
Tesla Model S Catches Fire While in Motion – Not Caused by Crash - bspn
https://insideevs.com/tesla-model-s-catches-fire-while-in-motion-not-caused-by-crash/
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URSpider94
Gas cars catch fire out of the blue on occasion as well, In fact there were
152,000 car fires per year in the period 2006-2010. Only 4% of those were
collision-related[1].

Not saying this shouldn’t be investigated, but nobody was injured, and this
now makes ONE non-crash Tesla battery fire that I’m aware of.

[1] [https://www.nfpa.org/Public-Education/By-topic/Property-
type...](https://www.nfpa.org/Public-Education/By-topic/Property-type-and-
vehicles/Vehicles)

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chriselles
This one is particularly painful for Tesla as the owner’s wife is a minor
celebrity with major celebrity friends.

Reputational damage risk in this case could be significantly magnified due to
Chelsea Handler’s recent tweet to 8.8 million followers:

“Everyone with an early model Tesla needs to be aware of this. I have one that
I will not be driving again. @Tesla @elonmusk”

Ouch!

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TillE
Wasn't a previous Tesla fire caused by a bit of metal debris on the road
puncturing the batteries, a la the Concorde crash?

That wouldn't be a _crash_ per se, but neither is it spontaneous combustion.
It's just the kind of not-too-unusual damage which should probably be better
planned for.

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toomuchtodo
A trailer hitch, that was levered into the battery pack. Tesla mitigates that
failure scenario (at least on the Model S) with a titanium shield across the
entire battery pack, with a metal assembly near the front of the vehicle to
break an object apart that exceeds the clearance of the undercarriage.

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AngryData
This isn't unexpected to happen occasionally, as long as it is rare. Nothing
is failure proof and the failure mode for a big battery is many times fire.
This is like reporting on somebodies car throwing a rod while on the road or
another fire.

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taobility
Elon Musk: this is definitely no the fault of autopilot.

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noitsnot
This isn't news. Do we need to blow every little thing happening to Tesla out
of proportion? Not to mention, the inside cabin doesn't even look affected.

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woodandsteel
From what I have read, it looks like speculators who have shorted Tesla stock
are going to loose a couple of billion dollars in the coming months, and so
they have been seeding the press with negative stories and op-ed pieces to try
to get the stock price down.

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chriselles
I’m admittedly in the “2nd rat(meaning not Tesla) gets the cheese” camp.

So I may be quite biased.

But I think if THIS particular story that involves a celebrity with major
reach(8.8 million social) is “seeded” then THAT would be a MAJOR story and SEC
investigation and DOJ prosecution.

I definitely get your point that Tesla shorts are biased heavily towards bad
news stories.

