Elon Musk announced that he would sue any journalist (including citizen journalists, I suppose) who said or wrote disparaging comments about Tesla and their tendency to emulate a raging bonfire. Indeed, stories about Teslas on fire seem to be particularly displeasing to the South African immigrant.
Well Leon, I’m about to write and share a bunch of negative stuff, all of it backed up by facts; so have your lawyers email me through this platform and I’ll let them know where to serve the paperwork. Discovery will be so much fun!
First published in 1965, Unsafe at Any Speed: The Designed-In Dangers of the American Automobile, is a non-fiction book by consumer advocate Ralph Nader, which lambasted the auto industry for failing to properly invest in safety.
I wonder what Nader would have to say about a vehicle that, based on recent history, might just be unsafe at NO speed. That’s right, a Tesla does not need to be moving, or have its engine running, to suddenly burst into flames. And they can self-ignite after weeks of sitting peacefully in a salvage yard. These are facts (and not the “alternative” kind).
This report from the Washington Post details a Tesla that spontaneously ignited after sitting in a wrecking yard for several weeks:
...When firefighters arrived, the electric car was engulfed, according to the Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District. Every time the blaze was momentarily extinguished, the car’s battery compartment reignited, the fire department wrote in an Instagram post. Firefighters and wrecking yard workers tried turning the car on its side to aim water directly onto the battery pack. But “the vehicle would still re-ignite due to the residual heat,” the department wrote.
So they tried something else: They used a tractor to create a pit in the dirt, managed to get the car inside, then filled the hole with water. That allowed the firefighters to submerge the battery pack and ultimately extinguish the fire, which burned hotter than 3,000 degrees, Capt. Parker Wilbourn, a fire department spokesman, told The Washington Post.
All told, it took more than an hour and 6,000 gallons of water for the dozen firefighters to extinguish the blaze, Wilbourn said — about the same amount of water used to put out a building fire (emphasis added).
Let me restate that last point: It took as much water to extinguish the fire in a single Tesla vehicle as is used TO PUT OUT A BUILDING FIRE.
So not only might one consider a Tesla to be dangerous to its drivers. Given its propensity to self-ignite, it sounds like the flaming wreck could also put first responders and onlookers in serious danger.
Two cars and a garage - SIX firetrucks
Not just a danger to its owner, an unattended Tesla has the potential to burn down an entire structure.
In December 2020, a home in San Ramon, Calif., went up in flames after two Teslas caught fire while parked in a garage... [one of the vehicles] caught fire and spread to a second Tesla. The garage went up in flames and required at least six firetrucks to extinguish.
And of course, leave it to Tesla to gaslight (or lie to?) first responders about what it would take to extinguish a raging Tesla inferno. WaPo reported that according to a Tesla Model S guide for first responders, extinguishing a Tesla battery can take as long as 24 hours and about 3,000 to 8,000 gallons of water “applied directly to the battery.” In reality, firefighters report the actual amount of water needed is closer to 20,000 or 30,000 gallons — for one Tesla fire.
The lithium-ion batteries found in electric vehicles can be difficult to extinguish because they continue burning until all stored energy is released, Capt. Wilbourn said: “We’re basically fighting energy release.”
Back to WaPo:
In Woodlands, Tex., two passengers died in April 2021 after a driverless Tesla veered off the road, struck a tree and burst into flames. The battery ignited and burned for four hours, requiring 30,000 gallons of water to extinguish the fire (emphasis added), The Post reported. Another Tesla Model S in Frisco, Tex., shot out flames “like a flamethrower” after its owner pulled off the road upon hearing odd sounds coming from the car.
Business Insider published an article about another Tesla that burst into flames, this time in Shanghai. It broke out as a Tesla Model S was sitting in a parking garage. The car had suffered no recent impact, as in previous fire cases, and it was not charging. Unsafe when unattended?
More about those veritable flamethrowers being peddled as vehicles (responding to a request for more recent examples, this section has been updated):
I could add several more, but from this sampling alone it would appear that there is a problem - and that a person should not be criticized, or sued, for thinking these things are dangerous. And not just to Tesla drivers: the vehicle presents an entirely new fire hazard that requires several thousand gallons of water and physical intervention not needed for a “traditional” care fire. According to fire professionals, “You can't put them out...”
Cover image:
Elon Musk says, “Based on the Model S track record so far, you have a zero percent chance of being hurt in an accident resulting in a battery fire...” Reality: In Woodlands, TX., two passengers died after a driverless Tesla veered off the road, struck a tree and burst into flames. The battery ignited and burned for four hours, requiring 30,000 gallons of water to extinguish the fire.
