Tesla goes up in flames!

[Az_Rael]

Model 3 warranty covers battery fires too:

To provide you with even more assurance, this Battery and Drive Unit Limited Warranty will also cover damage to your vehicle from a Battery fire even if it is the result of driver error. (Coverage will not extend to damage that had already been sustained before a Battery fire occurred, or to any damage if the Battery fire occurred after your vehicle had already been totaled.)

 

[seattlite2004]

Model 3 warranty covers battery fires too:

To provide you with even more assurance, this Battery and Drive Unit Limited Warranty will also cover damage to your vehicle from a Battery fire even if it is the result of driver error. (Coverage will not extend to damage that had already been sustained before a Battery fire occurred, or to any damage if the Battery fire occurred after your vehicle had already been totaled.)

Wonder how they will "fix" a fire damaged vehicle. Maybe they'll just salvage and give a bunch of cash?

 

[dhanson865]

Wonder how they will "fix" a fire damaged vehicle. Maybe they'll just salvage and give a bunch of cash?

That's what I'd assume, buyback the car as though it is a trade in in perfect condition and let him order a new one or buy a CPO.

I'm sure his car insurance will be all over Tesla to make sure the insurance company doesn't have to pay out any more than they have to.

If he has good insurance they'll still cover some small difference between trade in and replacement cost.

 

[S4WRXTTCS]

I'd be really impressed if this was in fact a battery fire as it didn't spread. If it was then the fire protection in the battery worked great.

The lack of any cell popping makes it seem like the source was something else.

We've had at least one time where a Model S was plugged into a supercharger where it caught fire. The fault was in the electrical system where a contact wasn't properly tightened down.

I'm not aware of any Model S/X/3 has caught fire that wasn't hit or caught fire while charging. So this is a first as far as I know.

The car also didn't warn the driver, and instead it was a couple flagging him down to get him to pull over.

Tesla belonging to husband of US actor Mary McCormack shown shooting flames from undercarriage

 

[MP3Mike]

I'm not aware of any Model S/X/3 has caught fire that wasn't hit or caught fire while charging. So this is a first as far as I know.

There was at least one case, in France I think, that a Tesla caught fire during a test drive and Tesla said that it was because a worker failed to tighten some HV contact to the correct torque in the Tilburg assembly plant.

Edit: Here is a link to a story about it: Tesla says Model S fire in France was due to ‘electrical connection improperly tightened’ by a human instead of robots

Obviously that shouldn't be the cause of this fire. In the once in France the interior caught fire, in this recent one it appears to have just been the battery and not spread to the rest of the car.

 

[S4WRXTTCS]

Anyone find it a bit maddening the statistics people keep throwing around on some of the comments?

Mary McCormack on Twitter

On that link there is a spreadsheet consisting of EVERY Tesla related fatality whether it was a driver/passenger or a pedestrian/cyclist.

Which is informative in itself, but they use that to come to completely unfounded conclusions about a Tesla vehicle.

The first really bad comparison is they include pedestrian/cyclist deaths when a Tesla is involved, and the statistics they cite for other vehicles don't.

The second is they're not comparing for the region. You can't include deaths from USA, Europe, China, Japan, etc and then cite a study only including US statistics.

The third is they're lumping all Model S/X cars into what they call a Tesla, and they're comparing that number to a specific make/model of a different vehicle.

It's completely fair to compare a Model X (the 75D, and 100D) against an Audi Q7, but it's not quite fair to compare a Model X P100DL to it, and definitely not fair to compare any Model S

 

[Ludalicious]

Anyone find it a bit maddening the statistics people keep throwing around on some of the comments?

Mary McCormack on Twitter

On that link there is a spreadsheet consisting of EVERY Tesla related fatality whether it was a driver/passenger or a pedestrian/cyclist.

Which is informative in itself, but they use that to come to completely unfounded conclusions about a Tesla vehicle.

The first really bad comparison is they include pedestrian/cyclist deaths when a Tesla is involved, and the statistics they cite for other vehicles don't.

The second is they're not comparing for the region. You can't include deaths from USA, Europe, China, Japan, etc and then cite a study only including US statistics.

The third is they're lumping all Model S/X cars into what they call a Tesla, and they're comparing that number to a specific make/model of a different vehicle.

It's completely fair to compare a Model X (the 75D, and 100D) against an Audi Q7, but it's not quite fair to compare a Model X P100DL to it, and definitely not fair to compare any Model S

So much hate for Tesla on there. I went to my local auto parts store looking for new lug nuts. Absolutely no one supports Tesla. It's a word Auto Part stores don't want to hear it seems. The the consensus online also seems the same. Every little article gets blown out of proportion just because it is a Tesla. The world does not want to accept Tesla due to jobs in the auto industry being lost. But most of those jobs will probably now be replaced with software jobs to program the new vehicles and supporting apps.

 

[lunitiks]

Obviously the seat belts exploded here, causing the fire

 

[Tes La Ferrari]

That's what I'd assume, buyback the car as though it is a trade in in perfect condition and let him order a new one or buy a CPO.

I'm sure his car insurance will be all over Tesla to make sure the insurance company doesn't have to pay out any more than they have to.

If he has good insurance they'll still cover some small difference between trade in and replacement cost.

Yes - -this is what I was wondering too - how would they evaluate the depreciation - as if it's really heavy say - if it was a fire involving a 13 S - the gap between a new one and a 13 would be huge - wonder how Tesla would deal with that

 

[Evoforce]

ICE vehicles catch on fire every second across north America. Guess when a battery catches on fire every one goes nuts. I sure wouldn't want to be breathing in that smoke.

Curious if this is a Tesla that was rebuilt. That would make things interesting.

Yea, because maybe then Tesla will start allowing repair manuals and parts available to everyone. Then, people might be less likely to cobble together or not put the correct torque on something?

 

[Bebop]

ICE vehicles catch on fire every second across north America. Guess when a battery catches on fire every one goes nuts. I sure wouldn't want to be breathing in that smoke.

Curious if this is a Tesla that was rebuilt. That would make things interesting.

Yeah a lot of details to be uncovered. Very suspicious it would randomly catch fire.

 

[MP3Mike]

Yes - -this is what I was wondering too - how would they evaluate the depreciation - as if it's really heavy say - if it was a fire involving a 13 S - the gap between a new one and a 13 would be huge - wonder how Tesla would deal with that

Why would they have to look at a new one? There are still 13s and 14s available... Just like if your car is totaled from a collision the insurance company reimburses you based on comparable cars.

 

[Mark Z]

I wonder if the modification to the battery was completed? Perhaps this one was skipped?

 

[mongo]

Like what? Propylene glycol? They both have the same ignition temperature, around 700F. When mixed 50/50 with water, as is the case when used as coolant, they are both nearly inflammable (all of water needs to boil off first).

Ethylene glycol MSDS
Propylene glycol MSDS

You're clearly just trolling now.

And the Ethelene Glycol would boil off at 387.1 F....

 

[cwerdna]

I'm sure if they find there's a wide spread problem, Tesla will issue a recall.

Recalls do not necessarily need to affect a large population of vehicles nor be "wide spread". See Tesla Upper Control Arm CRACKED for some examples.

 

[Lon12]

From the 2013 Model S fire, Elon said: "the battery pack has a total of 16 modules – but was contained to the front section of the car by internal firewalls within the pack. Vents built into the battery pack directed the flames down towards the road and away from the vehicle."
In this latest fire it looks like the pack contained the fire as designed and the fire was actually dissipating by the time the fire truck arrived.

 

[Ken7]

So much hate for Tesla on there. I went to my local auto parts store looking for new lug nuts. Absolutely no one supports Tesla. It's a word Auto Part stores don't want to hear it seems. The the consensus online also seems the same. Every little article gets blown out of proportion just because it is a Tesla. The world does not want to accept Tesla due to jobs in the auto industry being lost. But most of those jobs will probably now be replaced with software jobs to program the new vehicles and supporting apps.

It’s called jealousy.

 

[lklundin]

The car also didn't warn the driver, and instead it was a couple flagging him down to get him to pull over.

Or maybe it did and we did not hear about it.

But let's assume that the car did in fact not warn the driver, that would be worrying.

For the battery cooling system to work, the coolant must have a temperature sensor (and probably more than one). So a combination of increasing coolant temperature with a low power load on the battery should trigger a warning.

Also, the performance of the battery cells (voltage, internal resistance) must change when they overheat, which should be detectable.

Can someone elaborate on what kind of sensors monitor the state of the battery?

Also, would a warning regarding a serious problem with the battery also be audible? - A model S/X driver could in the worst case have to evacuate six children, so you want to be able to react to a problem as quickly as possible.

 

[Plug Life]

Looks like someone's left Boring Co. flamethrowers in the car...

 

[Matias]

Looks like someone's left Boring Co. flamethrowers in the car...

Or perhaps it is a flamethrower -easter egg