Tesla Model S Catches Fire: Is This Tesla's 'Toyota' Moment? 388
cartechboy writes "A Tesla Model S was involved in an accident in Washington state on Tuesday, and the car's battery pack caught fire (with some of it caught on video). The cause of the accident is pretty clear, and Tesla issued a statement that the vehicle hit 'a large metallic object in the middle of the road.' Whether that collision immediately set off a fire in the Model S's battery pack isn't known, but a report from the Regional Fire Authority of Kent, Washington went into detail on the battery pack fire saying the car's lithium-ion battery was on fire when firefighters arrived, and spraying water on it had little effect. Firefighters switched to a dry chemical extinguisher and had to puncture numerous holes into the battery pack to extinguish it completely. Aside from the details of how the battery fire happened and was handled, the big question is what effect it will have on how people view Teslas in the near and middle-term. Is this Tesla's version of 2010's high profile Prius recall issue where pundits and critics took the opportunity to stir fears of the cars new technology?"
Looks much less dangerous than a gasoline fire (Score:5, Interesting)
This is restricted to the motor area. A gasoline fire engulfs the whole car and can kill everybody pretty fast. Looks like there would be plenty of time to get people out safely from a Tesla in comparison.
Face it: There is no really safe way of energy storage. But a well-made lithium battery is orders of magnitude more desirable than highly volatile and very toxic gasoline.
Thoughts and Insights... (Score:5, Interesting)
First, this was a direct puncture by a piece of large metal debris. Not a design failure. The metal object likely caused a short and the resultant fire.
Second, from a number of articles and reports, Tesla's safety designs worked as planned. Numerous articles noted that the fire was contained in the front section of the vehicle where the impact occurred, and did not shift into the passenger compartment. This = GOOD!!!!
The firefighters pouring of water on a chemical fire likely exasperated the situation.
What Tesla should lean from this...
a) evaluate design to see if the front underguard can be further strengthened for greater resistance to impact and puncture with minimal affect on price and performance.
b) recognize the benefit of better trained fire departments, sell off some those stocks to found a non-profit with an endowment to help train nationally all fire departments in the handling of electric drive vehicle systems. Namely to utilize chemical extinguishers rather than water.
c) perhaps evaluate whether a small extinguishing system could be incorporated into the design. (BONUS POINTS)
a)
Re:Careful (Score:5, Interesting)
Or Tesla spins it as "We're incorporating a built-in fire-suppression system, the same as all race cars have had for the last 20 years or so. Why our competitors haven't done so by now,... you'll have to ask them, they're the ones who've been fielding the racing teams using this technology.".
Re:vs gasoline cars (Score:4, Interesting)
Car companies and the oil industry obviously have an interest in spreading FUD to foster that effect
It may come as a shock to you, but Tesla is a car company. What's more, Tesla is an American car company. Let that sink in.
IMO, the coolest thing about Tesla is it help shake the foundations of those who will only buy an "American" car, and those who will never buy an "American" car. Less nationalism and reverse-nationalism would be good here - especially since brand has little correlation with where a car was actually manufactured.
You might also be surprised to know that there's barely an "Oil Industry" any more - no one big thinks of themselves that way. There are "energy companies" and "exploration companies" and so on, but everyone is trying to decouple their image from oil. And most energy companies are just as happy if you power your car with electricity that came from the natural gas they sell.
They've played dirty so far.
Every urban legend says so, so it must be true! Why, half their budget these days is for buying up patents for water-powered cars to make sure they never see the light of day! Most big established companies "play dirty" when it comes to branding and brand protection and trying to influence fashion in general - par for the course.