Tesla Fires

[Power Hungry]

Hi all, I was with a couple of friends last night and mentioned we'd ordered a tesla. Big mistake, because they put s**t on me all night (in a light hearted way) but unfortunately my wife googled it today and now she's paranoid. What is the current (pardon the pun) view on this? Thanks.

 

[Hungry Mile]

FUD!

 

[AS9.9.]

Are you asking if a Tesla is more likely to catch fire than a normal combustion vehicle? If so, no.

 

[doggy1]

I saw some research from the US Road Safety people. Their findings (from real car fires) were that EVs were 15 times less likely (per million vehicles) than ICE vehicles to catch fire. I believe that Tesla is even better than that. Some of the Kona fires (now fixed) will have inflated the numbers for EVs- for a while.

ICE fires rarely get reported. For the past 4 months I have had the "Fires Near Me" App reporting fires of all sorts in a radius around my daughter's house in Canberra. I'm not kidding- there is an average of one ICE car burning every day! Canberra is not that big a place.

So basically, I think you are WAY safer from fires in a Tesla than an ICE (particularly a petrol ICE vehicle).

 

[meloccom]

Electric cars can catch fire, just like any other car, but studies have shown that full battery electric vehicles are the least likely to catch fire. There are lots of articles on the internet that disprove this myth Including:

Study: Hybrids, ICE Cars Far More Likely Than EVs To Catch Fire

The data says hybrids are the most prone to catching fire, while EVs are the least prone, although when they do catch fire, they are harder to put out.

insideevs.com

Fire! Beware of electric car urban myths, including those by car writers

It is not just the public that has a low level of understanding of EVs – this extends to the general automotive journalism field as well.

thedriven.io

And many others.
Cant understand the attitude of some people, I once told a friend that I was putting Solar on my house and he told me the Fire Brigade would refuse to put out a fire due to risk of electric shock. FUD Comes in many forms.

 

[OwlDownUnder]

As everyone has said, be much more more scared of your ICE vehicle, don’t forget you are literally carting around a highly flammable liquid in an ICE vehicle, that relies on igniting that liquid in a controlled manner for power. Yes once a Tesla catches fire it’s more difficult to put out due to volumes of water required but the occurrence is much less. The model Y and other Teslas wouldn’t have gotten the high safety ratings they do if the regularly combust for no reason or in a crash Tesla electric cars less likely to catch fire than petrol cars – report

 

[SO16]

Next time ask your friends to just google “EV fires vs gas cars” and you will see it is a fraction of the amount.

Yes, EV fires are more difficult to put out (especially if fire fighters are not trained properly) but fortunately training is occurring more. And I’d rather have a less chance of a fire.

If they say gas car fires are “safer”, show them this and watch at 4:15 mark:

And I have driven by several gas car fires over the years and not once have they been on the news or even reported in local media that I could find. Been looking since owning my Tesla for almost 7 years. But it seems every Tesla fire is reported. There are around 4 million Teslas on the road now and pretty rare to even hear of one catching fire.

Also just do a “fire risk recall cars” and see how many gas cars are affected. Do this by brand.

GM’s BOLT battery was an issue that unfortunately tainted the EV safety but that’s since been mostly resolved.

 

[coref1]

Cant understand the attitude of some people, I once told a friend that I was putting Solar on my house and he told me the Fire Brigade would refuse to put out a fire due to risk of electric shock. FUD Comes in many forms.

I think when people don’t want to accept reality they grab any bit of negativity they can, whether true or not, and run with it.

 

[Bouba]

Every non EVer starts with that one...next they will tell you that your battery will fail any moment and they will finish with how an EV is way more polluting than an ice car..
Nonetheless, a car fire is a very serious thing...I keep a window hammer in the center console and have taught the wife how to use it...and every so often I remind her where it is

 

[paulp]

Hi all, I was with a couple of friends last night and mentioned we'd ordered a tesla. Big mistake, because they put s**t on me all night (in a light hearted way) but unfortunately my wife googled it today and now she's paranoid. What is the current (pardon the pun) view on this? Thanks.

Just to remove the paranoia, I installed fire detectors above the ev’s connected to our house system. Complete waste of money but it made everyone feel safe. But its really just perception. There was zero concern about the 65 litres of volatile dinosaur juice in the ice car parked next to the ev’s, even though ice cars explode regularly.

 

[paulp]

Electric cars can catch fire, just like any other car, but studies have shown that full battery electric vehicles are the least likely to catch fire. There are lots of articles on the internet that disprove this myth Including:

Study: Hybrids, ICE Cars Far More Likely Than EVs To Catch Fire

The data says hybrids are the most prone to catching fire, while EVs are the least prone, although when they do catch fire, they are harder to put out.

insideevs.com

Fire! Beware of electric car urban myths, including those by car writers

It is not just the public that has a low level of understanding of EVs – this extends to the general automotive journalism field as well.

thedriven.io

And many others.
Cant understand the attitude of some people, I once told a friend that I was putting Solar on my house and he told me the Fire Brigade would refuse to put out a fire due to risk of electric shock. FUD Comes in many forms.

So many people just dont understand solar panels, or maybe they look for excuses to justify their decision to not buy some and save loads of cash following full payback a few years later.

 

[meloccom]

I think when people don’t want to accept reality they grab any bit of negativity they can, whether true or not, and run with it.

When it happened I googled the theory and found a Snopes article disproving it on my iPad and dropped it in front of him. He now drives a BMW iX and has solar on his home, so I think I won that argument.

 

[BegaPride]

Hi @Power Hungry I am sure you and your wife are a smart couple, and you have made a smart decision. Back yourselves and enjoy the wait, research, learning etc. Block the negativity and cross check the FUD.

I had to wait the best part of a year for my 2022 M3 - during that period I told no one about my order (outside of my immediate household family & the forum). To this day, I still proactively tell no one about my ownership of an EV. There is no value. I charge it, drive it and really enjoy it. Flip side, if people see it and ask, I am more than happy to share my thoughts.

The wait was a pain, but as a generally 'conservative investor' in big ticket items, so far, there has not been an hour of regret since taking delivery. It is the future and I will be surprised if you don't look back and ask why you didn't order sooner

 

[Metralla]

My local fire department asked me to bring my car by so the department could examine basic EV fire techniques. It was pretty cool to share the extensive firefighter information that Tesla provides.

This coincidentally happened just after my Tesla solar/Powerwalls were installed. One member asked if the batteries on my house made me nervous..

BTW the Captain had just attended a seminar advising the best way to deal with an EV/battery fire was to just let it go if safe to do so, rather than drool water on the sputtering fire for hours.

 

[FOOLSLFDRVNG]

Look at the bright side. You’ll save much on cremation.

 

[rlsd]

Tesla Sentry Cam Video Reveals Model S Fire Was Arson, Not Battery-Related

When police first saw the burned-down Model S, they said EVs “tend to” catch on fire.

insideevs.com

There are lots of Tesla haters and misinformers there.

 

[AS9.9.]

Tesla Sentry Cam Video Reveals Model S Fire Was Arson, Not Battery-Related

When police first saw the burned-down Model S, they said EVs “tend to” catch on fire.

insideevs.com

There are lots of Tesla haters and misinformers there.

These people are batsh**t crazy now. I couldn't imagine wanting to set a car on fire just because I don't like the alternative fuel source it uses!

 

[Konicom04]

I lost 2 BMW 3 ( E46 330Ci and M3) to fires within a span of 2 years

BMW recalling 1.03 mln vehicles worldwide on engine fire risk

BMW will recall 1.03 million worldwideover potential fire risks, the German automaker said on Wednesday, its third recall over the issue since 2017.

www.reuters.com

 

[brainhouston]

Next time ask your friends to just google “EV fires vs gas cars” and you will see it is a fraction of the amount.

Yes, EV fires are more difficult to put out (especially if fire fighters are not trained properly) but fortunately training is occurring more. And I’d rather have a less chance of a fire.

If they say gas car fires are “safer”, show them this and watch at 4:15 mark:

And I have driven by several gas car fires over the years and not once have they been on the news or even reported in local media that I could find. Been looking since owning my Tesla for almost 7 years. But it seems every Tesla fire is reported. There are around 4 million Teslas on the road now and pretty rare to even hear of one catching fire.

Also just do a “fire risk recall cars” and see how many gas cars are affected. Do this by brand.

GM’s BOLT battery was an issue that unfortunately tainted the EV safety but that’s since been mostly resolved.

what caused that fire at 4:15? gas tank blew?

 

[Power Hungry]

Look at the bright side. You’ll save much on cremation.

Funny! Funnier still is that is exactly what I said at the time. Their comment was maybe in jest however it really annoyed me because it had taken a good while to convince my wife that a Tesla was a good idea.