Multiple Waymos were torched over the weekend. The self-driving taxi cars fell victim to the leftist mayhem engulfing Los Angeles, which has become so bad that military forces had to be deployed. President Trump has sent in the U.S. Marines and is ordering more California National Guard units, which were federalized, into the city to quell the rebellion.
The circus began as leftist agitators were protesting the wave of Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids last Friday. It devolved into rioting shortly thereafter. Yet, what does USA Today expound upon: torching electric cars is a bad idea. I’m not kidding:
Omg this is a REAL headline! pic.twitter.com/uT8xmzrDjO
— Mark Bednar (@MarkBednar) June 9, 2025
From social media and photos, it appears that at least five Waymo self-driving robotaxis were set on fire on Sunday, June 8 amidst immigration protests in downtown Los Angeles.
Protesters smashed windows on the cars – all Jaguar I-PACE electric SUVs – as well as spray painting them with anti-ICE and anti-Trump slogans. Some were also set on fire.
The burning cars, whose base sticker price is $73,000, according to Car and Driver, sent plumes of thick black smoke billowing into the blue Los Angeles sky, making for stunning photos that have figured prominently in many media feeds about the protests.
Waymo has suspended service to the affected area of downtown Los Angeles.
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It's not clear if the Los Angeles protesters were specifically targeting Waymos or if the cars just happened to wander into the area and because they have no drivers, they were perceived as more vulnerable or they simply didn't know to drive away.
[…]
Electric vehicle fires can burn hotter and more intensely than gasoline-fueled cars, if their batteries catch fire. This can happen if they are crashed or if their batteries are infiltrated with saltwater, as can happen to cars nears the coast during hurricanes and flooding events.
If an electric vehicle’s battery is damaged by a collision or water intrusion, a short circuit can occur, which causes the cell to discharge energy and heat up. This can lead to an event called “thermal runaway,” in which the heat propagates from one cell to the next, causing them to burn.
[…]
There are important distinctions between electric vehicle (EV) fires and traditional gasoline-powered vehicle fires, both in terms of combustion characteristics and potential health hazards, said Dr. Alberto Caban-Martinez, deputy director of the Sylvester Firefighter Cancer Initiative at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine.
EV fires can release gases such as hydrogen fluoride, carbon monoxide, volatile organic compounds, and metal-based particulates.
Oh my God, are you kidding, guys? This is what you’ve gleaned from that incident.
Meanwhile, we have cop cars being firebombed, police being assaulted with rocks, and other acts of wanton destruction, but who's thinking about the hazards of electric cars being cooked?
Dear Lord.
