
Tesla on fire: UK director Michael Morris' car bursts into flames - akandiah
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-44511200
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dghughes
As unusual as it may be I hate seeing the Tesla denial machine jump into
action. At least Tesla didn't blame the driver....yet.

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freehunter
In the comments on these kinds of articles you'll always see the opposite of
the Tesla denial machine: otherwise intelligent and well-educated people who
for some reason believe that only Teslas catch fire and that internal
combustion engines never burn up.

Sometimes I wonder if these are submarine articles paid for by companies who
want Tesla to fail. And it might be working... Musk seems a moment away from
snapping completely.

~~~
djmips
Isn't there a large group of investors who have shorted Tesla to the tune of
billions who might be very motivated to see bad Tesla headlines and anti Tesla
social media? How far would they be willing to go?

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Isinlor
TL;DR: Far.

[https://m.dailykos.com/stories/2018/5/29/1767826/-The-War-
on...](https://m.dailykos.com/stories/2018/5/29/1767826/-The-War-on-Tesla-
Musk-and-the-Fight-for-the-Future)

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solarkraft
This sort of things happens with cars sometimes. It's unfortunate, but Teslas
seem to do this less & their design protects the occupants really well.

I have a suspiction that he will continue driving a Tesla.

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zajd
What's a car from another brand that just burst into flames during normal
operation?

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tolk460
Cars commonly catch on fire from electrical issues, overheating,
malfunctioning or negeglected maintenance on transfer cases or transmissions.
We get a car fire at least once a month. This average increases during the
summer and _does not_ count semitrucks/trailer fires.

I'm a firefighter for my county that includes ~ 30mi of interstate along a
national corridor. DOT has estimated 11,000 vehicles pass through our county
each day on this corridor.

~~~
seandougall
Out of curiosity, how many of those would you say were cars less than a few
years old? That more than anything is what catches my attention about this
story — anecdotally, I’ve seen car fires on the highway, but always older
cars, and a Tesla seems like it shouldn’t have had time to accrue that degree
of wear and tear and deferred maintenance. But I’m curious what someone with
more data points makes of it.

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sschueller
So he was driving it and didn't realize it was on fire? I thought there are
several temperature sensors near and around the battery that would set some
sort of alarm off in such a case.

~~~
greglindahl
There are a ton of sensors in the battery, and the lack of the warning that
usually appears is one reason why folks think it was the air conditioner that
caught fire.

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bhouston
My mother in law's car burst into flames 2 years ago. It was a wave in near
perfect condition. These things have a baseline rate of happening but when it
is Tesla it is front page news.

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neya
Someone please correct me if I'm wrong, but I think Diesels are much safer
than gasoline engines? Because, Diesels require compression to ignite unlike
Gasoline, no? Please correct me if I'm wrong.

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mseebach
A spill of diesel is less immediately dangerous than a spill of the same
amount of gasoline, but will still burn if it has a wick (you don't want your
clothes soaked in diesel). But it's quite rare, I believe, as fuel tanks are
well protected, so I don't think it translates into a statistically
significant difference in safety between cars running on these different types
of fuel.

~~~
neya
Thanks for the reply, that explanation makes sense!

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csomar
The question here is how do Tesla so far compare to the traditional cars.

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mikeash
Meanwhile, about 300 non-Teslas burned in the UK yesterday, and about 300 will
burn today, and tomorrow, and....

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laumars
Not disputing this happens to other cars but 300 a day - in the UK alone no
less - seems plausibly high. Got a source to back up that figure?

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thomasfedb
It's closer to 40 a day, at least in 2016/17\. Still, it's not a rare event,
which I think was the point being made.

[https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/...](https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/636436/fire-
statistics-data-tables-fire0302.xlsx)

~~~
oldcynic
From your Excel link:

Of which _50%_ are deliberate, and there is _no_ breakdown of how many of the
rest are random mechanical failure as opposed to having been involved in a
collision with an associated fire.

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thomasfedb
I used the figures from accidental only - roughly 12k p.a. is around
35-40/day. Rough maths.

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taurine
Not a flamethrower.

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lgleason
In other news, Samsung is in talks to buy Tesla and introduce a Note 7 car ;)

