A battery fire or hydrogen tank explosion is the worst nightmare of any owner of an electrified vehicle. But this grim potential was recently put to good use by Ukrainian fighters against Russian invaders, against whom they deployed a remote-operated bomb that was partially built using a Toyota Mirai hydrogen car’s fuel tank. In a sense, they might’ve just deployed the smallest hydrogen bomb ever built.
The bomb was constructed as part of a July counteroffensive in Vovchansk in the northern part of Ukraine according to Euromaidan Press, an outlet run by a pro-western Ukrainian movement. Russian forces had reportedly failed an offensive to the south of Vovchansk, and retreated to an aggregate plant that overlooked the town from the north. The position was nearly encircled by Ukrainians, though they lacked the firepower to assault the plant directly. Reduced foreign military aid meant that airstrikes were no longer possible, while conventional drones couldn’t deliver a large enough payload. Instead, the Ukrainians turned to an unusual source of materials to make IEDs: Electrified vehicles.
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