Ugh. Another Model S fire - 2013-11-06

[GDH]

Would be cool if there was a thread that provided photos and videos of many Internal Combustible Engines fires that occur each day?

Um no.

 

[gg_got_a_tesla]

Would be cool if there was a thread that provided photos and videos of many Internal Combustible Engines fires that occur each day?

ICE cars are dangerous.

 

[Mr X]

Well something is up with the Model S.


3 fires all in the same area it looks. This Model S barely has any damage compared to the other ones. Hopefully they are looking into what is causing this if anything or its just mere coincidences?

 

[Soundart]

Would be cool if there was a thread that provided photos and videos of many Internal Combustible Engines fires that occur each day?

What about the opposite?.... A thread with stories from tesla owners who have been in accidents whose cars DIDN'T catch fire.

Right now I'm not worried about the car, but I am worried about the perception. To the extent that people come to these boards for information, what abouit examples of accidents where owners were unhurt and the cars didn't catch on fire. Because right now, most people have not only heard about 3 tesla fires, but they have ony heard about 3 tesla accidents. So to them, the ratio is one to one (accident to fire). I'm not sure what effect this could really have, but even for the people on this board, might help to put things in perspective.

Aon a side note, the problem we have is such a small sample size. I.e. there really aren't very many cars on the road. So every thing seems skewed re 3 fires. The Concord instantly went from the safest airline to the most unsafe airline after "just" one crash because of its small number of flights.

 

[sub]

At this point it's about perception until we know more about this 3rd fire. I checked back on the Instagram profile that posted some of the pictures because I wanted to see her answer the question posed to her, "was there an accident". Her reply was "no accident". Not good.

Instagram

Edit - typo

 

[vfx]

Would be cool if there was a thread that provided photos and videos of many Internal Combustible Engines fires that occur each day?

Just go to Google Images and type (your favorite car model here) fire. You will get an very orange page on your screen.

 

[Convert2013]

What about the opposite?.... A thread with stories from tesla owners who have been in accidents whose cars DIDN'T catch fire.

Right now I'm not worried about the car, but I am worried about the perception. To the extent that people come to these boards for information, what abouit examples of accidents where owners were unhurt and the cars didn't catch on fire. Because right now, most people have not only heard about 3 tesla fires, but they have ony heard about 3 tesla accidents. So to them, the ratio is one to one (accident to fire). I'm not sure what effect this could really have, but even for the people on this board, might help to put things in perspective.

Aon a side note, the problem we have is such a small sample size. I.e. there really aren't very many cars on the road. So every thing seems skewed re 3 fires. The Concord instantly went from the safest airline to the most unsafe airline after "just" one crash because of its small number of flights.

The Concorde is not an airline, it is a type of supersonic airplane. Only British Airways and Air France operated them and then only a handful of them. Also those required an IMMENSE amount of maintenance (compared to other commercial jets) to maintain its safety record, not to mention it didn't fly that often (not 8 flights a day like the Boeing 737 for example). That's just part of the reason why they didn't make it in the larger airline world.
I am not too concerned about the Model S as even this last fire looks to be a pretty serious accident, lots of debris right next to it. I would be concerned if there were a spontaneous fire, just one sitting in a garage or parked. Haven't seen one yet. Let's see what Tesla's investigation reveals. Tesla's reputation "may" get slightly damaged depending on how they handle these first few incidents.

 

[ChriZ]

I'm finding it hard to defend this car. Even my parents and relatives are telling me to sell the car because its too dangerous. People will only read the headlines and ignore the causes. This isn't looking good for the company.

 

[Kraken]

Some observations I have from the pictures:

the air suspension up front appears to be providing absolutely no support as the tire almost seems tucked under.

dang that guy in scrubs changed clothes fast between one picture and the next!

 

[swegman]

Convert2013, post a little above you said "no accident".

 

[cwerdna]

I'm finding it hard to defend this car. Even my parents and relatives are telling me to sell the car because its too dangerous. People will only read the headlines and ignore the causes. This isn't looking good for the company.

Nor do many of those people know that an average of over 500 vehicles/day caught fire in 2011 in the US alone.

Everyone hears someone spouting that crazy garbage should point them to Highway vehicle fires
and do the math for them.

 

[apacheguy]

I'm finding it hard to defend this car. Even my parents and relatives are telling me to sell the car because its too dangerous. People will only read the headlines and ignore the causes. This isn't looking good for the company.

Well the first two fires can be discounted, as those incidents likely would have caused a fire on any type of car (electric, ICE, hydrogen). They involved high speed collisions with inanimate objects that could well have ruptured a gas tank. We'll just have to wait and see what Tesla says about this one.

I agree with you, though, that people unfortunately only read a misleading headline and do not delve into the specifics.

 

[Convert2013]

Convert2013, post a little above you said "no accident".

Is it official there was no accident? (Not what some teenage girl "observed" while passing by like those two guys in the truck in Washington). I looked at the picture with the debris all around the car and looks like it hit another car or object. We'll know soon enough. It does appear the front suspension may have failed. Can the battery assembly make contact with the ground in case of suspension failure? Not sure, but probably not. That would have been looked at in their failure and safety analysis during design. Let's see what they find.

 

[sub]

I would say odds are against a collision, but we could have a repeat of the first fire with debris and that wouldn't be good either. I would think they tucked the battery slightly above or flush with the bottom of the frame. Either way, I do not think failed suspension would be enough to grind through the plate/frame in the time it would take the driver to slow down, but I wouldn't wager money on that opinion.

 

[swegman]

I've seen two reports that there was no accident. Regarding the air suspension, I'm wondering whether it is possible that a fire burns the bladder (bag, or whatever it is called) of the air suspension, and hence that is why the body of the car appears to be so low.

 

[Sus]

I've seen two reports that there was no accident. Regarding the air suspension, I'm wondering whether it is possible that a fire burns the bladder (bag, or whatever it is called) of the air suspension, and hence that is why the body of the car appears to be so low.

If there was no accident why would the the owner say that the car saved his life?

 

[doug]

My understanding is that the car hit something.

 

[swegman]

Who knows; maybe he said that because the flames did not enter the passenger compartment. We will have to wait for more details. I am really hoping it is not another case of an object in the road piercing the batteries.

 

[Sus]

My understanding is that the car hit something.

Did you hear this from anywhere? Any idea what it might have hit?

 

[sub]

Another piercing of the battery will be almost as bad as a spontaneous fire at this point. If it were to happen a 2nd time years from now, no biggie, but twice in 6 weeks? I'm not trying to be negative here, just looking at it from the general public point of view, not to mention what the bears/shorts will do with this info.