traveling at such velocity, and why did it appear out of control? No answer is forthcoming. More importantly, what might have caused so spectacular and admittedly unprecedented an explosion? Clearly not a routine traffic accident, and apparently not an improvised explosive device. 

It's possible, although we have no information emerging from the investigation and likely will not be apprised of the relevant facts, that we may be dealing with the sort of blast and combustion associated with the inflammable and unstable components of an EV battery. If there is another explanation to account for so violent and fiery an eruption, I would like to hear it. 

Meanwhile, if EV technology is indeed at the root of the event, as seems plausible, the interested parties — government, manufacturers, and mainstream media — are not about to divulge the facts of the matter. Bad for business. 

This is not the sort of bridge one crosses when one comes to it. EV owners are on that bridge as we speak. Let the buyer beware.