
Tesla goes up in flames in video captured by actor Mary McCormack - seanhunter
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2018/jun/17/tesla-fire-video-mary-mccormack-california
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jaimex2
Is this news because its Tesla?

"On average, 31 highway vehicle fires were reported per hour. These fires
killed one person a day. Overall, highway vehicles fires were involved in 17%
of reported U.S. fires, 12% of U.S. fire deaths, 8% of U.S. civilian fire
injuries, and 9% of the direct property damage from reported fires. "

[https://www.nfpa.org/News-and-Research/Fire-statistics-
and-r...](https://www.nfpa.org/News-and-Research/Fire-statistics-and-
reports/Fire-statistics/Vehicle-fires/Vehicle-fire-trends-and-patterns)

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lord_ring_11
Probably because of ratio of count by vehicles maker to incidents.

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_ph_
Electrek has a longer video in their article:
[https://electrek.co/2018/06/16/tesla-model-s-battery-fire-
in...](https://electrek.co/2018/06/16/tesla-model-s-battery-fire-
investigating/) The fire looks like some high pressure gas burning to me, with
the flames violently exiting to the left. If you watch the longer video, this
is mostly over by the time the firefighters arrive.

This could point to the fire being not in the battery, but the AC unit, which
is in the front of the vehicle. Modern AC units contain flammable chemicals
and when operating would be pressurized.

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dogma1138
Automotive AC units use HCFC/HFC gases not HC, HCFC/HFC are not flammable.

If Tesla used R-290 or R-600 (propane and iso-butane) refrigerants in their AC
they are well idiots and there is little chance that this would’ve passed
regulation.

The video you linked looks just like batery venting.

[https://youtu.be/WnZuMfq6kec](https://youtu.be/WnZuMfq6kec)

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_ph_
At least in Europe, the traditional refrigerants have been banned because of
their impact on the ozone layer, and currently some car manufacturers are
using R123yf, which is flammeable. I don't know what Tesla uses.

~~~
dogma1138
R1234yf is an HFO and it isn’t practically flammable it’s classified as a mild
flammable material and even that’s a stretch.

>”Although the product is classified slightly flammable by ASHRAE, several
years of testing by SAE proved that the product could not be ignited under
conditions normally experienced by a vehicle. In addition several independent
authorities evaluated the safety of the product in vehicles and some of them
concluded that it was as safe to use as R-134a...”

As far as Europe goes “traditional” referigerants are not banned they can be
restricted depending on the industry and usecase. HFOs are used by a few car
manufacturers and ironically this isn’t even an EU thing the US started using
it first iirc GM was the first as these HFOs are produced by Honeywell.

HFC and HCFC are commonly used in Europe.

Also it’s important to note that Daimler and BMW specifically stated that they
will not use R1234 and Daimler even recalled the Benz’s that used it. They
claimed it’s unsafe and flammable but the actual reason was most likely the
cost that Honeywell and DuPont enforced on manufacturers. IIRC not only was
that R1234 was more expensive Honeywell and DuPont also had patents issued on
the evaporators that need to be used in conjunction with this refrigerant.

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mindfulhack
If need be, Tesla will come out with a huge report at some point adding up the
_so many more_ incidents and faults of other car companies out there that
happen every week of every month of every year, to remind people how unfairly
Tesla are being singled out (for every damn incident that happens) just
because they're the sexiest car company in the world.

It's good though to end the false perception that Tesla is the pure stuff of
world-saving unicorns. Sorry Elon those times are over. Just get to work and
do your best to achieve the goals you've set out in public. I sure don't want
you to stop.

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martin-adams
As the owner of a Vauxhall Zafira which has 2 recalls to fix an issue of
catching fire, it is very important to make sure any manufacturer has swiftly
and addresses the issues. Vauxhall dragged its feet in publicly recognising
the issue which ultimately caused them a lot of negative press and a criminal
investigation. I want a Tesla someday, but do pay attention to how they
respond to such issues.

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torpedo
Ah, I see Mr. Musk is surreptitiously testing those rockets that are to grace
the new coupe in the near future.

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Faaak
And ?

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seanhunter
If it's big enough news to be covered by The Guardian (a major "serious" news
outlet here in the UK) it seems it may be of interest given Tesla tends to be
closely followed on this board. A car catching fire for no apparent reason
while driving normally in traffic in an urban area could point to an important
problem, do you not think?

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diminoten
The cause of the fire is important, I think. Logs state something that could
suggest a battery issue, but without more information, it's hard to draw any
conclusions.

Also, statistically speaking, it's hard to draw any conclusions. IMO this
article preys on our biases, and people may draw the false conclusion that
Tesla are inherently less safe, due to this single reported incident
(regardless of the actual occurrence rate).

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teaspoons
integrated flamethrower

