Video shows gas canister fire, not EV crash | Fact check

Kate S. Petersen, USA TODAY
·3 min read
1

The claim: Video shows electric vehicle fire after collision

A July 29 BitChute video (direct link, archive link) shows a series of explosions erupting from a fire on a highway.

"IT'S ELECTRIC, WHEN TWO EVS COLLIDE," reads the video's caption.

The video was shared more than 60 times on Facebook, according to Crowdtange, a social media analytics tool.

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Our rating: False

The video shows a fire that occurred after a truck transporting gas cylinders ran into another vehicle, according to media reports, video footage and an electric vehicle battery fire expert. The incident did not involve electric vehicles.

Incident involved gas cylinders, not electric vehicles

Der Spiegel, a German news outlet, published footage of the same incident and reported the explosions were the result of a crash in Moscow in 2013 that involved a truck carrying gas canisters. It makes no mention of electric vehicles.

A YouTube version shows the events leading up to the fire, in which the truck carrying gas canisters collides with the vehicle in front of it.

The translated caption of the YouTube video reads, "ISUZU explosion on 07/13/2013 on the Moscow Ring Road." The video was uploaded on July 13, 2013.

On that day, Russian media reported gas cylinders exploded after an Isuzu truck collided with a bus on the Moscow Ring Road. The location of the incident can be viewed on Google Maps and matches the area visible in the video.

The Russian media outlets likewise make no mention of electric vehicles.

There were no electric vehicles involved in the collision, Dan Fish, a technical specialist at EV Fire Safe, an Australian company that researches electric vehicle battery fires, told USA TODAY.

"Stating this is what happens when two electric cars collide is completely false," he said in an email.

The burning gas canisters are visible in the BitChute video but are difficult to make out. In the YouTube footage, it is easier to see them scattered across the road.

"These cylinders are in no way related to any electric vehicle system," Fish said.

Fact check: Video shows exploding compressed natural gas vehicle, not electric car

USA TODAY has debunked numerous claims in which fires or explosions were wrongly blamed on electric vehicles.

The BitChute user who posted the video could not be reached.

The video was also debunked by Reuters and AFP.

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Video shows gas canister fires, not EV crash | Fact check