Model S Accident/Fire

[Newscutter]

I've followed all of the relevant news stories over that last couple days and here's my conclusions (in no particular order):

1) A Tesla would be a poor vehicle choice for running over violent motorcycle gangs in NYC as a motorcycle could be considered a "large piece of metal" on the roadway.'

2) Just like the federal government, a Tesla is never really FULLY shutdown until the flames are put out. Same could be said of this thread, coincidentally.

3) A Concorde also struck a large piece of metal resulting in a fuel tank puncture and fire. So Boeing would be wise to mount its batteries underneath like Tesla so pilots would have time to safety pull off the runway instead of crashing into a hotel.

4) The frunk should not be your first choice of location to carry ice cream or candles. However, if first packed with palm fronds, it could be a great location for transporting a pig.

5) Rated range can decrease suddenly.

------------------
Bored Elon Musk ‏@BoredElonMusk31m
Chance of electrical car fire: .001%. Chance of your Yukon Denali gas guzzler destroying the Earth slowly: 100%

 

[texex91]

I've followed all of the relevant news stories over that last couple days and here's my conclusions (in no particular order):

1) A Tesla would be a poor vehicle choice for running over violent motorcycle gangs in NYC as a motorcycle could be considered a "large piece of metal" on the roadway.'

Now that's funny...:biggrin:

 

[Takumi]

No worries... ...that'll buff out, right?

 

[scottf200]

Video: Tesla Model S Goes Up in Flames After a Collision (UPDATE 2: Official Incident Report)

http://insideevs.com/video-tesla-model-s-goes-up-in-flames-after-a-collision/


Update: An incident report has been released. In part, it tells this story, according to ABC News:

“In an incident report released under Washington state’s public records law, firefighters wrote that they appeared to have Tuesday’s fire under control, but the flames reignited. Crews found that water seemed to intensify the fire, so they began using a dry chemical extinguisher.” “After dismantling the front end of the vehicle and puncturing holes in the battery pack, responders used a circular saw to cut an access hole in the front section to apply water to the battery, according to documents. Only then was the fire extinguished.” “The incident happened as the Tesla’s driver was traveling southbound on state Route 167 through the Seattle suburb of Kent, said Trooper Chris Webb of the Washington State Patrol. The driver said he believed he had struck some metal debris on the freeway, so he exited the highway and the vehicle became disabled.” “The driver, who did not return a phone call seeking comment, told authorities he began to smell something burning and then the vehicle caught fire.” “Firefighters arrived within 3 minutes of the first call. It’s not clear from records how long the firefighting lasted, but crews remained on scene for 2 1/2 hours.”

Update 2: Below you’ll see the actual incident report in its entirety:

 

[Smop]

Video: Tesla Model S Goes Up in Flames After a Collision (UPDATE 2: Official Incident Report)

http://insideevs.com/video-tesla-model-s-goes-up-in-flames-after-a-collision/


Update: An incident report has been released. In part, it tells this story, according to ABC News:


Update 2: Below you’ll see the actual incident report in its entirety:

This exact information has been posted 6-7x previously in this thread.

 

[Soflason]

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

+1

Perspective, good to see in the media.

Happy they provided some real context here, kudos to Mark Rogowsky at Forbes.

Also...

@CapOp - great post, no need to be frustrated, your posts are always some of the best we're extremely fortunate to read here on TMC.

 

[brandonmbeard]

I've followed all of the relevant news stories over that last couple days and here's my conclusions (in no particular order):

1) A Tesla would be a poor vehicle choice for running over violent motorcycle gangs in NYC as a motorcycle could be considered a "large piece of metal" on the roadway.'

NYC Tesla store should be alerted to this, so test drives don't go chasing after motorocycle gangs.

 

[mep]

Even the NYT reports now that the fire started in the car's battery pack. This supposedly is according to information from Tesla.

http://wheels.blogs.nytimes.com/201...la-model-s-included-its-lithium-battery/?_r=0

Yes, ICE cars do catch fire but unfortunately that is not the issue. There is nothing as powerful as a video and the media hungry for "breaking" news. This is not fair but also not over yet. I just checked again, the Youtube video now has 350,000 views, up from 50,000 last night at 9:30pm. The graph below shows the trend. It seems to taper off a bit.

Tesla car on fire - YouTube

For comparison, the most highly watched video on Youtube is the one on how the Model S is made (1,462,957 views) followed by the Car and driver video on the MS (1,462,957 views). Let's see where this is going.

 

[texex91]

Even the NYT reports .

Ah yes, the NYT, the most trusted name in news and voice of reason--NOT.

 

[mep]

Ah yes, the NYT, the most trusted name in news and voice of reason--NOT.

I don't care about the NYT but about Tesla. That is why I said "supposedly". We need to be open to the possibility that a battery pack fire could be the cause of this. We will see how this unfolds. I am not biased towards anything. I just want to know what happened without dismissing any scenario. I am as happy about my car as you are about yours but try to be a bit more open minded. I am not (or anybody on this forum) responsible for what happened or what is happening to the Tesla stock but there is a lot of psychological issues involved here. I guess one can also see this in the emotions that come through in some of the posts seen in this thread.

 

[Chickenlittle]

Even the NYT reports now that the fire started in the car's battery pack. This supposedly is according to information from Tesla.

http://wheels.blogs.nytimes.com/201...la-model-s-included-its-lithium-battery/?_r=0

Yes, ICE cars do catch fire but unfortunately that is not the issue. There is nothing as powerful as a video and the media hungry for "breaking" news. This is not fair but also not over yet. I just checked again, the Youtube video now has 350,000 views, up from 50,000 last night at 9:30pm. The graph below shows the trend. It seems to taper off a bit.

Tesla car on fire - YouTube

For comparison, the most highly watched video on Youtube is the one on how the Model S is made (1,462,957 views) followed by the Car and driver video on the MS (1,462,957 views). Let's see where this is going.

I suspect the members of the board account for half the hits. Watched over and over myself

 

[adric22]

Why has it taken so long for the "large metal object" to be identified. I mean, surely it didn't disappear did it? It's either on the side of the road, or still stick inside the car somewhere. Why can't somebody look and tell us all what object it was. I think that is a significant part of this story and shouldn't be left out.

 

[scottf200]

This exact information has been posted 6-7x previously in this thread.

Apologies but this thread moves really fast and has many post. I looked back some but didn't see it. I thought my post was succint and may be helpful to those not following every page/post (ie. recap). Plus insideevs may have some more updates so I provided the link / source.

 

[Smop]

I'm left with a burning (doh! sorry for the unintended pun) question:
Did they engage tow mode so that nobody would be injured by the air suspension auto-leveling?

The 12v battery was disabled by this point so the air-suspension would have been disabled.

 

[wcalvin]

Battery coolant as second source of liquid

The burning liquid seen in the fire might have a second source besides brake fluid. The coolant for motor and battery is, I recall, managed from that front hump in the battery pack--near where the fire was centered, apparently.

The fire department report suggests that they did a lot of damage to that area themselves in trying to get water to the innards.

 

[mep]

I suspect the members of the board account for half the hits. Watched over and over myself

Yes, you are right, of course. However, we are not responsible for most of the 19,300 google search hits you get when you specifically search for the term "Tesla fire" (in quotes).

Here is a reasonable view on the events. Good read.

Deutsche Bank: Tesla Fire Had To Happen - Business Insider

It had to happen and Deutsche Bank does not see a reason to downgrade the stock.

I agree with their assessment:
"This incident does not change our positive thesis on the company or the stock," concludes Galves. "Given significant Roadster and Model S experience (6 years, tens of millions of miles driven) without a fire, we have confidence that this is an isolated incident that could happen to any vehicle."

Right on!

 

[omarsultan]

At the end of the day, I think that fact that a main pack caught on fire is not significant and was a guaranteed eventuality. If I remember correctly, in the last earnings call, George or Elon noted that there had been X million miles driven and no battery pack issues but also pointed out that statistically, that was not going to last.

I think the important thing is to understand the circumstances and how much of a corner case it really was (or was not). The key so far came out in yesterdays Tesla release that this was not a spontaneous event, which is hugely important. What we need to understand is how reproducible the scenario is.

O

 

[rolosrevenge]

Ok, now we're in fantasyland. It was confirmed that the car "collided with a large metallic object"; it wasn't confirmed that the car ran over something small enough to go under the car and still be strong enough to rip through the 1/4" steel battery pack which despite losing cells and coolant all over the road continued to operate till the driver could pull over.[/sarcasm. I apologize]

There's any number of things which could have happened so please let's stop insisting that something "ripped into the battery pack" when there is zero evidence to that.

Well, I'm going to hop on a unicorn now and ride over the rainbow bridge here in fantasy land ...

 

[ToddRLockwood]

Here's what's in the area where the fire was located. You can see the front end of the battery pack at the very top of the image, located well behind the crumple zone. It is my understanding that this part of the battery, which is taller and narrower than the rest of the pack, contains control gear and not batteries. Of course, a short across a major circuit inside this part of the pack could start heating things up. Puncturing the nose of the battery pack would be a one-in-a-million occurrence, given how little of it is exposed. I'm still wondering about that burning liquid on the pavement.

 

[rolosrevenge]

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.

I agree entirely. A pack fire was going to happen eventually. How much the better that no one was hurt and it was an extremely freak accident.