
Tesla Model S Burns During Supercharging in Norway: Reports - punnerud
http://jalopnik.com/tesla-model-s-burns-to-a-crisp-during-supercharging-in-1750581400
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awakeasleep
I wonder what caused this, and how often similar stuff happens with ICE cars.
I know fuel can be ignited when refueling, but there are all sorts of steps to
mitigate that. Were any errors committed in this disaster?

If a kid was in a baby seat in there, it would have been awful.

~~~
Swizec
Static discharge causes a lot of gas pump fires. Enough that I remember seeing
shows on Discovey Channel that talked about the fact that once your car is
pumping, you shouldn't re-enter and exit the vehicle until the nozzle is out.
Especially if you're the one touching the nozzle.

And for god's sake don't pull the nozzle out once the tank ignites. That makes
a fireball.

In short, it's common enough that warnings about it show up on daytime
television.

edit: That said, charging batteries burn often enough that every high-power
charging device I've ever had said not to leave it unattended while charging.
When you're pumping that much energy into something that quickly, things can
happen.

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Theodores
This is news to me. In the UK the petrol pump nozzle has to be held, you can't
just put it in there and expect it to fill up your tank - at all times the
handle has to be held. Is this not the case in the USA? Can you put the nozzle
in the tank, walk about, get in and out of the car and rely on the nozzle
staying in the tank, filling up the tank until it magically knows the tank is
full? If so then that is where your problem is. In the UK we don't have
forecourt fireballs, it sounds to me that this is an American 'innovation',
one that is probably needed given that Americans need to consume their own
bodyweight in 'gasoline' to get to work and back in one of Detroit's finest
'cars'.

~~~
simoncion
> Is this not the case in the USA?

Most of the time, no. Not _every_ pump handle has a functioning hold-open
mechanism, but the vast majority of them do.

> ...filling up the tank until it magically knows the tank is full?

It's not magic, it's simple application of physics. [0] I would be _shocked_
if this wasn't a feature of _every_ nozzle that was usable by members of the
public... nozzles in the UK included. :)

[0]
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fuel_dispenser#Automatic_cut-o...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fuel_dispenser#Automatic_cut-
off_in_fuel_dispenser)

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runarb
According to an Norwegian article so was the car brand new, only delivered to
its owner two days ago:
[http://www.dagbladet.no/2016/01/01/nyheter/bil/fritid/brann/...](http://www.dagbladet.no/2016/01/01/nyheter/bil/fritid/brann/42589222/)

The car was connected to a public Tesla supercharger that can deliver 120
ampere and 500 volt.

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jasonjei
In the event of a destructive fire caused by a manufacturing defect, does
Tesla replace the car or offer a full refund based on a replacement value of a
Tesla without going through the owner's insurance even if it is outside the
warranty period? Or must the owner file a claim with the insurance company?

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clumsysmurf
When a large lithium battery (car, Powerwall) combusts, what area is
contaminated with hydrogen fluoride? Since its a gas (unless dissolved in
water) would it dissipate without trace or leave behind toxic residue ?

~~~
tristanj
I don't think there's any fluoride in these batteries. The Model S uses
Lithium Nickel Cobalt Aluminum (NCA) batteries and the powerwall uses Lithium
Nickel Manganese Cobalt (NMC) batteries. Neither contain any Fluorine, and
since they produce electricity using chemical reactions not nuclear reactions,
no new elements will be produced. Not too sure what you're asking.

Source for the battery composition: [http://fortune.com/2015/05/18/tesla-grid-
batteries-chemistry...](http://fortune.com/2015/05/18/tesla-grid-batteries-
chemistry/)

~~~
clumsysmurf
Seems the issue is not settled. NMC were also tested:
[http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25714114](http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25714114)

and

"More HF is generated per cell as the number of cells increases. The NMC cells
tested generate significantly less HF gas than the LFP cells. However, only
one cell type from a single supplier was tested so it is impossible to
conclude if this is a general characteristic of NMC cells."

[http://www.egvi.eu/uploads/Scania%20-%20Abuse%20testing%20of...](http://www.egvi.eu/uploads/Scania%20-%20Abuse%20testing%20of%20E-vehicle%20battery%20cells%20and%20packs-
aat.pdf)

