Skip to main content

On New Year’s Day 2025, news of two terrorist attacks shocked the U.S. At 3:15 AM (CST), Army Veteran Shamsud-Din Jabbar drove a Ford F-150 Lightning EV down New Orleans’ Bourbon Street. He killed at least 14 New Year’s revelers and injured at least 35, before he was shot by police. Then just after 8:30 AM (PST), a bomb rocked Trump Tower in Las Vegas. A terrorist used a Tesla Cybertruck to move the bomb, injuring at least seven. (The FBI is “confident” the identity of the man who shot himself in the Cybertruck moments before the bomb detonated is Green Beret Matthew Livelsberger, who the Bureau knows rented the truck).

With investigations still underway, little is known about the two attacks. The FBI has labeled the New Year’s incidents terrorist attacks. But the FBI has yet to find conclusive evidence linking them. But there are many parallels. One is that both men rented an electric pickup truck on the Turo app to turn into a weapon. And both of their reasoning may have been based on incorrect myths about EVs.

Myth 1: Electric vehicles are silent

Police section off the scene of the terrorist attack on New Orleans New Years celebrants after a man from Texas drove his pickup truck into the crowd, killing 15 and injuring 30
New Orleans | Matthew Hinton on Getty Images

Jabbar rented a Ford F-150 Lightning EV off the Turo app in Houston, then drove it all the way to New Orleans. This required tracking down the specialty vehicle and then charging it multiple times during the road trip. It would have been much easier to just walk into his local Enterprise—or to rent a smaller EV better suited to the journey. So what was he thinking?

Multiple commenters on social media pointed out that the electric truck is very heavy, has a ton of low-end torque allowing it to accelerate rapidly, and is supposedly silent. These traits could make it ideal for causing damage on a crowded pedestrian walkway. But if this was Jabbar’s reasoning, a key mistake might have saved lives during the New Year’s terrorist attack.

Surveillance footage of the attack shows dozens of people leaping out of the truck’s way seconds before it passes them. One reason they may have known the truck was coming is that it was not silent. The F-150 Lightning—like every EV and hybrid sold in the U.S.—makes a noise to warn pedestrians it’s approaching when it’s traveling less than 18.5 MPH. The lesson here is if you ever hear a high-pitched whine, look for an approaching EV.

Myth 2: Electric vehicles explode

Police are investigating an exploding Tesla Cybertruck near Trump Towers in Las Vegas.
Burned Tesla Cybertruck in Las Vegas | Wade Vandervort, AFP via Getty Images

Another reason Jabbar may have bothered with an F-150 Lightning EV is a misguided belief that the truck’s battery would explode. He was found with multiple improvised explosive devices which he didn’t have a chance to detonate. But if his attack was related to the Vegas attack, his plan could have been to detonate the devices–and truck along with it.

Livelsberger may have had a very similar plan: detonate a bomb in the bed of a Cybertruck rented on Turo, and hope the lithium-ion battery pack created an even larger explosion. This may be why Livelsberger went through the trouble of renting the Tesla in Colorado Springs and driving it all the way to Las Vegas—a trip that also required multiple long stops to recharge the large EV.

With multiple headlines warning of “spontaneous” EV battery fires, both men may have believed they had the perfect recipe for a deadly fireball. Luckily for bystanders, exploding EVs are just a myth. If the Cybertruck’s battery pack did catch fire, it would have resulted in a long hot fire–not a brief but powerful explosion. In fact, the choice of truck may have saved lives.

The Cybertruck’s body shielded the explosion during the New Year’s terrorist attack

Yes, several early EVs suffered battery fires. But when an EV’s battery pack burns, it lights very slowly. It is a difficult fire to put out, but does not go up in a dramatic explosion. The dramatic Las Vegas fireball in security footage was caused by multiple cans of camping fuel in the Cybertruck’s bed.

One unique aspect of the Cybertruck is its heavy duty “exoskeleton” design, in which the load-bearing body is formed with a single piece of hardened stainless steel. Even after all the gasoline in the bed of the rented Cybertruck exploded, the sides of its bed remained intact. The bed funneled the force of the explosion up. As a result, the explosion failed to break the glass face of the Trump Tower, several feet away from the truck.

Elon Musk responds to the New Year’s terrorist attacks on social media

Elon Musk took to X (formerly Twitter) to poke fun at the terrorist’s choice of the Cybertruck. First, he reposted a cartoon by the Skscartoon account.

Later, he reposted a meme in the format of the “Vehicle of the Year” award:

Related

Hyundai Tucson Owners Complain About These Problems the Most

Best in Tips, Tricks & Trends
Avatar photo
Staff Writer

Henry Cesari

Henry Cesari joined MotorBiscuit in 2021 and brings his deep interest in vintage cars, trucks, and motorcycles to the site. Having restored his first classic car at just 16 years old, Henry has wrenched on everything from overland campers to Japanese motorcycles and even pre-war Bugattis. Henry is also an avid attendee at local car shows and genuinely enjoys connecting with fellow auto enthusiasts.

Henry earned a Bachelor’s in Anthropology and English from the University of Vermont. He has since incorporated his love of the written word with his admiration of classic cars. While Henry is interested in vintage cars, he believes the golden age of cars is yet to come. He is confident journalists will play an important role in this revolution by exposing the industry as it is now and envisioning its possible future.