Tesla Model S "Spontaneously" Erupts

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It seems a Tesla Model S was having a day much like any other six year old and just randomly melted down yesterday in a Shanghai parking garage. While Tesla fires have happened before, this fire also took out the Audi parked next to it thereby preempting it from self-immolating as well.

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Details are scarce, but it shows a Tesla Model S just chillin’ in a car park when out of nowhere, it goes from 0 to 100 incredibly fast as a plume of white smoke comes out from under the car. Naturally, in most situations, with smoke comes fire and shortly after the white plume became visible, the Model S immediately erupted into a ball of fire.
 
That’s part of why I’d be hesitant to purchase a used EV. No real knowledge of what abuse the battery has been through. Not saying that this cars battery was abused to cause this, just thinking of the age mostly.
 
It's going to interesting to see the details on this one, so far the info is so sparse that I haven't heard if it was even plugged in. But this might be one of the first actual 'scary battery fire' that some people have been waiting for.
 
That’s part of why I’d be hesitant to purchase a used EV. No real knowledge of what abuse the battery has been through. Not saying that this cars battery was abused to cause this, just thinking of the age mostly.
I don't think age should cause any battery to self-ignite.
But damage can.

That's why I find it a weak design to put the batteries in the floor. Even a pothole can hit it if you're unlucky and cause this.
 
Yesterday I drove by a grey Porsche Carrera that was abandoned in middle lane on 101 Northbound near LA yesterday, it had continuous smoke pouring out of the side vents to the rear of the doors.

I realized I better never drive an internal combustion again because my anecdotal experience is totally statistically meaningful.
 
Yesterday I drove by a grey Porsche Carrera that was abandoned in middle lane on 101 Northbound near LA yesterday, it had continuous smoke pouring out of the side vents to the rear of the doors.

I realized I better never drive an internal combustion again because my anecdotal experience is totally statistically meaningful.

I hear ya man, I saw a Toyota Camry once on cinderblocks with no wheels in Brooklyn and I'm never getting one of those.
 
Not the first time, and won't be the last time. It happening in China is more a coincidence than anything else. If anything it is more interesting because of the video. China has surveillance cameras everywhere, guess this is one of the benefits.
 
I don't think age should cause any battery to self-ignite.
But damage can.

That's why I find it a weak design to put the batteries in the floor. Even a pothole can hit it if you're unlucky and cause this.

You obviously know nothing about Tesla and think they sticky tape 18650 cells to the floor and ship them out...

They use a Titanium plate and 1/4” thick armour plate of ballistic rated aluminium and steel structures.
 
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You obviously know nothing about Tesla and think they sticky tape 18650 sells to the floor and ship them out...

They use a Titanium plate and 1/4” thick armour plate of ballistic rated aluminium and steel structures.
And as the above example shows it is still not enough.
 
This is just one tactics of many in China in the grand scheme to strengthen their industry by de-evauluating others. Maybe erupting iPhone batteries next. *tin foil hat emerges*
 
And as the above example shows it is still not enough.

I don’t see anything in that video that shows the battery pack was punctured or compromised.

I also like how convenient it is that the Tesla is perfectly framed in the video. Because China is so honest and all...

Meanwhile your driving around in a car with a paper thin plastic fuel tank and ignition sources galore.
 
I don’t see anything in that video that shows the battery pack was punctured or compromised.

I also like how convenient it is that the Tesla is perfectly framed in the video. Because China is so honest and all...

Meanwhile your driving around in a car with a paper thin plastic fuel tank and ignition sources galore.
Well you'd better hope that it was punctured because if it wasn't that bodes even worse for the image of battery powered cars.
Also the fuel tank is relatively small in size and is located further back in the car, and even if it is punctured it is not a guaranteed fire. With lithium batteries however you can almost guarantee that if it gets punctured it will burn violently.
 
This is why you don't buy replacement batteries from AliExpress.....

Honestly is anything safe to purchase there? Every single time I look at that site, all I find is cheap ripoff shit that has questionable at best safety.
 
Well you'd better hope that it was punctured because if it wasn't that bodes even worse for the image of battery powered cars.
Also the fuel tank is relatively small in size and is located further back in the car, and even if it is punctured it is not a guaranteed fire. With lithium batteries however you can almost guarantee that if it gets punctured it will burn violently.

Show me any instance where a properly maintained lipo battery has spontaneously erupted in flames.... I'll wait. If they aren't over/undercharged or punctured, they are not going to ignite and are far more safe than gas in a plastic tank.
 
Show me any instance where a properly maintained lipo battery has spontaneously erupted in flames.... I'll wait. If they aren't over/undercharged or punctured, they are not going to ignite and are far more safe than gas in a plastic tank.

So you are saying that 100% of all Lipo batteries are manufactured without any defects? That there is no possible way for a battery to overheat unless it's punctured or over charged?

I disagree.

With the hundreds of individual cells in these large battery packs, and with hundreds of thousands of battery packs in use, the odds are that some will have defective cells, and yes, some will end up catching fire.
 
So you are saying that 100% of all Lipo batteries are manufactured without any defects? That there is no possible way for a battery to overheat unless it's punctured or over charged?

I disagree.

With the hundreds of individual cells in these large battery packs, and with hundreds of thousands of battery packs in use, the odds are that some will have defective cells, and yes, some will end up catching fire.


The packs in the cars have a few thousand cells, and they aren't cheap untested chinese knockoffs. Do some come out with manufacture defects? No doubt, but that doesn't mean they just throw them in the cars without prior testing...... Still waiting on an article that backs your theory that they are putting defective cells in the cars and that caused it to burst into flames.... You can disagree all you want, but if you can't back it up with facts, it doesn't matter.

The car is nothing without those battery packs, and teslas made sure to engineer the equipment to prevent over/underchargin, active cooling and heavy shielding to stop puncture in all but the most extreme impacts. The kinds of impacts that would damage any car.


*edit* And since you think this is somehow just a tesla/battery issue, a coworker just had to take his new NSX into the shop for an emergency recall for the gas tank. Apparently there was a manufacturing issue and it was too close to a heat source, with very high potential to leak and ACTUALLY burst into flames. He got a call by both the dealer and manufacturer saying do not drive the car, we'll flat bed it to the dealer to fix. Being a mid engine car, they almost had to fully disassemble for the repair.

But tesla's explode, amiright?.......
 
With nothing but an out of context video of the car erupting into flames there's no reason to come to any particular conclusion. Could be straight-up sabotage.

Pretty amusing to the see the "related articles" further down the page with headlines like Tesla Sued for Potentially Defective Model S Battery After Crash Killed Two Teens. Then you read that the teen was driving 116 mph attempting to circumvent traffic in a 30 mph zone, and lost control going into a left turn with a suggested 25 mph speed. When he lost control he braked, slowing to a mere 86 mph, and then made impact with a concrete wall.
 
Show me any instance where a properly maintained lipo battery has spontaneously erupted in flames.... I'll wait. If they aren't over/undercharged or punctured, they are not going to ignite and are far more safe than gas in a plastic tank.

Tesla batteries come punctured from the factory.
 
Here's another Tesla that also randomly caught on fire for no reason.



No reason?? Not a Tesla. Guy retrofitted a tesla battery to the ancient EV, did not put in proper charging circuitry.

Obviously you didn't even watch the video, because the guy even says so: Jump to 2:24
 
No reason?? Not a Tesla. Guy retrofitted a tesla battery to the ancient EV, did not put in proper charging circuitry.

Obviously you didn't even watch the video, because the guy even says so: Jump to 2:24

Obviously you didn't get the joke. You get a thumbs up for being tricked by obvious trick.
 
The packs in the cars have a few thousand cells, and they aren't cheap untested chinese knockoffs. Do some come out with manufacture defects? No doubt, but that doesn't mean they just throw them in the cars without prior testing...... Still waiting on an article that backs your theory that they are putting defective cells in the cars and that caused it to burst into flames.... You can disagree all you want, but if you can't back it up with facts, it doesn't matter.

The car is nothing without those battery packs, and teslas made sure to engineer the equipment to prevent over/underchargin, active cooling and heavy shielding to stop puncture in all but the most extreme impacts. The kinds of impacts that would damage any car.


*edit* And since you think this is somehow just a tesla/battery issue, a coworker just had to take his new NSX into the shop for an emergency recall for the gas tank. Apparently there was a manufacturing issue and it was too close to a heat source, with very high potential to leak and ACTUALLY burst into flames. He got a call by both the dealer and manufacturer saying do not drive the car, we'll flat bed it to the dealer to fix. Being a mid engine car, they almost had to fully disassemble for the repair.

But tesla's explode, amiright?.......

Wasn't defending ice cars, or saying that Tesla is intentionally putting in defective cells.
I'll even agree with your statement that Tesla probably has the best engineering when it comes to the battery packs.

However, that still doesn't change the fact that the batteries can burn, and once a fire starts, it's difficult to put it out.
Electric cars and their batteries are still new compared to ICE cars, and the numbers sold is still a small fraction of ICE cars.

I think we still need several more years before anyone can draw a proper conclusion.
 
Wasn't defending ice cars, or saying that Tesla is intentionally putting in defective cells.
I'll even agree with your statement that Tesla probably has the best engineering when it comes to the battery packs.

However, that still doesn't change the fact that the batteries can burn, and once a fire starts, it's difficult to put it out.
Electric cars and their batteries are still new compared to ICE cars, and the numbers sold is still a small fraction of ICE cars.

I think we still need several more years before anyone can draw a proper conclusion.


Once they start burning, it's basically impossible to put them out. They just keep water on it to keep it cool and try and prevent it from spreading. Lipo fires are legit scary, but I would not be worried about that happening in a tesla without external factors causing it. Plus they write some sensationalist article every time a telsa does have a fire, and there are surprisingly few instances compared to how many of them there are on the road.
 
Once they start burning, it's basically impossible to put them out. They just keep water on it to keep it cool and try and prevent it from spreading. Lipo fires are legit scary, but I would not be worried about that happening in a tesla without external factors causing it. Plus they write some sensationalist article every time a telsa does have a fire, and there are surprisingly few instances compared to how many of them there are on the road.

You cant really put water on an oil fire either as it will just spread. Personally id rather deal with a lipo fire that stays in 1 place than a flammable liquid fire that can douse people and property.
 
You cant really put water on an oil fire either as it will just spread. Personally id rather deal with a lipo fire that stays in 1 place than a flammable liquid fire that can douse people and property.

So would that Audi in the video.............oh......wait......
 
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