2021 Model S Plaid/LR Fire

[whitex]

Elon furiously going through Plaid S data logs...

Neh, some people are, not Elon. He will point out it's one Plaid fire against thousands of ICE cars which burned down this year.

Tesla's are the largest test vehicle fleet ever, these are brand new design vehicles, so some things are bound to go wrong. The usual plan is to learn from it and fix it via over the air software update (for example by limiting max charge and/or max charge rate, as they did with the older batteries after a few caught on fire). Of course this could have been an accident too, then there might be nothing to for Tesla to fix (unless they removed the titanium battery shield in the new design, that could be a PR disaster as they put it in all Model S because of a media shitstorm about less than a handful of accidents).

 

[RobDickinson]

People need to get over the physical size of the cells its almost irrelevant to the pack overall

 

[zanary]

People need to get over the physical size of the cells its almost irrelevant to the pack overall

why is it irrelevant? The new cells (coming to the Semi, Cybertruck this year and Next Gen Roadster next year) and they pack a lot more energy, range and power per cell.

Yes, the second image below shows a 4680 and the stats on the right are per cell. The first image below shows some of the pack numbers and what we have to consider is the new pack design. Counting, you'll see less cells when compared to 16850, however each cell has more energy. range and power.

 

[2101Guy]

Tesla Model S Plaid that Caught Fire Almost Trapped His Owner Inside

We are still waiting for more information on the Tesla Model S fire that happened in Gladwyne, Pennsylvania. Still, a lawyer from California tweeted that he represents the owner of that vehicle. Ben Meiselas works with Geragos & Geragos and said his client had the very first Model S Plaid in the...

www.autoevolution.com

 

[RobDickinson]

why is it irrelevant? The new cells (coming to the Semi, Cybertruck this year and Next Gen Roadster next year) and they pack a lot more energy, range and power per cell.

Theres a number of advantages with larger cells but most are not relevant to the overall package of plaid, cost, scale, etc, you can change chemistry in what ever size cells you have.

 

[MikeyC]

I don't care what size they are... I'd just prefer they not catch fire.

Mike

 

[RobDickinson]

I think we can at least agree on that...

 

[Krash]

Tesla Model S Plaid that Caught Fire Almost Trapped His Owner Inside

We are still waiting for more information on the Tesla Model S fire that happened in Gladwyne, Pennsylvania. Still, a lawyer from California tweeted that he represents the owner of that vehicle. Ben Meiselas works with Geragos & Geragos and said his client had the very first Model S Plaid in the...

www.autoevolution.com

I can imagine getting out of the car quickly during a fire but I can’t see how the car would roll. Doesn’t the car go into park as soon as the driver door is opened?

 

[Mrbrock]

In NV you get the plates when you register the car at the DMV, Same in CA. the reason there is those temp tags people always have is because they bought the car from a dealership and the dealer is doing the DMV crap so the plates come in the mail at a later date. Also in CA you can transfer your tags from one car to the next, this is common if someone has personalized tags or if they just have a random plate that is super easy to remember.
So perhaps PA has a similar method of getting/moving tags.

In CA, you can’t swap for prior personalized plates until you get the random ones in the mail. I tried when I bought my Tesla. Had to wait so I could exchange them (turn in). Got to hold onto them for over a year due to covid.

 

[bhzmark]

Lora K was very happy to write this story: Tesla Model S Plaid caught fire while driver was at the wheel, says fire chief

Of course she didn't write a story on this: Porsche Taycan Goes up in Flames in Florida Garage

or this: As mysterious BMW fires continue, calls for investigation into possible causes grow

 

[RobDickinson]

I have the feeling Lora K would be happy to push someone into a burning tesla to make the headline more exciting.

 

[Krash]

…Tesla Model S Plaid caught fire while driver was at the wheel, says fire chief…

…The car owner…tried to unlock and open the doors but had to force his way out of the vehicle, as the locks seemed to malfunction…​

Does the plaid have a door release button like the 3/Y? Maybe the driver just had to pull the handle twice which is pretty standard. How do you force your way out short of smashing the glass?

 

[MP3Mike]

…The car owner…tried to unlock and open the doors but had to force his way out of the vehicle, as the locks seemed to malfunction…​

Does the plaid have a door release button like the 3/Y? Maybe the driver just had to pull the handle twice which is pretty standard. How do you force your way out short of smashing the glass?

The Plaids are just like the 3/Y. There is an electronic button that you normally use on the top of the grab handle, and an emergency release in front of the window controls that you pull up on.

 

[electrifyme]

Ouch.

 

[David29]

The Plaids are just like the 3/Y. There is an electronic button that you normally use on the top of the grab handle, and an emergency release in front of the window controls that you pull up on.

Why do they (i.e., Tesla) do it like that? Just thinking about how to get out in a hurry, I certainly prefer the mechanical door mechanism in my 2015 Model S. Just another electronic gadget to break or fail in a crisis. Especially difficult in darkness or under conditions like a fire when one is also likely to panic.

 

[Krash]

The Plaids are just like the 3/Y. There is an electronic button that you normally use on the top of the grab handle, and an emergency release in front of the window controls that you pull up on.

Interesting change. But no soft close like the X?

 

[Dan D.]

…The car owner…tried to unlock and open the doors but had to force his way out of the vehicle, as the locks seemed to malfunction…​

Does the plaid have a door release button like the 3/Y? Maybe the driver just had to pull the handle twice which is pretty standard. How do you force your way out short of smashing the glass?

Can you smash the glass? Doesn't the S refresh have laminated glass windows that can't be smashed out?

I can imagine getting out of the car quickly during a fire but I can’t see how the car would roll. Doesn’t the car go into park as soon as the driver door is opened?

Would the car go into park if it was rolling and he leapt out (conjecture)? If it was a downhill grade and/or the car is rolling and you jump out what does happen? Assuming something was wrong with the electrics - as he could not apparently unlock the door or something - would that also interfere with any auto-stopping safety features?

 

[airborne spoon]

In CA, you can’t swap for prior personalized plates until you get the random ones in the mail. I tried when I bought my Tesla. Had to wait so I could exchange them (turn in). Got to hold onto them for over a year due to covid.

Never had that happen before, although my Tesla was my 7th car and it was the first one I'd ever bought from a stealership. I always just walk my happy ass into the DMV office with no appt and wait for like 15 min and just say I want my old plate on this car I just bought and they say ok and it's a done deal after some forms get filled out.
Guess that's one of the many downsides of getting a car from a stealership.

 

[jimm01]

In the news:

Tesla top-of-range car caught fire while owner was driving, lawyer says

A Tesla Inc (TSLA.O) Model S Plaid electric vehicle burst into flames on Tuesday while the owner was driving, just three days after the $129,900, top-of-the-range car was delivered following its June launch, an attorney for the driver told Reuters.

www.reuters.com

 

[MikeyC]

Obviously way too early to claim "defect" since it isn't known if the owner could have previously run over something and damaged the car... But seeing those 18650 batteries makes me question why Tesla is using their old generation smallest batteries to power a 1020 HP car that draws almost 800 kW of power. The Model 3/Y use the larger 2170 cells. Did they just run out of time and since the S was designed for 18650 batteries, they just went with that? Was Musk's prior comment about working on battery safety related to discharging 18650 cells at that rate? I'm sure Tesla was confident the setup was safe or they wouldn't have released it but I'm just hoping there aren't some operational cases they didn't test well enough like maybe taking a long trip with lots of supercharging and then accelerating hard or some other case that didn't have a lot of testing.

Mike