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Tesla Model S Plaid caught fire while driver was at the wheel, says fire chief

cnbc.com

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Re: Tesla Model S Plaid caught fire while driver was at the wheel, says fire chief

#21

Post by perl4ever »

vardump wrote: post #3

Better to wait for the official investigation. For whatever reason, speculation is pretty rampant whenever it comes to Tesla accidents.

Every time something like this happens, people point out that gas powered cars catch fire much more often than electric ones.

Quote: "That’s five fires for every billion miles traveled, compared to 55 fires per billion miles traveled in gasoline cars."

So why don't I want to own an electric car? Because my assumption is that the typical electric car fire happens while it is being charged, whereas the typical gas-powered car fire happens while it is being driven.

There's a huge difference between a fire that potentially destroys my home, quite possibly starts while I'm asleep, and a fire that just totals my car. And that holds even more for people who live in multi-family buildings.

This particular incident didn't happen at night while the car was being charged. But is that representative?

Re: Tesla Model S Plaid caught fire while driver was at the wheel, says fire chief

#22

Post by pmorici »

ncallaway wrote: post #7
jliptzin wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When friends are in my car they almost always use the emergency mechanical handle instead of the electronic one and I always have to remember to show them how to open the door the non-emergency way.

Is there a downside to using the emergency handle? I'd generally prefer to use that as my standard way of getting out of the car. In the event of an emergency I'd rather have muscle memory for the emergency exit, rather than have to do something unusual.

Originally they didn't want you to use the manual handle regularly but they added a software feature that rolled the window glass down a bit when you pull the handle and stopped warning not to use it unless it was an emergency.

Re: Tesla Model S Plaid caught fire while driver was at the wheel, says fire chief

#23

Post by s5300 »

senectus1 wrote: post #15
s5300 wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Whatever you do - if you don't already have one, buy a combined window breaker/seatbelt cutter for all of your cars and Velcro it to the side of your chair/bottom of side of center console/wherever you think would be best to have it. Seriously.

these really should be mandated as standard on all cars ever manufactured.

Most people don't know that the headrest (head restraint) can also be used to break a window in several ways. I'd known about this for a while, typically there's just a simple mechanical button you have to depress to remove the headrest to be able to use it in this fashion.

Then, for ergonomic reasons, I went to change the headrest orientation one day (I know this is stupid) - and, it turned out, in addition to a mechanical push button to remove, I also had to shove a tiny ass pin punch deep into a hole in a really weird place to fully remove the headrest. This was in a Lincoln, and I'd never seen something as stupid as it in any other car. So much for the idea in the back of my head Id've been able to rely on it if I'd ever needed to break a window.

Even more of a reason to just buy the purpose made breaker/cutter, never know what unconventional BS some brands/models may be doing.

edit: sorry, speaking in general - Tesla's dont/sports cars tend to not have detachable headrests. Or maybe most newer cars don't in general, haven't looked into it much.

Re: Tesla Model S Plaid caught fire while driver was at the wheel, says fire chief

#24

Post by pmorici »

perl4ever wrote: post #21
vardump wrote: post #3

Better to wait for the official investigation. For whatever reason, speculation is pretty rampant whenever it comes to Tesla accidents.

Every time something like this happens, people point out that gas powered cars catch fire much more often than electric ones. Quote: "That’s five fires for every billion miles traveled, compared to 55 fires per billion miles traveled in gasoline cars." So why don't I want to own an electric car? Because my assumption is that the typical electric car fire happens while it is being charged, whereas the typical gas-powe…

I knew a guy growing up who's gas car caught fire in his garage while it was parked and burned it down. I think your assumptions about when and how different kinds of cars catch fire are wrong.

Re: Tesla Model S Plaid caught fire while driver was at the wheel, says fire chief

#25

Post by tyingq »

snypher wrote: post #2

>tried to unlock and open the doors but had to force his way out of the vehicle, as the locks seemed to malfunction. After he left the car, it began to move on its own If this is true it's not great news. I wonder, does the parking pawl engage at power-off?

I imagine a lot of bets are off with a fire going. Lots of wires burning and shorting, or otherwise not getting the power they need to do their job.

Re: Tesla Model S Plaid caught fire while driver was at the wheel, says fire chief

#26

Post by userbinator »

snypher wrote: post #2

>tried to unlock and open the doors but had to force his way out of the vehicle, as the locks seemed to malfunction. After he left the car, it began to move on its own If this is true it's not great news. I wonder, does the parking pawl engage at power-off?

If everything is electronically activated, and a lot of the wires and control electronics are destroyed by a fire, then all bets are off.

Mechanical linkages are going to survive the heat of a fire quite a bit longer than wires and electronics.

Re: Tesla Model S Plaid caught fire while driver was at the wheel, says fire chief

#27

Post by mdoms »

MDWolinski wrote: post #16

Maybe he had trouble getting out because he was occupied calling his attorney. I’m pretty sure this is the first article on the first report of a Tesla issue where an attorney is giving statements that I recall seeing. Not to diminish the seriousness of the issue but certainly seems likely they’re going to go for all they can against Tesla. I just wonder what the other side of the story will be. Note, not a Tesla own…

> Not to diminish the seriousness of the issue

It really sounds like you are, though.

Re: Tesla Model S Plaid caught fire while driver was at the wheel, says fire chief

#28

Post by s5300 »

perl4ever wrote: post #21
vardump wrote: post #3

Better to wait for the official investigation. For whatever reason, speculation is pretty rampant whenever it comes to Tesla accidents.

Every time something like this happens, people point out that gas powered cars catch fire much more often than electric ones. Quote: "That’s five fires for every billion miles traveled, compared to 55 fires per billion miles traveled in gasoline cars." So why don't I want to own an electric car? Because my assumption is that the typical electric car fire happens while it is being charged, whereas the typical gas-powe…

I think you're much more likely to have a counterfeit/faulty USB C cable that somehow makes its way to you lead to a fire with any of several objects containing Li-Ion that people tend to have in their houses anymore.

EV charging systems are pretty robust and fail-safed.

Re: Tesla Model S Plaid caught fire while driver was at the wheel, says fire chief

#29

Post by cyberge99 »

s5300 wrote: post #23
senectus1 wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

these really should be mandated as standard on all cars ever manufactured.

Most people don't know that the headrest (head restraint) can also be used to break a window in several ways. I'd known about this for a while, typically there's just a simple mechanical button you have to depress to remove the headrest to be able to use it in this fashion. Then, for ergonomic reasons, I went to change the headrest orientation one day (I know this is stupid) - and, it turned out, in addition to a mec…

Additionally some of those headrest button aren’t easy to click and pull.

Re: Tesla Model S Plaid caught fire while driver was at the wheel, says fire chief

#30

Post by tdiggity »

s5300 wrote: post #23
senectus1 wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

these really should be mandated as standard on all cars ever manufactured.

Most people don't know that the headrest (head restraint) can also be used to break a window in several ways. I'd known about this for a while, typically there's just a simple mechanical button you have to depress to remove the headrest to be able to use it in this fashion. Then, for ergonomic reasons, I went to change the headrest orientation one day (I know this is stupid) - and, it turned out, in addition to a mec…

Teslas don’t have detachable/adjustable height headrests :(

I also encountered the pin-required-for-removal in an old Rav4.

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