TriShield

Tesla Model S Catches Fire, Stock Price Sinks



A Tesla Model S all-electric luxury sedan caught fire outside of Seattle after a collision with an unknown metallic object on Tuesday, the first such incident recorded to our knowledge. The Associated Press reports that the fire began in the vehicle’s battery pack, mounted beneath the passenger compartment floor, which created challenges for firefighters attempting to douse the flames. The Model S uses a large liquid cooled lithium-ion cell that uses similar chemistry to the batteries used in laptop computers.

The car’s alert system signaled a problem and instructed the driver to pull over safely, which he did. No one was injured, and the sole occupant had sufficient time to exit the vehicle safely and call the authorities. Subsequently, a fire caused by the substantial damage sustained during the collision was contained to the front of the vehicle thanks to the design and construction of the vehicle and battery pack. All indications are that the fire never entered the interior cabin of the car. It was extinguished on-site by the fire department.

We assume a lengthy examination will follow, as this could potentially be a make or break issue for the company if the vehicle is found to be at fault. Remember, there’s no gasoline involved here and lithium-ion batteries already have a reputation for running hot and catching fire. Boeing’s 787 Dreamliner was grounded soon after its inaugural flights earier this year because of electrical fires traced to the plane’s lithium-ion batteries.

Not coincidentally, Tesla stock dropped by $12.05 to close Wednesday’s trading at $180.95. Update: Tesla shares were at $174.20 late in the trading day on Thursday, which represents a further 3.8 percent drop in value.

According to a report issued by the Kent Fire Department Regional Fire Authority obtained by the International Business Times, the water initially used to put out the blaze apparently fueled the flames, which prompted firefighters on the scene to instead use a dry chemical. After finding the battery pack still on fire, the report says first responders,”had to puncture multiple holes in the pack to apply water to the burning material in the battery,” subsequently cutting open the vehicle’s frame in order to extinguish it.

Fortunately the ensuing blaze was said to be limited to the car’s front trunk space and no injuries were reported.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/jimgorze...k-price-drops/

sick_tight

Good thing they don't produce any pollution, until they get hit haha

Irunelevens

Very unfortunate fire, but the containment of the fire in the "engine bay" is incredible.

cmac06

iTrader: (16)

Agreed. It's amazing how volatile these situations can be, no pun intened.

Spoolin

iTrader: (8)

I hope nobody goes off the deep-end and calls these vehicles unsafe and a danger to the public. Because as far as I can recall, regular gas powered vehicles also catch on fire.

Irunelevens

And those catch the entire vehicle on fire and kill a LOT of people every year.

SparkyJJO

iTrader: (11)

obligatory

Irunelevens

Unless you use wind/solar/nuclear/geothermal energy.

Spoolin

iTrader: (8)

Kinda neat follow-up to the event on the behalf of Tesla.

http://www.teslamotors.com/blog/model-s-fire

2002_Z28_Six_Speed

iTrader: (19)

I can't count how many gasoline powered vehicle fires I have seen over the years. For some reasons a large percent of those were Chevy Blazers.

sick_tight

haha, exactly. ugh im dreading the electric car, its a great idea dont get me wrong. instant torque, could possibly have a motor for each wheel but i dont want to give up my manual shifting. (i know its going to be a LONG time but you already see how automatics are killing them off and now the electric car)

RogueFab

Wow. That follow up was pretty well written. I think the gross extrapolation of fire probability at the end of their response is childish though. Still pretty good of them overall. Saving face while serving the shareholders.

SparkyJJO

iTrader: (11)

They did make a standard car almost sound like a bomb waiting to happen

RogueFab

Yes. And a group size of ONE in your failure group for your disaster probability calculation is indicative that your sample size is too small. Until more catch on fire, they really can't give us a probability without a disclaimer about the large margin of error in the calculation. Someone needs to take a few more math classes before they publish their "calculations" representing a corporation.

Have fun driving your bomb. I will too

jimmy169

jimmy169

Wow that looks bad.



Wonder what the owner thinks: http://www.motorauthority.com/news/1...will-buy-again

Owner Robert Carlson wrote an email in response to contact by Tesla's vice president of sales and service, Jerome Guillen, saying he found the car had "performed very well under such an extreme test. The batteries went through a controlled burn which the internet images really exaggerates."

What an idiot, he's lucky to have made it out alive! I mean had he driven a normal car:





...typical gasoline car only has a thin metal sheet protecting the underbody, leaving it vulnerable to destruction of the fuel supply lines or fuel tank, which causes a pool of gasoline to form and often burn the entire car to the ground. In contrast, the combustion energy of our battery pack is only about 10% of the energy contained in a gasoline tank and is divided into 16 modules with firewalls in between. As a consequence, the effective combustion potential is only about 1% that of the fuel in a comparable gasoline sedan.

But seriously, why are people on this thread even having this conversation. Of course you know this. Of course the media knows this. Has politics and personal bias really dumbed down people to this level?

NW-99SS

iTrader: (6)

I'm curious as to why water was the first agent used by firefighters in attempt to put out a vehicle fire. Basic fire control 101, chemical fire = NO WATER.

And every type of vehicle fire is some sort of chemical fire...

Basically they threw water onto a grease fire.

jimmy169

Time2Kill

iTrader: (49)

RTFA

Water is SUPPOSED to be used when putting out a fire on the Tesla batteries.

SantosFletcher

You are right we need to use other sources of energy which are safe and creates less pollution