# Tesla fire



## dragonsgate (May 19, 2012)

A lot of people have been waiting, some of them hoping for something like this to happen to the Tesla. I am wondering what the owner had in the front storage compartment that would make the car burn so. It looked like there was something on the exterior that was burning. Some flammable liquid perhaps?


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## palmer_md (Jul 22, 2011)

dragonsgate said:


> A lot of people have been waiting, some of them hoping for something like this to happen to the Tesla. I am wondering what the owner had in the front storage compartment that would make the car burn so. It looked like there was something on the exterior that was burning. Some flammable liquid perhaps?



nope, If you've been following the press releases:


Driver was in the carpool lane and hit some large piece of metal (no other details available at this time.)
Driver said car started to behave strange.
Car made an announcement to pull over and get out of the car.
He did so and then smelled smoke.
He called 911 and fire arrived.
They used water to extinguish, but it restarted.
They next used dry chemicals to extinguish and it seemed to keep it out longer, but it again restarted.
They had to cut a hole in the battery pack and fill it with water to cool the cells as per the Tesla instructions for first responders. This worked to stop the fire.
Tesla has taken possession of the car and is performing an analysis.
Tesla has confirmed that the car was in an accident and that one of the 16 battery modules was damaged enough to start the fire. The battery compartments isolated the fire to just the one battery module which vents the heat and fire out the front of the vehicle for passenger safety. You will notice that the passenger compartment is completely isolated from the fire and passengers from all 5 doors could exit freely and safely.


I think that it is amazing that the car knew there was a problem and alerted the driver to pull over and get out. (although he really already knew the car was not behaving correctly) Equally impressive is the fire management system that directs the fire toward the front of the vehicle to allow passengers to get out of the car safely.

It will be very interesting to read the final report of the incident and what Tesla might do to prevent future repeats.

I'd also like to know what he hit that went through the 1/4" plate aluminum under the car, or how it got around those defenses to hit the pack elsewhere.


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## poprock (Apr 29, 2010)

I'd rather be in a Tesla than a Pinto!


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## dragonsgate (May 19, 2012)

palmer_md said:


> nope, If you've been following the press releases
> 
> I think that it is amazing that the car knew there was a problem and alerted the driver to pull over and get out. (although he really already knew the car was not behaving correctly) Equally impressive is the fire management system that directs the fire toward the front of the vehicle to allow passengers to get out of the car safely.
> 
> ...


I have been reading and I agree with you on all points. I just think there is something fishy about the fire getting so far up on the hood outside of the car. As you say the fire did not make it to the passenger compartment. If the designers thought that far ahead I would think they also would design containment to keep it out of the storage area.


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## palmer_md (Jul 22, 2011)

With that much heat coming out near the wheel wells and inside the frunk is carpet and under it is all the power steering, coolant, brake lines etc. Just too much flammable stuff in that area to keep it from turning into a fireball. I think they did quite well with the design. Apparently there is still a weak point in the battery armor, and once that is fixed it will definitely be safer.


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## dragonsgate (May 19, 2012)

palmer_md said:


> With that much heat coming out near the wheel wells and inside the frunk is carpet and under it is all the power steering, coolant, brake lines etc. Just too much flammable stuff in that area to keep it from turning into a fireball. I think they did quite well with the design. Apparently there is still a weak point in the battery armor, and once that is fixed it will definitely be safer.


 Like I said before some people were hoping something like this to happen. I knew it would eventually but hoped it wouldn't. In my desire to see the company succeed I want it to be the owners fault. I never gave break and power steering fluid a thought. But still....


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## rochesterricer (Jan 5, 2011)

Elon responds:

http://www.teslamotors.com/blog/model-s-fire

Jalopnik article about the response:

http://jalopnik.com/leaving-it-vulnerable-to-destruction-of-the-fuel-suppl-1441503740


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## Caps18 (Jun 8, 2008)

Tesla is supposed to be able to quickly remove the batteries to swap them,maybe they should have been looking into a way to eject the batteries from the car if they catch fire...

"Eject the warp core!!!"


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## JRP3 (Mar 7, 2008)

palmer_md said:


> They had to cut a hole in the battery pack and fill it with water to cool the cells as per the Tesla instructions for first responders.


Actually Tesla has stated that was not proper, and that cutting the holes in the pack made the fire worse.



> For the Model S lithium-ion battery, it was correct to apply water (vs. dry chemical extinguisher), but not to puncture the metal firewall, as the newly created holes allowed the flames to then vent upwards into the front trunk section of the Model S. Nonetheless, a combination of water followed by dry chemical extinguisher quickly brought the fire to an end.


http://www.teslamotors.com/blog/model-s-fire

I believe the proper procedure is to simply keep pouring water on the pack to cool it.


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## Nathan219 (May 18, 2010)

This is no big deal! That is all.


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## david85 (Nov 12, 2007)

Its hardly the first car to catch fire after a collision


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## JRP3 (Mar 7, 2008)

The people who are actively hoping that Tesla fails have jumped all over this, spreading FUD far and wide. Unfortunately it's been somewhat effective, with at least a few people cancelling their orders. Completely irrational of course.


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## PhantomPholly (Aug 20, 2008)

This will end up in Tesla's favor - a near-tragedy becoming a marketing centerpiece.

Good going, Elon!


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