

Another Model S fire - kostyk
http://www.teslamotorsclub.com/showthread.php/23581-Ugh-Another-Model-S-fire-2013-11-06

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johnnymonster
Why is this one accident getting so much attention. In 2011 there were 500
vehicle fires every single day! [http://www.nfpa.org/research/fire-
statistics/the-us-fire-pro...](http://www.nfpa.org/research/fire-
statistics/the-us-fire-problem/highway-vehicle-fires) tesla has 3 fires in 6
weeks. I'd say thats pretty damn good!

Leading cause of highway vehicle fires, "mechanical failure"
[http://www.usfa.fema.gov/statistics/reports/vehicles.shtm](http://www.usfa.fema.gov/statistics/reports/vehicles.shtm)

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Vvector
So with 250M vehicles in the USA, there is about a 1 in 1333 chance of the
average vehicle catching on fire. Tesla has about 15k Model S cars sold in the
USA. If there are 12 Tesla fires per year, we get around that same 1 in 1333
number.

Are Tesla cars less likely to catch on fire? Maybe. There isn't enough data to
determine yet.

Are Tesla cars much safer than gas vehicles when they do catch on fire? Yes!
This should be the focus.

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johnnymonster
I completely agree with your statement about combustion and safety when the do
catch on fire. Have you seen a car on fire when it hits the gas tank? its
crazy! have you seen a battery on fire? Kinda boring.

~~~
6689591
Have _you_ ever seen a fire when it hits the gas tank? In real life, not a
movie.

~~~
johnnymonster
yup

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talmand
I would expect more of these stories as more of these cars are purchased and
on the road. Three fires in six weeks and all three related to accidents. But
since it's the new fancy all-electric cars then it's prime for sensational
headlines or at least just heavier than usual coverage.

Take a Tesla to an empty field, pour gasoline all over it, apply flame, watch
headlines of "yet another Tesla catches fire" to appear.

~~~
rgbrenner
"Three fires in six weeks and all three related to accidents."

This fire is related to an accident? Can you help me out, and tell me which of
the 21 pages I can skip to to read that part.

I've clicked on most of the pages, and I just see speculation that goes back
in forth about whether there was an accident or not, based on a handful of
pics someone posted.

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dangrossman
> The company said the fire was the result of an accident and was not a
> spontaneous event.

[http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/11/07/autos-tesla-
fire-i...](http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/11/07/autos-tesla-fire-
idUSL2N0IS0TL20131107)

~~~
rgbrenner
But that seems to be based on this:

"It's possible that it ran over a piece of metal in the roadway and it got up
in the engine compartment," police dispatcher Kathy Bryant said.

Apparently speculation by a police dispatcher now counts as confirmed facts.

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tokenadult
Reuters wire service reporting just in: "Tesla Motor Inc's Model S electric
car has suffered its third fire in six weeks, sending its shares down about 7
percent in early Thursday trading."

[http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/11/07/autos-tesla-
fire-i...](http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/11/07/autos-tesla-fire-
idUSL2N0IS0TL20131107)

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Glyptodon
I don't know if anybody else has ever witnessed a gasoline car fire but I for
one find it quite impressive that these "fires" are so minor that first
responders can just walk up and use suppressant.

With a gasoline vehicle fire that actually gets going you often see the road
cleared so the thing can just burn into a giant fireball leaving behind
nothing beyond a steel skeleton and 30 ft of charred ground.

Even at 100+ yds you can feel the heat from a gasoline vehicle inferno.

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CognitiveLens
This is probably going to come across a little fanboyish, but I would be
interested in knowing the _rate_ of Tesla fires (Mean Time Before Fire?). Cars
catch on fire in accidents all the time, so I'm wondering if the Tesla fires
are being covered more because it's a magical technology fire and therefore
more dramatic than a your usual car-destroyed-in-accident fire.

~~~
smackfu
I would think most gasoline cars catch on fire because there is severe damage
to the front-end, the fuel lines are ruptured, and gasoline ends up on the hot
engine and ignites. I would think a major advantage of an electric car is that
it doesn't have that mode of failure. So replacing it with another mode of
failure that also results in front-end fires is... not great.

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matthuggins
Here's the Google cache mirror since the site seems to be down:
[http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:www.tes...](http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:www.teslamotorsclub.com/showthread.php/23581-Ugh-
Another-Model-S-fire-2013-11-06)

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matthewmcg
Bonus points for the ISO-8601 date format in the headline!

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stormcrowsx
In all the tesla fires it looks like the front hood compartment burns most.
Looking at this picture you'd have time to get out of the car, and unbuckle
kids from a car seat in the rear.

I'd say it speaks to the safety of electric cars. In a case where a gas tank
is ruptured and catches fire it can spread through the entire undercarriage as
the gas spills out of the tank onto the pavement.

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deletes
Quote from the forums: >>police said that the tesla fire was caused by car
running over a tow hitch.<<

[http://www.teslamotorsclub.com/showthread.php/23581-Ugh-
Anot...](http://www.teslamotorsclub.com/showthread.php/23581-Ugh-Another-
Model-S-fire-2013-11-06/page21)

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hippich
I think Tesla needs to add fire suppression system found on some police cars.
Shouldn't add too much price to already quite expensive car. See here it in
action -
[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eSm6Dnu0EPM](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eSm6Dnu0EPM)

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jchung
Ironic that this fire took place in Smyrna, TN, where Nissan North America
manufactures Nissan Leafs.

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smackfu
Some might say "suspicious". (I mean, that would be a pretty sweet black hat
move by Nissan.)

Edit: I was joking, you silly people.

~~~
bentcorner
I'd be very surprised is this was actually the case. Otherwise we would have
heard of Prius' and Insights catching fire a long time ago.

Besides, if Tesla went and crashed a few hundred cars and could not reproduce
the fire I'd feel pretty good about their safety. They may have already done
this as part of road/crash certification.

~~~
talmand
Looks like we need a new "Road Debris Hitting the Undercarriage" safety
testing.

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JeremyMorgan
I still don't think we can draw any conclusions from this. Unless all 3 cars
caught fire in the exact same way I still think we need a few more incidents
to be even close to finding the facts (as horrible as that sounds).

~~~
johnnymonster
Tesla has done a very good job of providing post mortem reports on each of
their car fires. I'm sure they will do the same for this one as well in the
coming weeks.

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agnuku
Is it better to be in a car that is more likely to save your life and burst
into flames in an accident or or one that has lower safety ratings and lower
likelihood of catching fire?

~~~
NickM
I'd say it's better to be in a car that is more likely to save your life (e.g.
a Model S), _and_ is also _less_ likely to burst into flames in an accident
(e.g. any electric vehicle on the market).

In a major accident, gasoline cars are still statistically much more likely to
catch fire than EVs, which is exactly why it doesn't make the news when a gas
car catches fire.

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Lagged2Death
Why does that fireman's bottom say "CHUNK" on it?

~~~
pragone
usually the last name of the firefighter

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rayiner
Very objective title...

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xfs
Wow, this story has already been flagged into oblivion and disappeared from
the front page in under one hour.

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gcb1
lol. posted on a tesla forum by someone with bmw i3 blog link signature.
totally not a bmw "community manager".

~~~
sz4kerto
This argument is called 'ad hominem'. Does not matter who posted it -- it
definitely happened.

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themstheones
It's bound to happen. There's too much energy stored in the batteries.

~~~
noonespecial
Yeah. Like 12 times less than rides around in flammable liquid form in
grandmas Buick. That much energy.

~~~
mikeash
Are you counting the energy that can be released from the batteries by
reacting the lithium with oxygen in a fire? As I recall, the electrical energy
storage of a lithium battery is only about 10% of the energy that gets
released if you burn it.

~~~
noonespecial
Yeah. Its meaningless to say "energy stored" without indicating the kind.
Electrical potential? Chemical potential etc. I just looked it up. I'm going
to have _much_ fun the next time someone tells me that lithium batteries have
a much lesser energy density than gas.

If you love something, set it on fire.

