By Ray Rivers
January 3rd, 2025
BURLINGTON, ON
“The evil knuckleheads picked the wrong vehicle for a terrorist attack.” (Kekius Maximus formerly Elon Musk on X)
Tragic yes, but the the irony is so thick one can’t help but smile. A US veteran blows himself up in a Tesla parked outside the front doors of the Trump hotel in Las Vegas. I mean, ‘the Donald’ hates electric cars (EV’s). But he loves his unofficial banker and stooge #1 Elon Musk, or Kekius Maximus as he now calls himself on X, formerly Twitter.
Tesla vehicle on fire outside Trump Hotel in Los Angeles.
Clearly the intent was to send a message – but what? Was the former soldier saying he hates Trump – protesting his election victory? Was he expressing disapproval at the unholy marriage of Donald and Elon (aka Kekius the crypto avatar)? Was he telling us that this Tesla Cybertruck is so resilient that it can withstand an explosion – which it almost did? Or was he trying to say that you need to load a Tesla with camping fuel and rocket mortars in order for it to catch fire?
Despite all the fake news to the contrary bursting into fire is not a standard feature on Teslas or most other EV’s. There was that unfortunate high publicity incident of damaged battery electrodes on a number of electric Chevy Bolts, resulting in 16 fires and a recall of over 100,000 vehicles. But other internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles are at least as fire prone. Hyundai recently recalled over three million ICE cars warning drivers not to park their vehicles indoors.
Tesla will tell you that over the decade from 2012 to 2021, the number of fires on US roads involving Teslas was 11 times lower per mile than the comparable figure for all cars. And newer developments, such as, sodium ion and solid state batteries, are expected to reduce the fire risk even further.
Other studies confirm that conclusion, including a recent one by Swedish investigators which found that your ICE guzzler is something like 18 times more likely to catch fire. An Australian study found the risk of fire with an EV was 0.0012% versus 0.1% for an ICE.
Fires aboard ships have also been erroneously scapegoated onto EV’s. However, the International Union of Marine Insurance, following the Fremantle Highway (cargo ship) fire claims that….“To date, no fire onboard a Car and Truck Carrier (PCTC) has been proven to have been caused by a factory-new EV.” In reality, none of the EV’s on that ship were damaged and the fire has been proven to have actually begun on another deck.
But sometimes the facts don’t matter. Nowhere is that more true than with the EV. After all, if the Canadian federal target of ending gas guzzler sales by 2035 actually comes to fruition, it will have a huge impact on big oil and big oil producing jurisdictions which count on the revenue that the black gold brings in.
Thousands of ICE engineers and auto workers would be affected, as would all those garage mechanics who tinker with those complex ICE engines, transmissions, exhaust systems and pollution control devices. We are victims of our past and some find something weirdly romantic about the smell of the toxic gasoline fumes, car exhaust, the roar of a leaky exhaust mufflers and the shifting of gears.
Elon Musk prancing on stage while Donald Trump speaks
But the biggest challenge to the phase out of gas guzzlers is politics. For some bizarre reason there is an ideological divide over existential challenging climate change. Conservatives seem to consider global warming and all potential mitigative solutions as a threat to their way of life. Donald Trump may be the global chief climate denier but Canadian conservatives also refuse to accept climate change as a real concern.
Conservatives generally don’t support renewable energy or EV’s or most other measures to reduce our carbon footprint. These changes are generally perceived as unnecessary at best, and a threat to their lifestyle at worse. That accounts for the war on carbon pricing, and provincial policies in Alberta and Ontario to slow down progress on green energy and low carbon transportation.
The other kind of politics may also be the reason why EV new car registrations in Norway now exceed 80% and China which sold over 8 million new electric cars in 2023 accounts for almost 60% of the world’s EV production. By contrast Canada’s numbers barely reached 12% last year, while the US market turned in fewer than 9% of vehicles sold as EV, including hybrid models.
Why are we so far behind? Elon Musk’s Tesla was the best selling car globally in 2023 so it can’t be the cars. Big oil and big auto laughed at Elon Musk until they realized the joke was on them. Today he whispers in Trump’s ear and is struggling to take over the helm of Trump’s MAGA (Make America Great Again) movement.
A genius.
Like other genius types, Musk is a study in contrasts -unbridled by labels. Having earned his green/liberal credentials as inventor of the modern EV he is also one of the most right wing conservatives in America, even supporting near Nazi political movements in Germany and the UK.
Musk defies stereotyping and makes it possible to both love and hate him. Is that perhaps what the obviously disturbed soldier in his newly rented Cybertruck was trying to say? Was his target Tesla or Musk, Musk or Trump? And why didn’t he just post his complaint on X, formerly Twitter, instead of blowing himself up?
Ray Rivers, a Gazette Contributing Editor, writes regularly applying his more than 25 years as a federal bureaucrat to his thinking. Rivers was once a candidate for provincial office in Burlington. He was the founder of the Burlington citizen committee on sustainability at a time when climate warming was a hotly debated subject. Ray has a post graduate degree in economics that he earned at the University of Ottawa. Tweet @rayzrivers
Background links:
Las Vegas Truck Bomb – Musk Quotes – EV Sales – EV Sales Canada – Ship Fire –
Doug Ford’s Big Footprint – Alberta’s EV Tax –
Thanks, Ray, for the column. As the comments above suggest, the issues are complex with some positions at least a bit hypocritical. But that’s admittedly barely important; in my view, most of us are hyprocritical, what with the silo-ing that’s reared us from our early years. By the way, as we are soon likely to purchase an EV, one issue imagined in the current issue of Car and Driver, how EV charged-battery duration drops during the colder months. Knowing of your fairly long ownership of the Chevy, please offer your experience on this issue (non-issue?). Bill in VA (where today we’ll endure up to 5 inches of snow stomped down by up to 1/2″ ice)
I have to applaud Ray for sticking with the Liberal party and continuing to produce such opinion pieces while they are in the process of being wiped out, this takes great fortitude.
Quoting the proliferation of EV’s in China is pure hypocrisy and adds to the disinformation you so fondly like to quote. China has to import most of its fossil fuels, however it has access to large amounts of coal used for thermal power. China has over 1100 coal fired power plants and 240 GW of coal fired power approved or under construction. So, they are powering their EV’s with electricity generated from COAL! Not to mention they use forced labour (that’s slavery for the progressives that don’t understand) and child labour – real nice. The CCP also use EV’s to track the movement of their population.
There is so much disinformation to unpack here, so let’s talk automobile fires. The issue is not the frequency of fire, but rather the intensity. But first let’s get statistics correct, comparing the frequency of EV fires of vehicles that are 0 – 5 years old to ICE engine cars that are 0 – say 50 years old is far from a proper statistical analysis. Also, about 10% of ICE fires are caused by arson, so those need to be removed. Not to mention the owner of EV’s which are wealthy, enthusiastic about their EV compared to the broad average of ICE owners. I’ve yet to see a proper statistical analysis of this.
Nevertheless no-one argues or claims that EV fires are more frequent at this time – this will likely change as EV’s age. They do happen and when they do its catastrophic. Temperature of an EV fire averages about 4,900 deg F vs an ICE fire of about1,500 deg F. The chemical make-up of the battery includes oxygen, and therefore the fire is self-oxygenating and extremely difficult to extinguish. This is not disinformation, simply chemistry and thermodynamics. The fire can also restart several days later. The gases and fumes from an EV battery fire are intense and far worse than that of a gasoline fire. Both of course will have fumes from burning plastics. For these reason auto shops now provide a wide area of separation outdoors where damaged EV are stored when waiting for repair or disposal. Condominium associations are reviewing policies regarding charging of EV’s in underground car parks, some condo associations no longer allow EV’s or EV charging underground.
If you want and EV, go for it, but don’t mandate me or others to buy one with fictitious reasons. I think the majority of consumers have now realized this, and hence you are seeing a drop off in the growth of this market.
Thanks for your comment Joe. Since you invited my response, I can say I agree with you on the importation of lower cost Chinese vehicles to a point – the added competition can only help in ensuring the availability of more affordable EVs for all of us. I have always been a fan of 1960’s Can-US auto pact and think that approach could be applied to our trade with China generally, as an alternative to 100% tariffs on Chinese EVs. The old guard auto folks are still not serious about EVs – they could use a wake up call.
Ray: Good to see we are on the same page and a good way to kick off 2025. All the best. Joe
If we were really in on EV’s being the solution then why not let Canadians by the Chines BYD EV, priced at $14,600 Canadian dollars that has a 305 km range? I know the reasons why not. Back to you Ray.
A few facts that were left out of this peon to electric vehicles and the oh so virtuous Norwegians.
The density of the population in Canada is 4.2 people per square kilometre. In Norway, it is 15.
Norway’s oil and gas industry is a major driver of its economy, accounting for a large portion of its GDP, exports, and government revenue:
Exports: Norway is the world’s fourth largest exporter of natural gas and a major exporter of oil and petroleum products. In 2022, Norway exported 122 billion standard cubic meters of natural gas, supplying about 25% of the EU’s gas demand. Norway also exports electricity to northern Europe.
GDP: The petroleum sector accounts for 24% of Norway’s GDP.
Government revenue: The petroleum sector accounts for 36% of Norway’s state revenues.
Jobs: The petroleum sector indirectly contributes around 200,000 jobs in Norway.
Here are some other facts about Norway’s oil and gas industry:
Norway’s oil and gas market value is expected to grow to more than $70 billion by 2030.
Norway’s oil and gas industry is led by Equinor, a partly state-owned enterprise.
The Norwegian state owns holdings in some oil and gas fields, pipelines, and onshore facilities through the State’s Direct Financial Interest (SDFI) system.
Norway taxes petroleum exports at a marginal rate of 78%.
Norway is trying to develop its climate tech scene, but it remains a small part of the economy.
By comparison, In Canada, the oil and natural gas industry accounted for $71.4 billion (3.2%) of Canada’s overall gross domestic product (GDP) in 2022 (Source: CAPP).
Norway still has one of Europe’s lowest rates of public transportation usage and a higher car ownership rate than Denmark and Sweden, its Scandinavian neighbours.
The Norwegian government exempted EVs from the country’s steep taxes on car purchases, which today add an average of $27,000 to each sale. Even better, EV owners — who at the time were few and far between — would not pay for tolls, parking, or ferries (over all those fjords) anywhere in the country.
Norway is a leading producer of hydroelectricity in the world and Europe. The country has almost 1,770 hydropower plants, most of which are small or medium-sized. Norway also has around 1,000 storage reservoirs to balance supply and demand throughout the year.
Small population, small distances between urban centres, abundant clean energy, huge government subsidizations. That’s our Norway, trying to meet emissions numbers, while exporting ever more fossil fuels to other countries.
The author here is assuming that EVs will be the techology that replace ICE vehicles. This iengineer would not be so sure of that.