FACT CHECK: No, Viral Video Does Not Show Electric Car Fire At U.S. Warehouse

Christine Sellers | Fact Check Reporter

A video shared on Facebook purports to show an electric car fire at a U.S. warehouse.

Verdict: False

The video shows a fire at the Pickles Auction car yard in Perth, Australia, according to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. There is no evidence an electric car fire has recently occurred at a U.S. warehouse.

Fact Check:

Ford CEO Jim Farley said “there’s a chance” Tesla’s Superchargers “may become the standard for electric vehicle charging in the U.S.” during a recent CNBC appearance, according to Reuters. Farley’s comments come as Ford has announced a partnership with Tesla to provide Ford electric vehicle owners with access to Tesla’s 12,000 Supercharger stations via the Ford mobile app, CNN reported.

“In the USA, a fire broke out at a warehouse of electric cars that were waiting to be sold to clients when the battery of one of the cars started to burn,” a translation of the video’s caption purports. The video has received over six million views at the time of publication.

The claim is false. The video shows a fire at the Pickles Auction car yard in Perth, Australia, according to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. More than 100 vehicles were “damaged in total,” police said, according to the outlet. The cause of the fire was not specified, but the outlet noted an investigation was being conducted. (RELATED: Did Wyoming Ban Electric Vehicles?)

Similarly, an Apr. 28 Twitter post shows four videos of the blaze at the car yard.

“Fire at Pickles Auction this evening. Was a wild sight! Amazing effort to fire fighters tackling the beast to get the out of control under control @abcnews @perthnow @9NewsPerth @7NewsPerth @abcperth,” the post’s caption reads.

Likewise, electric car manufacturers such as Tesla, Volkswagen, Ford, and Kia have not released statements indicating a fire has occurred at any of their respective warehouses. In addition, Check Your Fact has not found any credible news reports suggesting an electric car fire has recently occurred at a U.S. warehouse.

This is not the first time a false claim has circulated online. Check Your Fact previously debunked a social media post purporting an electric bus caught fire in Kenya.

Christine Sellers

Fact Check Reporter

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