Global warming, climate change, all these things are just a dream come true for politicians. I deal with evidence and not with frightening computer models because the seeker after truth does not put his faith in any consensus. The road to the truth is long and hard, but this is the road we must follow. People who describe the unprecedented comfort and ease of modern life as a climate disaster, in my opinion have no idea what a real problem is.
Recently released UK government stats suggest Hybrid vehicles are significantly more dangerous to vehicle occupants than gasoline vehicles.
Death rates in hybrids ‘three times higher than petrol cars’ as road safety experts call for inquiry
By GABRIEL MILLARD-CLOTHIER
PUBLISHED: 10:33 AEDT, 28 December 2025 | UPDATED: 19:32 AEDT, 28 December 2025
Road safety experts were calling for an inquiry on Saturday night as it was revealed motorists are three times more likely to die in hybrids than in petrol cars.
A total of 122 people died in hybrid car crashes last year, compared with 777 in accidents involving petrol cars, according to Department for Transport figures analysed by The Mail on Sunday.
But as hybrids are outnumbered by almost 20 to 1 on Britain’s roads by petrol models, that means hybrids are three times more likely to be involved in a fatal crash.
Experts believe the higher death rates could be explained by hybrids’ combination of petrol engines and batteries and electric motors, which can be harder to control and more prone to fires.
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The cars’ batteries may also be to blame. They can be damaged by the heat of the engine, which burns at extremely hot temperatures, making them more liable to set ablaze.
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Hybrids were found by a leading insurer of company cars, Tusker, to burst into flames at higher rates than others. Among their fleet of 30,000 cars, hybrid vehicles had an almost three times’ higher risk with 3,475 fires per 100,000.
If anyone has a link to the original report please post in comments.
It makes sense that hybrids are more dangerous than other vehicle categories. While gasoline fires are probably more likely than a battery vehicle fire, I strongly suspect EV fires are less survivable. That big battery is a mobile thermite bomb.
Mix the higher probability of a gasoline fire and hot engine components with a battery, and I suspect you are combining the worst of both worlds.
Since the report focussed on Britain, it is also possible local conditions in Britain contributed to this risk. Frequent wet weather with lots of loose road salt in winter, poorly maintained roads, a lack of undercover parking, and in winter extreme cycles from freezing cold to hot might all play a part.
I once survived a gasoline vehicle fire, it was nasty, but I had a good minute to escape the vehicle – I had time to pull over, safely get out of the vehicle through the passenger door, and stroll a hundred yards from the vehicle before the fire reached an intensity which would have been life threatening. After the fire was put out by the fire crew, I even managed to recover and salvage my plastic laptop computer. It was scorched and the battery was destroyed, but after a month of drying out it actually booted and survived enough for me to recover my files.
Battery fires are a little more spectacular. From MGUY.
Combine a gasoline fire with a battery fire, and you have a potential recipe for disaster.
And it might not even have to be a fire. Gasoline engine components frequently operate normally at temperatures above the ignition temperature of Lithium batteries, so even say a small leak in the exhaust system might be enough to cause a battery explosion.
There was a brief moment when I considered buying a hybrid. After Covid gasoline prices in Australia shot up, and hybrids started to look attractive. But let’s just say I’m going to defer that purchase decision.
What could possibly go wrong?
A burning EV battery is essentially a thermite bomb. Adding a gas catapult to the thermite bomb turns the vehicle battery into a short-range thermite bomb launcher.
The new, unusual solution to EV fires: High-speed battery ejection
New technology has been demonstrated in China that sees an electric vehicle’s battery rapidly ejected to keep occupants safe from an imminent fire.
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At an event earlier this month, new technology was demonstrated on Chery’s iCar 03 that can see a vehicle’s high-voltage battery ejected 3-6 metres away within a second of thermal runaway being detected.
It’s ejected from the vehicle using a gas generator, much in the same way as an airbag works, with the idea to get the battery away from vehicle occupants before it catches fire.
In the demonstration video, shared across Chinese media including cnBeta, the battery is ejected with a bang into a nearby pit and then quickly shrouded.
However, there are naturally concerns over the high-speed ejection of a battery weighing potentially several hundred kilograms.
My first thought was, surely this is a joke. But if it is a joke, someone has gone to a lot of trouble to make it look real.
Someone should tell them that for a modern EV battery to go critical it needs quite an heavy impact…which would destroy this „battery ejection system“. pic.twitter.com/toJi8jbfkx
MGUY has responded in his usual measured way to this latest EV safety innovation.
A burning EV battery is essentially a thermite bomb. Adding a gas catapult to the thermite bomb turns the vehicle battery into a short-range thermite bomb launcher.
Would this EV innovation be legal in countries which restrict gun ownership? Imagine if Europe’s violent street gangs got their hands on such weapons.
To be fair the explosive battery ejector system likely does improve safety for the vehicle occupants. Probably not so much for any unlucky pedestrians walking past when the ejection system is triggered.
I’m kind of lost for words on this latest EV innovation. I mean I once thought of publishing this idea on WUWT as an April fool’s joke, but I decided not to, because I thought the idea was too stupid to trick anyone.
A few years ago I called 2021 the year the EVs burned. But a quick review of last year’s horror show of EV fire incidents suggests my assessment may have been premature.
Electric vehicles (EVs) appear to have caused multiple fires at manufacturing factories in recent months, sparking a reminder about EV safety.
Most recently, the Detroit Fire Department responded to a three-alarm fire involving lithium-ion batteries at General Motors’ Factory Zero last month, according to Detroit Free Press.
“Our initial investigation indicates a forklift accidentally punctured a container with battery materials, causing the fire,” Tara Stewart Kuhnen, GM spokeswoman, said in an email Wednesday.
The newspaper also reported another fire at the property in October that involved an autonomous electric car. It states the fire department’s report mentions a battery fire.
However, Kuhnen told the newspaper that a non-battery-related component caused the second fire.
Outside Detroit, the Auburn Hills Fire Department responded to a November fire at Chrysler’s Tech Center.
Multiple media reports say Chrysler’s fire involved an EV as well.
Defenders of EVs claim gasoline vehicle fires are far more likely, though given a lot of gasoline vehicles on the road are quite old, I’m not sure they are comparing like for like;
Do electric cars pose a greater fire risk than petrol or diesel vehicles?
The first in a series exploring the myths and realities surrounding EVs
When a fire ripped through a car park at Luton airport last month it set off a round of speculation that an electric vehicle was to blame. The theory was quickly doused by the Bedfordshire fire service, which said the blaze appeared to have started in a diesel car.
Yet the rumour refused to be quelled, spreading on social media like, well, wildfire. Even when these stories are patiently debunked, they come back as zombie myths that refuse to die.
“All the data shows that EVs are just much, much less likely to set on fire than their petrol equivalent,” said Colin Walker, the head of transport at the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit thinktank. “The many, many fires that you have for petrol or diesel cars just aren’t reported.”
On the other hand, EV and gasoline fires are not equal. The Australian maritime authority in 2023 warned ferries about the danger of EVs.
DCV Safety Alert 02/2023 – Risks Associated with the Carriage of Battery Electric Vehicles
This safety alert aims to raise awareness of the risks involved with the carriage of battery-powered electric vehicles (BEVs) on roll-on, roll-off (RORO) ferries.
Purpose
This safety alert provides guidance to operators of domestic commercial vessels (DCVs) on risks associated with the carriage of battery-powered electric vehicles (BEVs) on roll-on, roll-off (RORO) ferries, and how best to deal with these risks.
Risk assessment
As per Marine Order 504 (Certificates of operation and operation requirements) you must conduct a risk assessment for your vessel to ensure that risks arising from the carriage of BEVs are addressed.
Consideration must be given to the hazards arising from transporting BEVs and a vessel specific procedure developed for the prevention and mitigation of fire incidents involving BEVs.
New risks identified in relation to BEVs
Some risks associated with BEV fires onboard DCVs include:
High voltage shocks
Direct jet flames
Fires develop in intensity quickly and rapidly reach their maximum intensity (typically within 2-3 minutes)
Toxic gases
Gas explosion (if the released gas accumulates for a while before being ignited)
Long lasting re-ignition risk (can ignite or re-ignite weeks, or maybe months after the provoking incident)
Once established fires are difficult to stop/extinguish
EVs seem to pose a particular problem for ships. Ships have been destroyed by uncontrollable EV fires – automatic fire suppression systems which work on gasoline and diesel fires are helpless to extinguish EV fires, as the Felicity Ace discovered in 2022.
I once survived a vehicle fire, caused by a gasoline tank leak. The vehicle was a write-off, but the intensity of the fire was nothing like some of the EV fires we’ve seen. I was first alerted to the fire by other drivers, I had time to pull over, and after I pulled over I had a good 90 seconds to get out of the vehicle before the cabin started filling with smoke. It wasn’t obvious the vehicle would be a write-off until the fire had been burning for 5 minutes, and the intensity finally grew to the point it was obvious the vehicle would be destroyed. Even so, I retrieved an old plastic Apple MacBook from the trunk of the vehicle. After drying the laptop for a few months, I managed to get it to boot long enough to rescue files I hadn’t backed up (lesson learned).
To be fair, the laptop may have been protected a little by some bottled water we had in the trunk, but I doubt a few bottles of water would have saved my laptop from an EV fire.
Compare this experience to a small electric vehicle fire. Bear in mind the battery on this electric scooter is minuscule compared to the battery on a full size electric automobile.
You don’t need a collision or impact to damage EV batteries. A hard frost can permanently damage an EV battery, though I have no data on whether frost damage is as dangerous in terms of fire risk as collision damage.
Are EVs more dangerous than gasoline vehicles?
Despite my personal experience of a gasoline vehicle fire, I believe the answer is yes, given the maritime authority warning, the speed and ferocity of EV fires, the writing off of EVs after even minor collisions, and the apparent inability of normal fire suppression systems to douse EV fires – even if claims that gasoline fires are more common are true.
Draconian new Biden administration tailpipe emission regulations applied to cars, sports utility vehicles and pickups in the 2027 to 2032 model years “to combat climate change” with the goal of phasing out internal combustion engines in favor of electric vehicles (EVs) are entirely senseless and destructive.
Draconian new Biden administration tailpipe emission regulations applied to cars, sports utility vehicles and pickups in the 2027 to 2032 model years “to combat climate change” with the goal of phasing out internal combustion engines in favor of electric vehicles (EVs) are entirely senseless and destructive.
China controls a stranglehold monopoly of about 80% of the global supply, with Congo a 90% source of vital cobalt.
Meanwhile, the same anti-drilling ideologues who push for dependence upon enormous quantities of foreign rare earth minerals mined by slave labor in China and Congo are restricting U.S. mining and processing of same under far more responsible U.S. social and environmental safeguards.
Mountain Pass in California is the sole U.S. remaining operating rare earth mine that lost two years of production due to a 2016 bankruptcy, continues to send its mined ore to China for processing.
In addition to being unreliable, intermittent, and weather-dependent, wind and solar facilities have short operational lifecycles with all those costly rare earth mineral batteries winding up in environmentally toxic landfills.
Nor do advertisers ever seem to mention that breezy intermittent wind outputs
Enormous added EV burdens will overwhelm and destabilize already overstressed U.S. power grids requiring trillions of dollars of new spending to upgrade this infrastructure, including transmission lines from remote locations and tens of thousands of recharging stations.
Also, in addition to many billions of dollars required to develop a national highway charging network, fast charging to make them more attractive for long trips imposes other costly infrastructure upgrade requirements.
Given increased demands for electricity, all proposed energy cost benefits over petrochemicals are illusory, particularly with a growing number of companion legislative proposals to ban natural gas hookups in new construction.
Although 53% of respondents to a Siena College poll opposed it, New York became the first state to ban fossil-fuel building connections, with Democrat Gov. Kathy Hochul favoring legislation to force an all-electric building mandate for new homes ending gas-powered stoves, water heaters, furnaces and clothes dryers.
Some U.S. municipalities, including many Democratic-led cities in California, have all-electric building mandates, while lawmakers in some Republican-led states have passed laws blocking cities from imposing such requirements.
In California, the state with more EVs than any other, highest concentrations — between 10.9% and 14.2% of all vehicles — are in ZIP codes where residents are at least 75% white and Asian, whereas ZIP codes with the largest percentages of Latino and Black residents have extremely low proportions of EVs.
EV performance makes them most suitable for short trips and commutes in urban applications in temperate climates … cold weather dramatically limits driving range and battery life.
According to Consumer Reports, frigid temperatures can reduce an unplugged EV’s range by about 20%, running cabin heaters and defrosters further saps batteries, and recharging takes longer than in warm weather.
EVs are heavily subsidized in multiple ways: through direct federal and state tax benefits to purchasers; through government loan incentives to manufacturers; and through added production costs passed on to gasoline vehicle purchasers.Ford, Toyota, Volkswagen, Honda, Nissan, and Subaru have meanwhile all had to adjust sales prices upward due to the scarcity of semiconductors, a supply condition that will only become more precarious as government- mandated EV numbers multiply.
EPA and other government regulatory pressures to influence rational taxpayer and consumer choices in sources of energy they use and the vehicles they purchase directly violate foundational free market principles and forces that underpin America’s social and economic greatness.
As noted by Wall Street Journal editors, “While the rules don’t dictate the specific cars or models that must be made, the [Biden] administration is remaking a major industry in a way that is “Chinese-style central planning as auto makers answer first to their political overlords rather than consumers and investors.”
No benefits whatsoever will result from this unwarranted climate-alarm based destruction of U.S. fossil-fueled energy independence, prosperity and national security.
In summary, all of this insanity is premised upon addressing a non-existent climate crisis applying enormously costly and destructive measures with no measurable benefits which simultaneously empower the sort of government tyranny we claim to deplore in adversarial countries that now exploit our consequential self-inflicted weaknesses.
New video footage of a fire that started in a Ford F-150 Lightning earlier this year highlights an emerging concern regarding the adoption of electric vehicles.
The previously unreleased footage, obtained by CNBC, shows smoke billowing from three tightly packed electric pickups. Moments later, flames shoot several feet above the vehicles, which were unoccupied.
Fires involving EV batteries can burn hotter and longer and require new techniques to extinguish, posing a growing challenge to first responders.
DEARBORN, Mich. — New video footage of a fire involving a Ford F-150 Lightning this year highlights a growing concern around electric vehicles: volatile fires from the batteries that power them.
The previously unreleased footage, which CNBC obtained through Michigan’s Freedom of Information Act from the Dearborn Police Department, shows smoke billowing from three tightly packed electric pickups in a Ford Motor holding lot in Dearborn, Michigan.
Moments later, flames shoot several feet above the vehicles, which were unoccupied. It wasn’t clear based on public documents and police video how long the fires burned. Experts say EV fires can take hours, rather than minutes, to extinguish.
EV fires have become a growing concern as automakers push to increase sales of electric vehicles and meet tightening emissions standards.
An electric Ford F-150 Lightning caught fire on Feb. 4, 2023 due to a battery issue traced back to one of the automaker’s suppliers. The blaze spread to two other electric pickups in a holding lot of Ford’s in Dearborn, Michigan.
EV fires are extraordinarily difficult to extinguish, and emit toxic fumes which can cause acute and long term debilitating injuries in anyone unlucky enough to breathe them. They also burn hot enough to melt steel and concrete, and need minimal or in some cases no oxygen to continue burning – more like a thermite fire than an ordinary flame.
Lets hope Ford figure out what went wrong, before someone gets killed.
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