From Watts Up With That?
Essay by Eric Worrall
Wake up call for anyone who thought Hybrids are safer than EVs?
House fire that started in Toyota RAV4 destroys family’s home in southwest Sydney
Published 06 September 2025
Neighbours rushed to help after hearing a loud bang come from the hybrid car as flames engulfed the front of the house.
An out-of-control blaze believed to have been sparked by a hybrid electric car has left a family home a smoking mess with neighbours rushing to help as loud explosions woke the street.
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Firefighters were able to contain the fire, but not before two cars were completely gutted and the front of the property was scorched.
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The fire is believed to have originated from a hybrid Toyota RAV4 that Soto purchased a year ago.
…Read more:
The Toyota RAV4 has a 18.1KWh battery according to online specifications – significantly less than full battery EVs, but significantly more than the 0.5 – 0.8KWh of a normal automobile battery. In addition that 18.1KWh is a lithium battery, while most automobile batteries still use far safer lead acid battery technology.
Obviously, this is breaking news, investigation might discover the fire was not caused by the lithium battery. But even if the battery didn’t start the fire, a battery a quarter the size of a pure electric vehicle battery would likely have added to the intensity of the fire.
I’m not an expert on vehicle fires, but I once owned a gasoline vehicle which caught fire with a full tank. My vehicle fire didn’t look like the vehicle in the picture. The back of my vehicle burned, after the rear fuel tank ruptured, but the front of the vehicle was almost untouched.
The question I’m sure we’re all asking, how long will insurance companies continue to put up with this risk? Because it wouldn’t surprise me if hybrids with such large batteries are actually more dangerous than EVs. If the gasoline portion of the vehicle has the normal risk profile of a gasoline engine, and the large EV scale battery carries the normal risk of an EV, then surely the risk such a hybrid vehicle will spontaneously explode is the sum of both sets of risks.
If this heightened combined risk profile for hybrids is correct, and nobody was warned, hybrid vehicle makers could face the mother of all class action lawsuits from people who lost their homes or the lives of their loved ones.
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