Truck Hauling Tesla’s Catches Fire

A truck carrying Teslas reportedly caught fire on a Nevada highway, a local daily, Elko Daily Free Press, wrote.

According to the report, the fire was so big the Nevada Highway Patrol, had to close part of the highway. Another local outlet, KTNV Action news, carried pictures of the fire on Twitter.

The cause of the fire has not been determined.

If the report is confirmed, this could become another blow to the company. The risk of an EV battery bursting into flames is one of the reasons for some people’s skepticism about EVs in general. Batteries can explode on collision or due to overcharging.

Tesla has already had its fair share of misfortunes in this department, after a string of fires erupting from its EVs.  But not all Tesla fires have been of an unknown origin.

Investigation of several Tesla fire incidents have shown that Tesla was not to blame, including one case where it was discovered that the owner of a Mode S had shot a bullet into the battery pack.

Yet there was another case, also in China, in April this year, when a Model S exploded in a parking lot. An investigation by Tesla concluded that fire had been caused by a battery module. Following the incident, Tesla issued a software update to change the setting for battery charging and thermal management of the packs in Model S and Model X.

Besides fire incidents, Tesla is facing several lawsuits, among them one from a Tesla owner who has accused the carmaker of battery fraud and another from shareholders suing the company over its $2.6-billion acquisition of SolarCity. A third lawsuit launched last month against Tesla accuses the company of wrongful death after a crash with a Model S while in Autopilot mode ended fatally for the driver.

By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com

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