Welcome to Tesla Motors Club
Discuss Tesla's Model S, Model 3, Model X, Model Y, Cybertruck, Roadster and More.
Register

A Model S caught fire while supercharging in Norway (link in Norwegian)

This site may earn commission on affiliate links.
Looking at the pictures, a car is burning near a supercharger, but does not appear to be charging. The car would have to be back in to the charging pedestal. The cables at each of the pedestals are clearly visible in the photo and none are attached to the car.
 
Looking at the pictures, a car is burning near a supercharger, but it is not charging. The car would have to be back in to the charging pedestal. The cables at each of the pedestals are clearly visible in the photo and none are attached to the car. Misinformation number 1 is in the headline since this car was not charging.

Well, its the info from local news site - we will have to wait for reliable data.
 
The car was reportedly charging. As you can see in the picture, it was standing next to a portable supercharger. (Two supercharger pedestals + all electronics on a single pallet.) The cables are too badly burned to say whether the car was connected or not - but it's reasonable to assume it was connected. The driver had left the car there and was unharmed.

Of course, it's impossible to say where the fire started. It could be someone throwing a molotov cocktail, for all we know. I would doubt the fire started in the battery. If it started in Tesla equipment, somewhere in the 12V system or in the supercharger would be more likely.
 
It is confirmed that is was under charging......remember the work of the firefighters involved.....and take in the intense heat needed for the alu chassie structure to burn down totally .....

OkYO-qgd1v-y4Tz3KVdsFg7LJWflw_6OSUNTJ_IOO-VA.jpg
 
It is confirmed that is was under charging......remember the work of the firefighters involved.....and take in the intense heat needed for the alu chassie structure to burn down totally .....
It's hard to tell whether the battery was involved in the fire. You get high temperatures from burning plastics, transmission oil, etc.

- - - Updated - - -

Quoting from an article: "It is not possible to extinguish electric car fires with water, so the fire department contained the area surrounding the fierce car fire, and used a special foam to get the fire under control."

Obviously, water is the correct way to extinguish the fire, so it does seems as if the fire departments hesitation to extenguish the fire with water did contribute to the extent of the fire. Apparently they just let it burn while they tried to get what they thought was the proper means to extinguish the fire.
 
It's hard to tell whether the battery was involved in the fire. You get high temperatures from burning plastics, transmission oil, etc.

I don't think the battery is involved at all. If we all can remember the Model S that was torn in half in the high speed chase and some of the batteries got strewn on the roadway...the batteries were popping like fireworks. There's no evidence in any of the pictures that that occurred, nor mention of it in the article by the police or firefighters. If we also remember the very first Model S fire where we learned that in case of a fire the battery 'vents' specifically away from the passenger cabin...there doesn't seem to be a burn pattern that indicates that here in this picture. Also in that very first incident, the fire department purposely and erroneously opened up the battery and exposed it in an attempt to put out the fire and that made for a very concentrated and intense fire - (am I remembering it correctly when I say it was 'white' flames?). Anyway, the point I'm trying to get to is that none of the photos seem to indicate that the batteries were exposed/compromised.

- - - Updated - - -

Obviously, water is the correct way to extinguish the fire, so it does seems as if the fire departments hesitation to extenguish the fire with water did contribute to the extent of the fire. Apparently they just let it burn while they tried to get what they thought was the proper means to extinguish the fire.

Yep.
 
It does seems as if the fire departments hesitation to extenguish the fire with water did contribute to the extent of the fire. Apparently they just let it burn while they tried to get what they thought was the proper means to extinguish the fire.
It sounds as if they took the correct action. The first rule is to not make things worse.

Given the lack of melting snow around the tire I'd say this wasn't caused by the battery because the battery is designed to direct flames underneath and forward or backward. (might be just the way the picture is though). The other Tesla fires have not damaged the passenger compartment the way this one did. Investigation is in order. A cooling problem with the charger (the one under the rear seat) would be the first area to investigate.
 
It sounds as if they took the correct action. The first rule is to not make things worse.

Given the lack of melting snow around the tire I'd say this wasn't caused by the battery because the battery is designed to direct flames underneath and forward or backward. (might be just the way the picture is though). The other Tesla fires have not damaged the passenger compartment the way this one did. Investigation is in order. A cooling problem with the charger (the one under the rear seat) would be the first area to investigate.
I also though it was snow, then I realized the white stuff is the foam they used. It can't be used to judge how hot it got. A better indication that it didn't burn *that* hot is that the front tires are intact. They usually burn.

I doubt the charger was involved, it isn't used in DC charging. The battery cooling fan is one possibility, but the fire sems worse at the back of the car, so maybe not.
 
I also though it was snow, then I realized the white stuff is the foam they used. It can't be used to judge how hot it got. A better indication that it didn't burn *that* hot is that the front tires are intact. They usually burn.

I doubt the charger was involved, it isn't used in DC charging. The battery cooling fan is one possibility, but the fire sems worse at the back of the car, so maybe not.

That's good insight. I was thinking snow as well. It doesn't seem hot at the bottom, but then heat rises, so the tops are always worse than the bottom. However, if indeed the battery pack is built to direct fire outward, it doesn't look battery related.

Let's all hope it's something unrelated to the pack and to Supercharging. Other causes I can deal with.
 
The logs are stored on an SD card in the touchscreen cluster, so not much chance that they survived this, IMHO. In fact, if it was a 12V system or HV battery problem I imagine power would be cut to those pretty quick (the touchscreen usually only runs 5-10 minutes on 12V battery before shutting off IIRC, less if the system is under distress) and the cluster is responsible for the 3G etc.

Supercharger might send more data.

I doubt we'll here much about this from Tesla and I'm pretty sure the owner will be told to keep quiet and Tesla will replace their car. They can't afford negative press like this going wild.