Third Tesla Fire Means Feds To Begin Review 375
cartechboy writes "In early October, a Tesla caught on fire in Washington state — and that created a little bit of a stir. Then just before Halloween a second Tesla caught fire. Yesterday, a third Model S caught fire in Tennessee. With the third fire in the books, all happening in similar fashion, today federal investigators are saying they are going to take a look at the situation more closely. As electric car maker's stock shares continue to tumble, some are saying the fires aren't a big deal."
Comment (Score:2, Interesting)
Tesla has made a statement (8:49pm):
“We have been in contact with the driver, who was not injured and believes the car saved his life. Our team is on its way to Tennessee to learn more about what happened. We will provide more information when we’re able to do so.”
Source: http://insideevs.com/third-tesla-model-s-fire-in-past-5-weeks-breaks-out-after-accident/
Lithium batteries are dangerous (Score:2, Interesting)
Just ask anyone that races R/C. You must treat them with respect, charge them carefully, and never puncture them. Once you break any of these rules, they catch on fire. In spite of this, you only rarely see a lithium battery fire in R/C racing because most racers know how to maintain them properly and when to dispose of them (properly).
Then again, Tesla, in their drive for performance, built these cars with their batteries mere inches from the surface of the road. No gasoline car has their tank that low and even R/C cars have them higher in the chassis and more protected from the surface.
Re:Gasoline is FAR safer (Score:2, Interesting)
None of the burned Teslas did burn out. The interior was not even damaged. In comparison to that the gasoline cars do burn out and their interior is damaged more often than not.
Re:Because government knows how to do anything? (Score:2, Interesting)
They were good enough to put a man on the Moon (the single most important achievement ever according to most slashers), but they can't review an electrical problem?
This is the very same government project where the crew compartment had a flammable 100% oxygen environment and the hatch had to be pulled inward against internal pressure, a pressure that increases during a fire. Where three astronauts were trapped and killed during testing. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo_1 [wikipedia.org]
Also in more modern times where the government agency involved was more concerned with politics than flight crew safety. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Shuttle_Challenger_disaster [wikipedia.org]
Re:LOL Tesla (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:Because government knows how to do anything? (Score:5, Interesting)
But that's besides the point. The government didn't build the Apollo 1 command module, that was contracted out.
Re: LOL Tesla (Score:5, Interesting)
I had a minivan that burned a year after I sold it. My brother bought it, and his roommate wanted it--my brother advised against, but eventually sold it. His roommate was taking a church group to a ski resort, and the vehicle leaked oil and caught fire. They put it out, but it reignited. The ski lodge called the fire department and used up several of their fire extinguisher-- after each one, it reignited. The fire truck used up its fire extincuishers-- and it reignited, then burned.
My brother ran into such a fire on the interstatee; a young woman was near the car. He didn't have a fire extinguisher, but he did have a soda cup and there was a muddy puddle near by. So he started scooping water on the fire--it reignited repeatedly, but each time, the mud baked on and sealed the oil leak more. In the end, the car was saved.
There's a lesson there.
Re:Because government knows how to do anything? (Score:5, Interesting)
To be fair, they did test the flammability of the materials. They just didn't do it right... in a pressurized O2 environment. After the fire, they did the tests correctly, and to their horror, found several things to be "highly flammable". (the glue on the back of the massive amount of Velcro for one)
The inward opening hatch was to improve safety in space, where, under no circumstances do you want that door to have any way of accidentally opening.
Re:LOL Tesla (Score:5, Interesting)
I think if 100 Corollas spontaneously burst into flames each year (and realistically, more like 2-300 given that production in the 60s, 70s, and even 80s will be far lower than in recent years)... we'd probably have heard about it by now. Don't you?
Sure. But we're not talking about cars "spontaneously bursting into flames", we're talking about cars catching fire after having been damaged in an accident. I wouldn't be at all surprised if 100 Corollas a year do that, and nobody bats an eye.
Re:Umm 100% O2 had a reason (Score:5, Interesting)
This is true. If you eliminate all the nitrogen from the air what is left is about three pounds of oxygen. Trouble is, they didn't use three pounds. Normally they used five pounds on space flights but apparently it was normal to flush out nitrogen by overpressuring with O2 before launch.
Toyota (Score:5, Interesting)
If the feds could investigate Toyota over "unintentional acceleration" and make a year-long farce out of old people hitting the wrong pedal or using cheap aftermarket rugs just in time to help a flailing GM, then the same Detroit money can be used to "investigate" Tesla.