How To Handle Friends/Relatives Who Bring Up The Tesla Fire

[jackbowers]

Whip out your smart phone and search the Make/Model of the car they drive followed by the words "on fire." Some 90% of the time you'll find some pretty nice video to show them. This drives home the point that car fires are not uncommon, and that they are usually worse when gasoline is on board.

 

[Doug_G]

I'd show them the picture of a burning minivan that I came across a few weeks ago.

 

[texex91]

Ask them what car they drive, and let them know more of that brand have caught fire than a Tesla---with 187,000 cars catching fire every year, every brand has more than a few.

 

[SwedishAdvocate]

There’s a really telling gif here on Fisker Buzz. It’s 10 MB big tough, so I can’t post it here as well. But maybe there someone who can pull off some ‘magic’ and make an exception…

Hat tip to Fabulist.


- - - Updated - - -

…and there’s also a bunch of similar stories here:

ICE cars are dangerous.

 

[pebell]

Ask them what car they drive, and let them know more of that brand have caught fire than a Tesla---with 187,000 cars catching fire every year, every brand has more than a few.

I just answered such an email in this fashion:

Oh, that is horrible indeed, thanks for pointing that out to me!! But I did some research, and guess what?? The petrol in the cars that I drove the past 20 years was actually pretty flammable too!!

If I had known, I had taken the train all the time!

Oh no!! On second thought - I would have never left the house!

Rats!!!

 

[steve841]

My quote "I avoid running over road debris at all costs...unfortunately that owner didn't make it"

 

[ChadS]

I've been driving plug-ins for 5 years. If any friends or relatives are still seriously having issues with the cars, well...I'm starting to run out of patience.

 

[evme]

I just answered such an email in this fashion:

Oh, that is horrible indeed, thanks for pointing that out to me!! But I did some research, and guess what?? The petrol in the cars that I drove the past 20 years was actually pretty flammable too!!

View attachment 32039

It's ok, the fire seems to be limited only to the passenger compartment on that petrol car...

Interesting enough, not too long ago this happened but didn't get quite the same news coverage. I guess gasoline car fires are just too common to make any news out of:
http://www.autoblog.com/2013/08/21/dick-van-dyke-escapes-flaming-jaguar-highway-101/


I hope bicycles are still safe...

 

[Norse]

I think we all should do our job here. Im telling people how lucky he was that it was not a gas car and then I tell them how many car fires there are in US each year. Especially on news forum, I think we should be active.

 

[omarsultan]

I think, beyond the "all cars catch on fire" point, I think there are a couple of things worth pointing out:

1) The car was smart enough to tell the driver that there was a problem and to pull over and the driver had the opportunity to pull of the freeway, pull over, and get out of the car safely
2) The car's engineering and design successfully contained the fire and kept it out of the passenger compartment. If an ICE gets its fuel tank ruptured, there is no chance the fire is going to be contained.

O

 

[Discoducky]

With a Model S you can get out of the car and into a loaner P85+ until your new Model S is ready (since Elon said it is TM's fault if anything goes wrong with the battery).

 

[brianman]

With a Model S you can get out of the car and into a loaner P85+ until your new Model S is ready (since Elon said it is TM's fault if anything goes wrong with the battery).

Don't forgot the blowtorch caveat. We may be in blowtorch territory.

 

[GaryD]

On the ABC news site I found this quote:
http://abcnews.go.com/Business/wireStory/tesla-fire-shows-electrics-face-safety-challenges-20463902

"If you think about what you'd rather be close to, 10 gallons of gasoline or a battery pack, I'd pick the battery pack every day," said Giorgio Rizzoni, director of the Center for Automotive Research at Ohio State University, where he is a professor of mechanical and electrical engineering.

This argument is good enough for me!

 

[Btrflyl8e]

 

[ModelS1079]

The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) says 33 car fires are reported every hour in the U.S., and 18 percent of all reported fires occur on a road or highway and involve a motor vehicle. One person per day died in a car fire incident between 2003 and 2005, and in 2007 there were 258,000 vehicle fires causing 385 deaths, 1,675 injuries and 1.41 billion dollars' worth of damages. Teens and young adults with driver's licenses are most likely to be involved in car fire accidents, according to the National Fire Incident Reporting System, and young males are victims more often than females.

Read more: What to do if your car catches fire - NY Daily News

(apologize for cross-post, but seems timely)

 

[SwedishAdvocate]

Here’s another one.

NOTE: The firefighter in question appears unscathed since he continues to spray the fire.

NOTE II: Mind your ears.

 

[texex91]

The answer is simple--it's the safest car in America. Period.

That's a fact, not speculation.

The ratings that came out a few months ago haven't changed nor will they.

Now back to telling them why we love Tesla not defending it.

 

[Dart]

My wife drives a Range Rover Sport. I tried the excellent suggestion by the OP and sent her this link: Range Rover Sport 2012 Crash Fire Blown Up Accident - YouTube. Unfortunately, it didn't convince her.

 

[brandonmbeard]

I had a buddy post to facebook that "We better start carrying fire extinguishers", I promptly posted a picture of his type of car completely engulfed in flames and said ditto.

 

[Zextraterrestrial]

I had a buddy post to facebook that "We better start carrying fire extinguishers", I promptly posted a picture of his type of car completely engulfed in flames and said ditto.

here's mine just in case I see a gas fire on the road :wink: