In a twist of true irony, a Tesla Cybertruck hit a fire hydrant in Harlingen, Texas and caught fire. Video of the aftermath shows flames coming out from the undercarriage of the damaged electric pickup, causing people to weigh in with all kinds of opinions.
Man almost loses a finger to a Cybertruck.
It’s not clear how the Cybertruck even ran into the fire hydrant, whether it was driver distraction, a medical episode, reckless driving, or a malfunction with the vehicle itself. Whatever it was, the hydrant did serious damage to the Tesla.
What’s also ironic about this crash is that after the batteries in the Cybertruck’s undercarriage were soaked by the water gushing out of the broken fire hydrant, that’s when they ignited. Usually water will help prevent a vehicle fire, but with EVs it can actually trigger it. We’ve seen this problem play out after flooding and it makes a huge mess.
We don’t know if anyone was injured as a result of this crash, says Valley Central. Apparently authorities didn’t want to comment on that, which makes us wonder what that might mean.
Just like with so many electric vehicle fires, this one was extinguished by firefighters but reignited shortly after, requiring them to put it out again. Sometimes EV fires will reignite days after being initially extinguished, making them dangerous to transport and store.
Of course, the comments on this story are all over the internet. EV fanboys are citing “official statistics” which supposedly prove electric cars catch fire less than traditional ones, downplaying this incident.
The rabid anti-EV crowd is raging about how this proves cities will burn to the ground if these dangerous vehicles are allowed to become any more popular. Both groups seem to be experts on firefighting techniques and what firefighters in this situation did right or wrong, which is super interesting.
We’re just here for the irony of a fire hydrant sparking a fire.
Image via IcerC/Reddit
Fire fire! … Hydrant
byu/IcerC inCyberStuck
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