Tesla Plaid up in flames

[Carsinmyblood]

No joke. This isn't going to sit well with, well, everybody.

With 25 or so Plaids delivered it'll be easy to contain, but still.....

https://www.businessinsider.com/tesla-fire-model-s-plaid-caught-fire-lawyer-claims-2021-7

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[ab13]

This is why lithium ion based batteries that are not solid state will only be here for another 10 to 15 years.

 

[ARK]

Well, here's yet another metric on which the Model S can give Ferrari and Lamborghini a run for their money.

 

[Carsinmyblood]

What in a battery is so flammable that flames shoot out of them?

 

[theo1000]

Ah! the TSLA B Pillar Death cross..... Famous around the world. TSLA does have a reputation for burning but probably undeserved. Still yet another rushed launch and the owner is lucky to escape with life....

 

[ZuleMME]

What in a battery is so flammable that flames shoot out of them?

Energy! Literally the battery does what a battery does and stores an IMMENSE amount of energy. If you damage or short the plates on even a single cell it starts a cascade reaction and you don't want to be anywhere near it. I've seen careless people burn down their house with a single 18650 cell... Much less thousands of them.

 

[CyanLite]

What's in a battery is so flammable that flames shoot out of them?

Lithium is highly combustible. It's separated by a thin layer of material. If that material gets punctured or fails, then kaboom. Look at the thousands of youtube videos of people piercing their phone batteries with a knife. Now multiply that explosion times 300x to match the size of the battery in an EV

 

[phil]

None of this discussion reassures me about the safety of my electric Mustang...

 

[Carsinmyblood]

I was under the impression that these were lithium ion batteries because lithium was too unstable to use.

I'm betting that the electrolyte is the flammable (or most flammable) material in our batteries.

 

[Carsinmyblood]

None of this discussion reassures me about the safety of my electric Mustang...

No less safe than the batteries in your cellphone, laptop, camera, rechargeable flashlight.....

 

[theo1000]

No less safe than the batteries in your cellphone, laptop, camera, rechargeable flashlight.....

...or for that matter the 100lbs of gasoline sitting in a single walled tank with a convenient 12v battery nearby....

We make fun of TSLA for this, but as long as no ones injured its just fun, ICE cars burn down houses/people/random bystanders at a much much higher rate.

 

[phil]

No less safe than the batteries in your cellphone, laptop, camera, rechargeable flashlight.....

Well, sure, in the sense that a thousand-acre forest fire is no more dangerous than a lit candle on a birthday cake - they are both fire, but on two very different scales.

I will not be roasted to a crisp by my cellphone, but two poor devils were burned to death in their Tesla Model S just a few weeks ago.

 

[phil]

...or for that matter the 100lbs of gasoline sitting in a single walled tank with a convenient 12v battery nearby....

We make fun of TSLA for this, but as long as no ones injured its just fun, ICE cars burn down houses/people/random bystanders at a much much higher rate.

I'm not sure how the stats compare, but sure, a gas tank can explode. I think the nervousness comes from the fact that there always seems to be a reason for a gas car fire - crash, cigarette, spark - something.

Some of the EV fires, on the other hand, seem to be spontaneous combustion:


I won't let this deter me from my purchase, but I admit it does make me think just a little.

 

[theo1000]

Some of the EV fires, on the other hand, seem to be spontaneous combustion:

ICE gas tanks spontaneously combust all the time too. It literally the #1 reason your FD exists. Plenty of video on this. At least EV's don't go Kaaboom and collapse everything. Have good smoke alarm in your garage or close by, if you don't have one for your ICE already, and even if there is property damage, you and yours can sleep soundly.

Its just that EV fires are fairly uncommon so you can literally count every incident.

 

[phil]

ICE gas tanks spontaneously combust all the time too. It literally the #1 reason your FD exists. Plenty of video on this. At least EV's don't go Kaaboom and collapse everything. Have good smoke alarm in your garage or close by, if you don't have one for your ICE already, and even if there is property damage, you and yours can sleep soundly.

Its just that EV fires are fairly uncommon so you can literally count every incident.

Thank you, Theo, THAT'S the kind of reassurance I was looking for.

Although, now I'm a little worried about the two gas cars in my garage - perhaps I was lulled into a false sense of security after 40 years of owing cars with zero explosions (so far)...

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