Tesla ‘spontaneously’ catches fire on California highway
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (KRON) – A Tesla was in flames after the car’s battery compartment “spontaneously” caught fire on Highway 50, the Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District sa…
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Model S spontaneously catches fire on California Highway
- Thread starter mike in o.c.
- Start date
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EVRider-FL
Active Member
The photo of the front seems to show collision damage, and why is only the front showing signs of burning? I'm guessing this really wasn't "spontaneous."
AMPd
Well-Known Member
I thought that’s how the older model battery is designed to burn, venting to the front of the vehicle
Wish they'd come up with a built-in fire suppression system for these batteries. Would put a lot more people at ease. Not sure if such a chemical or mechanical device exists or can be made. I'm very curious as why this Tesla (other previous Teslas) burned. We see the headlines but there never seems to be any follow up.
ucmndd
Well-Known Member
The only real method to extinguish a lithium/chemical fire is lots and lots of water. So I suppose we could have a built-in fire suppression system if you’re willing to carry around 50,000 pounds or so of water for that once in a billion moment.
In case a "crazy uncle" (we all know they are out there 
) tries pointing to the story as evidence of EV frequently burning show them this. Gas vs. Electric Car Fires [2023 Findings] | AutoinsuranceEZ.com
) tries pointing to the story as evidence of EV frequently burning show them this. Gas vs. Electric Car Fires [2023 Findings] | AutoinsuranceEZ.comAttachments
Midnightsun
Active Member
Looking at the photos leaves me convinced it was something under the hood and not the main battery pack. Perhaps they had a LiPo 12V that burned.
Fire departments cut aggressively into burning Teslas to get access and cut power. I wouldn’t think much about the appearance of “damage”.
If anything, it is impressive the cabin is intact after this sort of fire.
Fire departments cut aggressively into burning Teslas to get access and cut power. I wouldn’t think much about the appearance of “damage”.
If anything, it is impressive the cabin is intact after this sort of fire.
So here's the thing, right?
Tesla battery packs don't just suddenly explode. It's not like gasoline vapor where there's a flashpoint and a sudden combustion. Lithium battery fires do burn hot and feed themselves, so they take substantial water to extinguish, but it takes minutes - not fractions of a second - for a fire to get going. Unless you are unconscious and/or trapped, you should have absolutely no issue whatsoever evacuating from a battery fire. So yes - it is great to see the cabin intact.
On a side note, what I see just from those 3 photos is a well-trained fire crew. They apparently knew exactly what to do for a Tesla fire:
1 - Ensure the passengers are out of the vehicle
2 - Cut the first responder loop under the hood
3 - Apply water DIRECTLY to the battery pack; lift the vehicle if possible. DO NOT vent the pack.
4 - Scan for hotspots using an IR camera - cool those with a steady stream of water.
Water - lots and lots of water - is the best firefighting agent for a lithium battery fire. Other agents such as foam etc tend to enscapulate the individual cells, retaining the heat and actually accelerating the thermal runaway.
Our local Tesla Owners Club' (Delaware Valley Tesla Owners Club - Home) offers a Crash Course to our local first responders - we come in, provide a 2-hour classroom training and then take them hands-on to explore owners' vehicles. Truly a service I'm very proud to be part of.
It'll be interesting to see if this changes as more and more drivers transition to EVs. I suspect some clever engineer / materials scientist will come up with a more effective method.
vcor
Tech Specialist
Looking at the Munro teardown of a 2022 Model S, it appears the latest Tesla pack design is even more resistant to thermal runaway. I will take time to validate if this is true. Tesla never stops creating better designs.
The difference is that each of those 50 ICE cars didn’t require 5K gallons of water to put out. It’s a reasonable concern that the MSM will take to the bank
Seeing as how it typically takes 500 to 1k gallons for a gas car fire, that adds up to more than 5k gallons in total real quick. But most don’t think of total impact.
BitJam
Active Member
According to the article linked to by @ucmndd for every one EV fire there are 2000 ICE vehicle fires. This is partly due to there being many more ICE vehicles on the road. But still, 1.5% of ICE vehicles catch fire while only 0.025% of EVs catch file which gives a ratio of 60 to 1.
italian bread
Member
The problem is having access to 5K gallons for a single accident / location. If there are no hydrants nearby, some fire trucks can only hold 500 gallons of water.
italian bread
Member
Video: Sacramento County siblings narrowly escape explosion after Tesla catches fire
They said they were driving along Highway 50 Saturday afternoon when they started hearing popping sounds. Sunit, who was behind the wheel, said she pulled over to the side of the highway and saw flames. She said her brother told her they needed to run away as fast as they could. In a video Sunit took right after she and Dilpreet got away, flames can be seen exploding from the Tesla just seconds later.
"We could have died in that moment," Sunit said. "I was really scared. I was panicking a lot and just re-living it. I'm getting emotional right now. But it was really scary."
Dilpreet said he and his sister were able to make it out relatively unscathed, but his mind immediately went to what would have happened if other loved ones were driving the family Tesla at the time instead.
"If one of my parents was in the car instead of us — we share the car — we might not be as quick. And it was a matter of two, three seconds," Dilpreet said.
Fire crews said they used around 6,000 gallons of water to extinguish the flames from the Tesla, an electric car. They compared that to the roughly 700 gallons that a regular gas car engulfed in flames takes.
Sacramento Metro Fire said the fire started in the battery compartment. But Sunit and Dilpreet said they still want to know why this happened. They said the car was serviced just a few weeks ago and no warnings popped up.
They said they were driving along Highway 50 Saturday afternoon when they started hearing popping sounds. Sunit, who was behind the wheel, said she pulled over to the side of the highway and saw flames. She said her brother told her they needed to run away as fast as they could. In a video Sunit took right after she and Dilpreet got away, flames can be seen exploding from the Tesla just seconds later.
"We could have died in that moment," Sunit said. "I was really scared. I was panicking a lot and just re-living it. I'm getting emotional right now. But it was really scary."
Dilpreet said he and his sister were able to make it out relatively unscathed, but his mind immediately went to what would have happened if other loved ones were driving the family Tesla at the time instead.
"If one of my parents was in the car instead of us — we share the car — we might not be as quick. And it was a matter of two, three seconds," Dilpreet said.
Fire crews said they used around 6,000 gallons of water to extinguish the flames from the Tesla, an electric car. They compared that to the roughly 700 gallons that a regular gas car engulfed in flames takes.
Sacramento Metro Fire said the fire started in the battery compartment. But Sunit and Dilpreet said they still want to know why this happened. They said the car was serviced just a few weeks ago and no warnings popped up.
Would be interesting to have an actual recording of events to when this started and how much time they did have.
Now THIS is an explosion (which of course is a gas car).
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