In the US, there were 187,500 vehicle fires recorded in 2011. All of those were gas-fed vehicles.
So what really happened to the trending Tesla that caught fire on Tuesday morning in Washington State. It was so hyped and talked about to the point of seeing Tesla's stock price drop to $12.05.
Apparently, something hit the poor Tesla's undercarriage and
...a Model S traveling at highway speed struck a large metal object, causing significant damage to the vehicle. A curved section that fell off a semi-trailer was recovered from the roadway near where the accident occurred and, according to the road crew that was on the scene, appears to be the culprit. The geometry of the object caused a powerful lever action as it went under the car, punching upward and impaling the Model S with a peak force on the order of 25 tons. Only a force of this magnitude would be strong enough to punch a 3 inch diameter hole through the quarter inch armor plate protecting the base of the vehicle.
Tesla managed to trace what happened by sending a team of experts on the area for evaluation. Jarvis-Shean, Tesla's spokesperson, said that "Because each module within the battery pack is, by design, isolated by fire barriers to limit any potential damage, the fire in the battery pack was contained to a small section in the front of the vehicle."
Even noting that the vehicle performed exceptionally well to inform the driver to stop and exit the car while limiting the expanding fire as basis that the top cover of the battery provided a strong barrier and there was no apparent propagation of the fire into the cabin.
Even Elon Musk tweeted on with the topic to reassure their customers (and fans).
About the Model S fire ... http://t.co/7LSBaNbnyd
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 4, 2013
While the owner of that burnt Tesla even expressed of driving another one.
Anyway, I am still a big fan of your car and look forward to getting back into one. Justin offered a white loaner--thanks. I am also an investor and have to say that the response I am observing is really supportive of the future for electric vehicles. Source: http://www.teslamotors.com/blog/model-s-fireI still believe Tesla is one of the safest vehicles around. And I dearly express that their products would mark success even expanding to the 'Toyota Corolla-type' category. A cheap electric car for the masses.
Though I can't help but wonder what Manny Pangilinan is thinking about this issue. It is a fact that the Philippines has a lot of "large metal object" plying on the road. Even a Toyota Vios is likely to face on having these kind of problems.
Nice article!
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