A Tesla Model S parked in a garage was filmed bursting into flames in Shanghai.

[Casino]

A Tesla vehicle has caught on fire seemingly without being involved in a crash.

There’s no statistical evidence that shows electric cars catch on fire at a higher rate than gasoline vehicles. In fact, the opposite is true. But fires involving batteries can be more difficult to extinguish.

Furthermore, the causes of fire can be fairly different.

After a severe crash, there’s a higher chance of fire for any car regardless of the type of powertrain, but when a vehicle catches on fire seemingly on its own without being involved in a crash, it’s important to determine the cause.

 

[Pushmi-Pullyu]

Gasmobile fires happen about three times as often as EV fires, on a per-car basis. Guess which ones get attention from the news media?

 

[marshall]

"After a severe crash, there’s a higher chance of fire for any car regardless of the type of powertrain, but when a vehicle catches on fire seemingly on its own without being involved in a crash, it’s important to determine the cause."

Hasn't Tesla sent a team to China to do exactly that? However, most of the fires have been Model S vehicles and seem to fall into two main categories, road debris strikes or crashes. Tesla did come up with extra shielding, but it's unknown if this car had the shielding.

 

[Pushmi-Pullyu]

...it's unknown if this car had the shielding.

Good point. This is obviously an older Model S, since it has the nosecone, so perhaps it doesn't have the battery pack shield.

I admit my first thought was "Oh no, another case of a fire in a car parked after damage from road debris", but then I read the comments on the IEVs news article, which pointed out some suspicious things here:

1. The fire flares up much more rapidly than is seen in other videos of a Tesla car fire. However, it may be this is a result of editing the video, so that doesn't necessarily signify.

2. The flareup is followed by flames coming out from the front of the car, which is at least unusual if not suspicious, because it doesn't follow the pattern of other Tesla battery pack fires. The battery pack isn't located in the front part of the car. Flames should come first from the sides, as seen in other videos. Flames should only come from the front later -- if at all -- as the fire spreads beyond the battery pack.

3. It seems at least convenient, if not suspicious, that the Tesla car was so well framed in the video. For example, if it had been parked two spaces to the right, then the pillar would have been in the way and we wouldn't have been able to see things nearly as clearly as it's seen here.

So, I can see why some suggest this is a case of arson, and intended to create a video to be used by the fanatical Tesla basher cultists. (See TESLAQ if you don't know what I'm talking about.)

​

 

[bwilson4web]

A TSLA investor, I am somewhat curious why an older Model S might have a problem. BTW, my frame-by-frame viewing suggests smoke/vapor coming out of both side before the flames.

Bob Wilson

 

[Pushmi-Pullyu]

A TSLA investor, I am somewhat curious why an older Model S might have a problem. BTW, my frame-by-frame viewing suggests smoke/vapor coming out of both side before the flames.

That's what we've seen before in videos of Tesla cars experiencing a battery fire.

It may be that the video has been edited for length, which would present a misleading picture of how rapidly the fire spread. One comment claimed that there was a longer version which showed smoke coming out for quite a few seconds before flames were seen. There was some argument over that, pointing out that the video shows a second-by-second time stamp; but what's shown in the YouTube video is cropped so most of the time stamp is missing. I can't tell how much has been edited out, if any.

So perhaps it's not a staged fire, as my earlier comment suggests.

At any rate, I'll be glad when EVs are so commonplace that an EV car fire won't attract any more media attention than a gasmobile car fire. Which is to say, no attention at all unless there's something highly unusual about the fire, or there is a celebrity connected to the car.

​

 

[siway]

Here is the more details about the tesla fire in Shanghai. I got from a Chinese news and translated by google.
The owner said he just charged Tesla ModelS from supercharge station and back to parking garage.

=======

On the morning of the 22nd, Tesla's official Weibo responded that there were no casualties and it was under investigation.

Cui Dongshu, secretary-general of the National Passenger Car Market Information Association, said in an interview with Caijing’s new media that from the video point of view, the Tesla did not charge, did not collide, and spontaneously ignited in complete static conditions, and only It caught fire in a few seconds. If the owner has not modified or mishandled, the vehicle battery is short-circuited or the fuselage system is faulty, resulting in a higher possibility of spontaneous combustion.

The highly sought-after Tesla has been in constant accidents in recent years. Shanghai Tesla's spontaneous combustion accident has also caused more people to worry about vehicle safety. Judging from the reaction of netizens, this incident is detrimental to Tesla's brand image in the public mind. Some experts also told the new media of Caijing that if it is a systemic problem of Tesla, it is a catastrophic accident for Tesla.

Tesla spontaneously ignited and the community owners evacuated

The online video showed that at around 8:15 pm on April 21, a white Tesla car in an underground garage suddenly smoked and ignited in a few seconds and ignited several cars next to it.

According to media reports such as Xinmin Evening News and Dongfang.com, the underground garage is located in Taide Huayuan Community, Yude Road, Xuhui District, Shanghai. Residents of the community said that after the emergency occurred, the residents living in the high-rise buildings of the community were evacuated. Due to the pungent smell of the underground garage, the firefighters could not enter the garage at one time and could only save by pouring water into the garage. The entrance to the garage was also closed.



The new media of Caijing found that many community owners had evacuated Tesla after the fire was released on Weibo last night: "Running out in pajamas" "The first 16th floor of life was evacuated."

For the damage caused by the fire caused by the self-ignition of Tesla, some netizens said that the two-story vehicles in the entire garage were affected by the flooding.

Shanghai Xuhui District Fire said that at 20:32 last night, Shanghai Xuhui firefighters said that a fire broke out in the underground garage of Wending Road, and firefighters were on fire. At the scene, three cars of Tesla, Audi and Lexus burned. The Tesla new energy car burned more seriously, and the other two cars burned to varying degrees. There were no casualties at the scene. At present, the cause of fire and property damage are under investigation.

On the morning of the 22nd, Tesla's official Weibo responded to the spontaneous combustion incident for the first time. "After learning about the accident that occurred in Shanghai, we sent the team to the scene last night. We are actively Contact the relevant department and cooperate with the verification. According to the current information, there are no casualties."



Smoke is only 3 seconds from the fire, the owner: I am afraid after thinking about it.

From the video of Shanghai Tesla's spontaneous combustion, white Tesla is only 3 or 4 seconds from the smoke to the fire.

Many netizens said that if there is someone in the car, this time is too late to escape.

A netizen wrote, "Tesla has only used it for 3 seconds from the smoke to the fire. For many car owners, if it happens on the road, it is too late to react and escape. This should be Tesla's extremely serious safety accident. Even more than a car accident caused by autonomous driving is a hundred times more serious!... ”



"At present, the accident is still under investigation. I also hope that there will be a result as soon as possible." The owner of the self-igniting Tesla said in an interview that he did not close his eyes that night and was in a hurry. The time of the incident was that he was parked in the warehouse, but about half an hour. "If I parked for half an hour late, or have been in the car, go half an hour late? I don't dare to think about it..."

What caused spontaneous combustion?

According to Mr. Dong, the owner of the car, this morning, the scene was always blocked by the relevant departments, and he could not enter. This Tesla was purchased about three and a half years ago, model Model P P85. Because it is a test drive in the 4S shop, there is a certain discount.

Although the official investigation has not yet been released, various speculations continue.

There is a network screenshot message saying that it is the car owner's private charging line charging leads to spontaneous combustion. The owner said in an interview with the media that the car had just completed super charging a few hours ago and did not charge when it ignited.

In the interview with the news, the residential property also denied the claim that the owner of the car pulled the wire and caused spontaneous combustion.

Cui Dongshu told the new media of Caijing that from the video point of view, this Tesla did not charge, did not collide, spontaneously ignited in a completely static situation, and only caught fire in a few seconds. If the owner has not modified or mishandled, the vehicle battery is short-circuited or the fuselage system is faulty, resulting in a higher possibility of spontaneous combustion.



Wang Dong, director of the National 863 Electric Vehicle Major Power Battery Test Center, said in an interview with the Daily Economic News that “electric vehicle fire is only a phenomenon, and the focus is on the reason behind it. It may be that the battery is short-circuited externally, causing heat to be sharp. The rise causes combustion, and the more serious is the internal short circuit of the battery and the combustion caused by the combustion of the electrolyte."

Wall Street news quoted overseas experts as saying that the high probability is caused by overheating caused by short circuit of lithium battery, just like the Samsung mobile phone explosion in recent years.

What caused the spontaneous combustion accident, the results of the investigation are still to be released. Experts believe that because the vehicle is completely burned, the investigation of the cause of the accident will be more complicated and the process may be longer.