Tesla catches fire, burns down garage, put out, reignites burns for 4 hours at shop.

Status
Not open for further replies.

PhotonWrangler

Flashaholic
Joined
Oct 19, 2003
Messages
14,412
Location
In a handbasket
A tesla engineer pulled the fuse out and then assumed it would be safe? How does removing a fuse protect from physical damage to the batteries from the initial fire?
 
Last edited:

WalkIntoTheLight

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Jun 18, 2014
Messages
3,967
Location
Canada
Musk needs to launch that cursed car into space. It's the only way to be sure it doesn't burn down another garage.
 

xxo

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Apr 30, 2015
Messages
2,991
I can see a fire starting after an accident, but there is no excuse for catching fire when parked in a garage.
 

xxo

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Apr 30, 2015
Messages
2,991
[FONT=&quot]Another tesla goes up in smoke?


[/FONT]
 

fyrstormer

Banned
Joined
Jul 24, 2009
Messages
6,617
Location
Maryland, Near DC, USA
Electric cars are cool, but hybrids and fuel cells are the future. High-wattage battery chemistry is just too dangerous in such large volumes. You might point out that gasoline and other liquid fuels are also flammable, but unlike batteries, gasoline and other liquid fuels aren't pre-mixed with the chemicals necessary for them to catch fire. Gasoline isn't mixed with oxygen until a few millionths of a second before it's ignited. The chemistry and physical construction of a battery is more akin to TNT than gasoline. I'm willing to tolerate that risk in small things that don't represent an enormous financial investment on my part, but I'm not willing to tolerate it in something as big and expensive as a car.

I have a 2018 Camry Hybrid. (yes, it has batteries in it, but they are much smaller and lightly-workloaded than the batteries in a Tesla.) It accelerates quite nicely and I can get 45mpg without changing my driving style at all. That's 2.5x the fuel economy I got from my previous car.

- - -

That second one happened in China. Lord knows whether it was being maintained properly, whether it had been damaged during shipment overseas, whether a hack mechanic had done something stupid, etc.
 
Last edited:

Chadder

Enlightened
Joined
Jun 21, 2007
Messages
277
Location
State of MO
My 12 year old loves Tesla's. I tried to take a picture of a Tesla service van on the highway for him the other day. I also wish I had it for this post. It was a Ford van! If you need a repair they send a service tech in his ford van. Gotta love it!
 

iamlucky13

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Oct 11, 2016
Messages
1,139
Electric cars are cool, but hybrids and fuel cells are the future. High-wattage battery chemistry is just too dangerous in such large volumes. You might point out that gasoline and other liquid fuels are also flammable, but unlike batteries, gasoline and other liquid fuels aren't pre-mixed with the chemicals necessary for them to catch fire. Gasoline isn't mixed with oxygen until a few millionths of a second before it's ignited. The chemistry and physical construction of a battery is more akin to TNT than gasoline. I'm willing to tolerate that risk in small things that don't represent an enormous financial investment on my part, but I'm not willing to tolerate it in something as big and expensive as a car.

According to the FEMA, a gasoline-powered car catches fire in the US every 3 minutes. That rate has gone down significantly in the last few decades despite the number of total cars increasing.

While only 1.6% of those were traced to starting in the fuel tank or lines outside of the engine compartment, that is still 2700 car fires per year. Quite a few more appear to be electrical issues even in gasoline powered cars, accounting for about 37,000 car fires per year.

However, 62% of fires start in the engine, transmission, or wheel area, and flammable liquids or their piping were identified as the first material to ignite in 26% of fires where that information could be determined, which if that percentage is accurate for all fires, means 46,000 fires per year are related to fuel, oil, or similar materials. Those fuels are a disproportionate 65% of fatal vehicle fires.

None of this should be interpreted as an argument on my part against internal combustion engined vehicles. I only bring this data to the discussion to counter the unfounded assumptions that electrical vehicles represent a significantly worse fire risk than conventional vehicles.
 

vadimax

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Dec 28, 2015
Messages
2,269
Location
Vilnius, Lithuania
There is one issue though: with a conventional vehicle if you notice a fire in its initial stage — all you need is a standard fire extinguisher (which is a must in EU, for example). If you notice a fire in Tesla — all you may do is evacuate in a hurry. There is no option to stop a fire when fuel and oxidizer are packed together.
 
Last edited:

Monocrom

Flashaholic
Joined
Aug 27, 2006
Messages
19,768
Location
NYC
There is one issue though: with a conventional vehicle if you notice a fire in its initial stage — all you need is a standard fire extinguisher (which is a must in EU, for example). If you notice a fire in Tesla — all you may do is evacuate in a hurry. There is no option to stop a fire when fuel and oxidizer are packed together.

Reason right there why I'll personally never own an all-electric vehicle.
 

markr6

Flashaholic
Joined
Jul 16, 2012
Messages
9,258
Ye gods I tried to read some of the comments in that article, but I could feel my IQ dropping simply by association; makes me appreciate the level of the discussion here on the forum.

LOL news site comments are always interesting. I can't seem to read them though, since that page has 14 video ads playing at the same time, and continually grows in length as I scroll. I think that page could crash the latest supercomputer. I wish we could go back to webpages from about 2000 and just enjoy the power of today's computers. Rant over.
 

alpg88

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Apr 19, 2005
Messages
5,260
There is one issue though: with a conventional vehicle if you notice a fire in its initial stage — all you need is a standard fire extinguisher (which is a must in EU, for example). If you notice a fire in Tesla — all you may do is evacuate in a hurry. There is no option to stop a fire when fuel and oxidizer are packed together.
it is not that, lithium batteries can be extinguished with yellow, class D extinguisher, made for metal fires, Tesla battery is sealed in a metal case, you just can't get that spray in there.
what makes it even worst is that lithium ion battery fire makes very toxic fumes. way more toxic than gasoline car fire
 
Last edited:

alpg88

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Apr 19, 2005
Messages
5,260
According to the FEMA, a gasoline-powered car catches fire in the US every 3 minutes. That rate has gone down significantly in the last few decades despite the number of total cars increasing.

While only 1.6% of those were traced to starting in the fuel tank or lines outside of the engine compartment, that is still 2700 car fires per year. Quite a few more appear to be electrical issues even in gasoline powered cars, accounting for about 37,000 car fires per year.

However, 62% of fires start in the engine, transmission, or wheel area, and flammable liquids or their piping were identified as the first material to ignite in 26% of fires where that information could be determined, which if that percentage is accurate for all fires, means 46,000 fires per year are related to fuel, oil, or similar materials. Those fuels are a disproportionate 65% of fatal vehicle fires.

None of this should be interpreted as an argument on my part against internal combustion engined vehicles. I only bring this data to the discussion to counter the unfounded assumptions that electrical vehicles represent a significantly worse fire risk than conventional vehicles.

i'm pretty sure good portion of those are insurance fraud, not my opinion, i was told so by insurance investigator.
 

MidnightDistortions

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Aug 7, 2014
Messages
1,229
Location
Illinois, United States
I won't ever buy an EV for this reason. Sure gas vehicles catch fire but it doesn't continue burning after putting out the initial fire. Once that battery is compromised your screwed. I've been fortunate with cellphone batteries not being damaged due to my harsh handling of cellphones but now I use strong durable cases.




As for electric cars, I like rechargeable batteries but I don't want to have to be bothered to recharge my car every night. Gas vehicle refueling to me is simple, fast and they last a lot longer provided they are well taken care of.

The less parts seem interesting but I don't want to put my mechanic out of business. At this point especially with lithium ion batteries, EVs are not practical right now. Even with Teslas advanced battery system, they still are a fire risk.

Also I'm concerned about battery longevity and lithium ion batteries don't really like being charged to 100% all the time but I'm not going to drive off with 80% either, especially the amount of time it takes to recharge one vs a gas engine.
 
Last edited:

wweiss

Enlightened
Joined
Feb 3, 2017
Messages
702
Location
Weston, CT
If you read the science of EV battery packs and not the headlines - or even just one headline, the future becomes clearer. EV are coming on full press.
EV have already logged over a billion miles and this being only a small fraction of the automotive world.
@vadimax - That was before diesel emissions were found to be more toxic than all others. The cost to clean those emissions on individual vehicles was either not possible or too expensive. But, please continue.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top