The Biden administration has continually attempted to push electric vehicles as the future of transportation, but the latest instance of an electric car catching on fire is a reminder they are not a magical solution.
On Friday, the Sacramento, California, Metropolitan Fire Department shared video on Twitter of its crews responding to a Tesla that had caught fire after sitting unused for three weeks.
“Crews arrived to our first Tesla fire,” the department wrote. “It was involved in an accident 3 wks ago, and was parked in a wrecking yard. Crews knocked the fire down but it kept reigniting/off-gassing in the battery compartment. Crews created a pit, placed the car inside, and filled the pit with water.”
Crews arrived to our first Tesla fire. It was involved in an accident 3 wks ago, and was parked in a wrecking yard. Crews knocked the fire down but it kept reigniting/off-gassing in the battery compartment. Crews created a pit, placed the car inside, and filled the pit with water pic.twitter.com/Lz5b5770lO
— Metro Fire of Sacramento (@metrofirepio) June 12, 2022
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The fire department said the blaze started in the vehicle’s battery compartment. There did not appear to be an external source for the flames, KTXL-TV reported.
This account should be concerning for any American who is considering purchasing an electric car. Even when trained firefighters tried to put out the flame, they struggled to do so.
What if someone had been in or near this car at the time it burst into flames? Fire crews may or may not have been able to respond in time to prevent tragedy.
Furthermore, the fact that the crew had to dig a pit and fill it with water just to put out the fire is a major concern. Photos of the aftermath are enough to worry anybody.
Photos of the pit the crews created… pic.twitter.com/BVnhxA2aOt
— Metro Fire of Sacramento (@metrofirepio) June 12, 2022
This was far from the first incident of a Tesla catching on fire. Just a few weeks ago, Jamil Jutha a Tesla owner in Vancouver, Canada, was in his 2021 Model Y when it caught on fire in North Vancouver, CTV News reported.
The electric components in the vehicle also stopped working, leaving Jutha briefly trapped inside.
“The doors wouldn’t open. The windows wouldn’t go down,” Jutha said, according to CTV.
He eventually kicked out the window and was able to escape, but the incident highlighted a dangerous flaw in the car’s design.
Video of that fire is below. The motorist had already escaped. He can be heard in the background describing the incident about the 2:40 mark:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IgZf-auOZxI
When trying to push electric vehicles on the public, leftists are quick to point out that they statistically catch on fire less than other types of vehicles.
According to research from AutoInsuranceEV, hybrid cars catch on fire most often, followed by gas cars and then electric cars.
Would you be concerned to buy an electric car after seeing this?
With that said, when electric cars do catch on fire, the blaze is incredibly difficult to put out. The fact that Sacramento firefighters had to dig a ditch and fill it with water just to extinguish this latest fire is a perfect example of that fact.
On June 8, WVNS-TV reported that firefighters in Bluefield, West Virginia, are being trained to put out electric car fires. While it is certainly helpful for firefighters to learn about this, the fact that this training is necessary implies electric car fires are increasingly becoming a problem.
Electric cars are not inherently bad, but it is important to understand the setbacks that come with them. When Democrats present them as a magic cure to many of our problems, it is a dishonest characterization.
