&Quot;Electric Vehicle&Quot;

Does a viral video include real courthouse footage covering a $3 million lawsuit brought by the family of a man who died from electrocution while trying to steal "electric copper wire" from a vehicle charging station? No, that's not true: The shot purporting to show "Darius Johnson's" family was real, but was taken from the coverage of an unrelated case.…

Did basketball star Caitlin Clark publicly refuse to advertise Tesla on her Indiana Fever jersey in May 2025? No, that's not true: A post promoting that rumor contained several fabricated quotes attributed to both Clark and Tesla owner Elon Musk. We found no corroboration for the story, or the claim that Clark had threatened to reveal damaging secrets about Musk.…

Did investor Warren Buffett pay $1 trillion in cash to acquire Elon Musk's Tesla Motors company? No, that's not true: The story originated as an April Fools joke and went viral online. No actual news websites reported on any such investment or acquisition. The story appeared as an article (archived here) on GoBankingRates on April 1, 2025 titled "Warren Buffett…

Did "Democrat NGOs" set fire to Tesla Cybertrucks in Seattle on March 9, 2025? No, that's not true: The Seattle Police Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives told Lead Stories they are still investigating the overnight fires as of March 10, 2025. There is no evidence provided in a social media post that the fires on…

Did the Trump State Department come up with the idea to order $400 million worth of armored Tesla vehicles? No, that's not true: The original proposal to buy armored electric vehicles for the State Department came during the Biden administration in April 2024. The $400 million line item was included in a State Department Procurement Forecast Fiscal Year 2025 in…

Are there 45 electric firetrucks in Los Angeles that had to go back to the fire department for 10 hours a day to recharge while the January 2025 wildfires burned? No, that's not true: According to a Los Angeles Fire Department spokesperson the LAFD "has only one electric fire engine and no electric fire trucks" and that one is equipped…

Did the Biden administration spend $3 billion to procure just 93 electric mail trucks? No, that's not true: A Postal Service spokesperson told Lead Stories that Congress approved $3 billion to purchase 66,000 electric postal delivery vehicles, many of them arriving by 2028. According to USPS records, as of December 13, 2024, 24 electric vehicles had been delivered with another…

Did Tesla CEO Elon Musk announce that his company had developed an aluminum-ion battery with 15-minute charging? No, that's not true: There is no evidence on the company's website or Musk's social media platforms of any such announcement as of December 6, 2024. In fact, Tesla continues to manufacture and refine its 4680 lithium-ion batteries at a plant near Corpus…

Has the Department of Transportation under Secretary Pete Buttigieg spent $7.5 billion on only eight EV charging stations? No, that's not true: Much of the money set aside for the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Program has yet to be spent as states apply for grants to fund EV charging projects. According to the Federal Highway Administration, 214 charging ports have…

Did Elon Musk announce in November 2024 that Tesla was launching a $10,000 home to provide more affordable housing? No, that's not true: The Tesla CEO made no such announcement on the company website nor through his account on X. Similar claims of a "Tesla House" go back years, though there has been no such announcement. This claim appeared in…