(DCWatchdog.com) – Electric vehicles are not simply unsafe but are also “bloody dangerous,” according to Jeremy Clarkson, a British journalist, car enthusiast, and former host of the BBC program “Top Gear.”
In a new opinion article for The Sun newspaper, Clarkson slammed electric cars, bikes, scooters, and other battery-powered devices.
“People have died, and that’s not surprising when you learn that a fully charged e-bike contains the same explosive energy as six hand grenades,” the broadcaster wrote.
He pointed out multiple incidents in which electric cars and bicycles caught fire, including fires erupting in EVs while being transported on ships.
“Electric cars are also bloody dangerous. In total, there have been ten major fires on ships carrying electric cars in the past 20 years. And it’s not like salt water is to blame. Because in the last five years, the emergency services have been called out to 753 electric vehicle fires in the UK alone,” Clarkson elaborated.
The journalist further stressed that electric bikes catching on fire had caused devastating blazes in hundreds of homes due to the explosive energy in a fully-charged device.
Clarkson noted that fires in EVs were particularly hard to extinguish because of a battery pack phenomenon called “thermal runway.” Thus, in one case, an electric car was ablaze for several days.
“The electrical car that Richard Hammond rolled down a hill while filming for the Grand Tour burned for days. And then, after the fire had died down, something in the battery pack called ‘thermal runaway’ caused it to rear back up again. And this went on for weeks,” the TV presenter explained.
He expressed fears that an electric vehicle catching fire in an underground car park, a tunnel, or on a ferry could cause a tremendous disaster.
“The fact is this. It’s only a matter of time before an electric car bursts into flames on a cross-[English] Channel ferry or in the Chunnel [connecting Britain and France]. Or in an underground car park,” he warned.
Noting Clarckson’s comments, a Breitbart News report notes that while electric vehicles are deemed a cleaner alternative to gas-power cars, they clearly need “ongoing scrutiny of their safety standards.”
In a recent critique, television star and car enthusiast Jeremy Clarkson has voiced serious concerns about the safety of electric vehicles, calling them “bloody dangerous.” https://t.co/f65MUxQV30
— Breitbart News (@BreitbartNews) July 31, 2023
