Model S Accident/Fire

[JRP3]

CO, when reading your speculation last night I was hoping you were wrong about the traction pack involvement but suspected that you were right.
I did wonder about this however:

The only safe place to send the heat is the front of the car.

Why not to the rear? Maybe the front half of the pack would vent forward and the back half to the rear?

 

[renim]

A boy scout has 16 pieces of timber and a couple of tyres, and only manages to have 1 piece of timber partially burnt + 2 burnt tyres
is it a cascading fire? Not to the common person.

Tesla has used an overlapping layer defense system for this car, odds are, post accident, this pack is probably still a higher capacity pack than a new 60kWh pack
(unless it water damaged by the fire fighters.)

 

[aznt1217]

CO, when reading your speculation last night I was hoping you were wrong about the traction pack involvement but suspected that you were right.
I did wonder about
Why not to the rear? Maybe the front half of the pack would vent forward and the back half to the rear?

Rear jump seats can have occupants in the back. Plus the front has a firewall.

 

[JRP3]

Renim,
If more cells were burnt than were initially damaged by the impact that is in fact a cascade event.

aznt,
Good point.

 

[dsm363]

One of the best articles that calms the flames of fear I've read yet.

Yes, Teslas Can Catch Fire But Keeping Cool Is In Order - Forbes by Mark Rogowsky

Looks like a TMC member was interviewed for this too. Good quote.

I spoke with one such owner who lives not far from me in the San Francisco Bay Area. His 2 1/2 month-old Model S was hit crossing an intersection by a BMW M5. At first, this owner (who asked for privacy due to pending litigation) was concerned his vehicle might have caught fire. “The smell of smoke made me think there was fire,” he said, before realizing it was just the odor from the air bag detonation.

 

[Mario Kadastik]

Why not to the rear? Maybe the front half of the pack would vent forward and the back half to the rear?

My guess: the possible jump seats and therefore you might want to see your kids still...

 

[dsm363]

Nice to see Forbes finally have a reasonable, well written article too.

 

[beths11]

Tesla Burning In Wa.

I was surprised to sign on and not see this video?

Tesla car on fire - YouTube

Beth

 

[texex91]

NEWSFLASH

Cars (any brand) can catch fire in an accident.

Immediately go sell your car (including your ICE) and buy a bicycle.


​

 

[Scott Ales]

Nope, the tires could burn on the bicycle!

NEWSFLASH

Cars (any brand) can catch fire in an accident.

Immediately go sell your car (including your ICE) and buy a bicycle.


​

 

[texex91]

Nope, the tires could burn on the bicycle!

Well then, everyone sell their bikes too, and go buy a pair of running shoes---hmmm, maybe those could catch fire as well.

 

[mpt]

Some perspective on the event from TransportEvolved Tesla Fire: Why We Need To Keep Some Perspective

 

[Doug_G]

If he ran over scaffolding then I can see how it might have penetrated the pack. I've seen steel rods go right through some pretty robust structures. All it takes is for one end to hit the car, and the other to dig into the pavement. Then you have the full weight of the car pushing the rod in. If a steel rod penetrated one of the modules in the pack it would have shredded a whole bunch of cells, and fire was inevitable.

What is impressive, though, is that even with a catastrophic failure the car did not get engulfed in flames and the driver simply stepped out. Despite the "optics" of the situation in the media, I think the excellent performance of the pack following major damage was quite reassuring.

 

[Zaxxon]

Concur that CO's write-up is excellent. Not sure where the downvote rationale is, as I found his posts yesterday to be quite reasonable (even if they weren't postulating something that any of us here wanted to hear).

 

[DonPedro]

Bravo and great post, as usual.

When I'm away from the forum, you are the only member I check on to make sure I've read every post when I return.

Just wanted to let you know you've got fans here that appreciate your time, care, diligence, and level-headedness. Just not as vocal about it. I'm sure I'm not alone.

+1 Keep it up CapOp

 

[mknox]

If he ran over scaffolding then I can see how it might have penetrated the pack. I've seen steel rods go right through some pretty robust structures.

Here's my guess: Some sort of metal debris got flung up in to the wheel wheel, penetrated the plastic wheel liner and struck the DC-DC converter which is located up in the wheel well area. The DC-DC converter takes the high voltage DC from the main pack and "steps it down" to 12v DC for the 12v battery and systems. A short in this system could generate a lot of heat, causing the plastic materials in and around the frunk to catch fire. This may also explain why no debris was found on the road... it's still lodged in the DC-DC converter or melted in the process of shorting out the system.

 

[JRP3]

mknox,
That is not consistent with what Tesla has reported about the pack being penetrated.

 

[rcsting]

This VW burned to the ground in front of my shop. There was no accident involved and it didn't make the news.

 

[texex91]

This VW burned to the ground in front of my shop. There was no accident involved and it didn't make the news.

OMG! Another car caught fire--this is getting crazy. Folks there is a serious issue here--it looks like cars DO catch fire.

The good news is we've found 2 of the 185,000 that catch fire every year. Just another 184,998 to go. Keep the reports coming.

 

[mknox]

That is not consistent with what Tesla has reported about the pack being penetrated.

Has Tesla examined the car yet? (I've read/skimmed this entire thread and am still not clear if their statements are based on site reports or an actual examination). A short in the high voltage side of the converter would certainly put a huge thermal load on the pack and it could cause it to fail. All of the pictures seem to suggest (to me, at least) that the fire didn't reach the main pack.