A Tesla car's battery that ignited after a fatal crash reignited twice after it had been fully extinguished at the accident scene.

The US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) yesterday released its preliminary report into the Tesla Model S that crashed into a wall at high speed in Fort Lauderdale on May 8. The vehicle burst into flames, killing two teens and injuring a third.

The report notes that Fort Lauderdale Fire and Rescue Department found the Tesla "fully engulfed in flames" at the crash scene and extinguished it with 200 to 300 gallons of water and foam.

They also found portions of the lithium-ion battery had separated from the vehicle. These were not visibly on fire but responders applied water and foam to the debris.

When they were loading the car for removal, the Tesla's damaged lithium-ion battery reignited and was quickly extinguished, but then it reignited again as it arrived at the storage yard.

Something similar occurred to a Model X's battery following a fatal crash into a road barrier in Mountain View in March.

The 400-volt lithium-ion high-voltage battery was breached during the collision and a fire started after the crash.

The NTSB's report into that crash noted that after the fire had been extinguished and the car was taken to storage, the battery "emanated smoke and audible venting" but didn't ignite. However, five days later it reignited and had to be extinguished again.

The Model S, which was being driven by Barrett Riley, was traveling at 116mph three seconds before the collision, according to data the NTSB obtained from Tesla's restraints control module.

The crash occurred on a street with a 30mph speed limit. Riley lost control of the vehicle after attempting an overtake maneuver.

The vehicle erupted in flames after hitting the same wall in front of a residence twice, after which it re-entered the roadway and came to rest as it struck a metal light pole.

The NTSB is still gathering information about the systems and maintenance records of the Model S in search of more data sources that could potentially be recovered after the fire.

It will also look at the procedures used to extinguish the battery fire and to remove and store the car after the crash.

According to Electrek, Tesla just last week rolled out a new speed-limiter feature in a software update and in release notes dedicated the feature to Riley, who was given the vehicle by his father.

The speed-limit mode allows the vehicle's maximum speed to be set between 50mph and 90mph, or 80km/h and 145 km/h.

A report by Sun-Sentinal in May quotes Riley's aunt saying his father had installed speed-control technology on his son's Model S to limit its maximum speed to 85mph.

He opted for the speed limit after Riley was booked in March for traveling at 112mph.

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It also slightly tweaked the pricing and options for dual-motor AWD variants. </s> The battery in a Tesla Inc. Model S car involved in a fatal crash in Florida last month reignited twice after firefighters extinguished the initial blaze that consumed the vehicle on impact, according to a preliminary report from the National Transportation Safety Board.

The report, released Tuesday, is part of the federal agency’s examination of the fire in the electric car’s lithium-ion battery and the emergency response to it. According to the report, the Tesla vehicle was traveling at 116 miles an hour seconds before it lost control near a sharp turn where the speed limit was 30 mph and the advised speed was speed was 25 mph. Roadside warning signs include a flashing beacon.

The NTSB is examining several crashes involving Tesla TSLA, +2.70% vehicles, including a fatal crash in March near San Francisco that prompted questions about the safety of the company’s Autopilot driver-assistance system. The NTSB’s preliminary report on that incident, which was released this month, said that Autopilot had prompted the driver to grab the steering wheel more than 15 minutes before the collision, but apparently not in the moments before the crash.

The NTSB said when it initiated the investigation into the Florida crash that it didn’t expect to look at Autopilot because it didn’t seem that the system had been engaged. The agency has been looking at how battery fires in electric vehicles can be particularly challenging to emergency responders because they tend to reignite.

An expanded version of this report appears on WSJ.com. </s> The battery in a Tesla Inc. Model S car involved in a fatal crash in Florida last month reignited twice after firefighters extinguished the initial blaze that consumed the vehicle on impact, according to a preliminary report from the National Transportation Safety Board.

The report, released Tuesday, is part of the federal agency’s examination of the fire in the electric car’s lithium-ion battery and the emergency response to it. According to the report, the Tesla vehicle was traveling at 116 miles an hour seconds before it... </s> A Tesla Model S involved in a May 8 fatal high-speed crash in Florida reignited twice after firefighters extinguished a fire in the electric vehicle, the National Transportation Safety Board said in a preliminary report on Tuesday.

The report said the vehicle was traveling 116 miles per hour seconds before it crashed into a metal light pole. The Fort Lauderdale Fire Department found the vehicle fully engulfed in flames and extinguished the vehicle fire using 200 gallons to 300 gallons of water and foam, the NTSB said.

The report said during removal of the car from the scene, the battery reignited and was quickly extinguished. “Upon arrival at the storage yard, the battery reignited again,” the report said, and was again quickly put out.

There have been other reported cases of crashed Tesla battery packs reigniting, including after a fatal Tesla crash in March in California.

Tesla declined to comment on the report, but has said its vehicles are much less likely to catch fire than gasoline-powered vehicles. </s> A Tesla Inc Model S involved in a May 8 fatal high-speed crash in Florida reignited twice after firefighters extinguished a fire in the electric vehicle, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said in a preliminary report on Tuesday.

WASHINGTON: A Tesla Inc Model S involved in a May 8 fatal high-speed crash in Florida reignited twice after firefighters extinguished a fire in the electric vehicle, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said in a preliminary report on Tuesday.

The report said the vehicle was travelling 116 miles per hour seconds before it crashed into a metal light pole. The Fort Lauderdale Fire Department found the vehicle fully engulfed in flames and extinguished the vehicle fire using 200–300 gallons of water and foam, the NTSB said.

The report said during removal of the car from the scene, the battery reignited and was quickly extinguished. "Upon arrival at the storage yard, the battery reignited again," the report said and was again quickly put out. There have been other reported cases of crashed Tesla battery packs reigniting, including after a fatal Tesla crash in March in California. Tesla declined to comment on the report, but has said its vehicles are much less likely to catch fire than gasoline-powered vehicles. </s> A Tesla Model S electric car that crashed and burned last month in Florida, killing two teenagers, was travelling 116 miles per hour (roughly 187 kmph) three seconds before impact and only slowed to 86 mph (roughly 138 kmph) as the airbags were inflated, according to federal investigators.

The National Transportation Safety Board, in a preliminary report on the crash, also said that the car missed a curve with a 25 mph (roughly 56 kmph) speed limit, crashed into a wall twice, and witnesses reported that it erupted in flames.

The driver and front-seat passenger, both 18, were killed in the May 8 crash in Fort Lauderdale. A rear-seat passenger was ejected and injured.

According to the report released Tuesday, the car's lithium-ion battery re-ignited twice after firefighters extinguished the flames, once as the car was being loaded for removal from the scene and again in a storage yard. The NTSB had said previously that it did not expect the Tesla's semi-autonomous Autopilot system to be a part of the investigation.

It's the second time in two months that the agency has issued a preliminary report in a Tesla crash. On June 7 an agency report said that a Tesla Model X SUV using Autopilot accelerated just before crashing into a California freeway barrier in March, killing its driver.

In both cases, the agency will determine the cause and issue safety recommendations to prevent crashes from happening again. Normally it takes at least a year to finish a final report.

In the Fort Lauderdale crash, witnesses told investigators the driver went into the left lane to pass another vehicle and lost control while trying to return to the right lane. At the crash site on Seabreeze Boulevard, the road curves to the left, and there's a 25 mph warning sign with a flashing beacon.

Two seconds before impact, the Model S sedan was travelling 108 mph when the driver hit the brakes and increased the steering angle. The Tesla went over the curb, crossed the sidewalk and continued to the south, hitting a wall in front of a home, according to the report. When the car's computers gave the command to inflate the airbags, it was travelling 86 mph. The car continued to move and struck the wall a second time, when witnesses said it caught fire, according to the report.

It bounced back onto the road, went over a curb on the opposite side of the street, hit a light pole and stopped in a driveway, the report stated.

The NTSB, working with local police, found from data stored by the car's computers that both front-seat passengers were wearing seatbelts.

Fort Lauderdale firefighters put out the flames with 200 to 300 gallons of water and foam. But as the car was being loaded for removal from the site, the battery reignited and was quickly extinguished. It also reignited at a storage yard, and firefighters had to be called.

In the California crash, the battery also reignited several times, drawing interest from the NTSB because of the car's new technology. The agency says it will continue to investigate the cause of the crash and the procedures used to put out fires and store the cars.

Batteries like those used by Tesla and other electric cars can catch fire and burn rapidly in a crash, although Tesla has maintained its vehicles catch fire far less often than those powered by gasoline.

A Tesla spokeswoman wouldn't comment on the report regarding the Florida crash. The company has said previously that its battery pack has thousands of cells that are placed in separate modules that have firewalls between them.

Federal authorities also are investigating two other Tesla crashes in California and Utah.

The NTSB normally makes recommendations to other federal agencies such as the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, which has authority to impose regulations and seek recalls. </s> SAN FRANCISCO — The National Transportation Safety Board said Wednesday that it was sending four investigators to probe a Tesla Model S crash that killed two Florida teens when it hit a concrete wall and burst into flames.

Two Fort Lauderdale high school students were killed in the crash Tuesday night, while a third 18-year-old was ejected from the vehicle and transported to a local hospital, according to Miami's NBC 6.

The car's speed — and not the electric automaker's partial self-driving Autopilot system — is considered the main culprit in the accident, according to both the NTSB and Tesla. The 2014 Model S was in a residential zone with a 35-mile-an-hour limit.

A Tesla Model X is displayed at the Paris Motor Show in Paris on Sept. 30, 2016. The base model has a 237 mile range and starts at $79,500, according to Tesla.

Instead, the decision to a launch an investigation centers on the fire that erupted after the battery-powered sedan hit the wall.

“NTSB has a long history of investigating emerging transportation technologies, such as lithium-ion battery fires in commercial aviation, as well as a fire involving the lithium-ion battery in a Chevrolet Volt in collaboration with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration,” NTSB Chairman Robert Sumwalt said in a statement.

"The goal of these investigations is to understand the impact of these emerging transportation technologies when they are part of a transportation accident," he said.

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Tesla, based south of San Francisco in Palo Alto, Calif., did not respond to an immediate request for comment, but issued a statement to NBC 6 saying that it had so far not been able to retrieve a vehicle identification number which would allow the company to access the car's computer logs.

"However, had Autopilot been engaged it would have limited the vehicle’s speed to 35 mph or less on this street, which is inconsistent with eyewitness statements and the damage to the vehicle," Tesla's statement said.

This is the second time in recent months that a Tesla accident has drawn the attention of the NTSB, which is still investigating a March Model X crash in Mountain View, Calif., that killed its driver. That vehicle was in Autopilot mode when it hit a concrete barrier.

In this Friday March 23, 2018 photo provided by KTVU, emergency personnel work a the scene where a Tesla electric SUV crashed into a barrier on U.S. Highway 101 in Mountain View, Calif. The National Transportation Safety Board has sent two investigators to look into a fatal crash and fire Friday in California that involved a Tesla electric SUV. The agency says on Twitter that it's not clear whether the Tesla Model X was operating on its semi-autonomous control system called Autopilot at the time. Investigators will study the fire that broke out after the crash. (KTVU via AP) ORG XMIT: FX101

Tesla said the driver ignored repeated warnings from the car to take back control. But in reporting details of the crash on its website, it raised the ire of the NTSB which said the release of such information was premature. The NTBS subsequently removed Tesla as a party in its investigation; Tesla said it chose to withdraw to defend its position.

That fatal Model X crash also sparked a fire that took hours to put out, according to reports.

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Experts say that once ignited, lithium-ion batteries — the same kind found in laptops and cell phones, though in far smaller quantities than cars — have a tendency to ignite in a chain reaction and burn considerably hotter than the lead-acid batteries in conventional gasoline-powered vehicles.

The latest NTSB investigation into a Tesla crash is likely to cause more grief for a company trying to ramp up production of its mission-critical Model 3 entry-level electric sedan. But some industry observers wonder whether the spotlight is warranted.

"Based on annual statistics, about 500 gas-powered cars catch on fire and around 100 people die on U.S. roads every day," Fred Lambert, founder of electric vehicle site Electrek, wrote Wednesday. "Those stories generally never go pass local news outlets, but when a Tesla vehicle is involved, it suddenly makes national news." </s> WASHINGTON: A Tesla Inc Model S involved in a May 8 fatal high-speed crash in Florida reignited twice after firefighters extinguished a fire in the electric vehicle, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said in a preliminary report on Tuesday.

The report said the vehicle was traveling 116 miles (187 km) per hour seconds before it crashed into a metal light pole. The Fort Lauderdale Fire Department found the vehicle fully engulfed in flames and extinguished the vehicle fire using 200–300 gallons (around 750-1,100 liters) of water and foam, the NTSB said.

The report said during removal of the car from the scene, the battery reignited and was quickly extinguished. "Upon arrival at the storage yard, the battery reignited again," the report said, and was again quickly put out.

Tesla declined to comment on the report, but has said its vehicles are much less likely to catch fire than gasoline-powered vehicles.

There have been other reported cases of crashed Tesla battery packs reigniting, including after a fatal Tesla crash in March in California.

In the California crash, the battery reignited five days after the crash in an impound lot and was extinguished by the San Mateo Fire Department.

NTSB said its investigation into the Florida crash that killed two teenagers in the vehicle "will also include examining the procedures used to extinguish the battery fire and to remove and store the car postcrash."

Tesla says its vehicle battery packs rarely incur significant damage and the pack is designed that in the event of a fire it would spread more slowly than a gasoline-vehicle fire. Tesla Chief Executive Elon Musk has said "there should be absolutely zero doubt that it is safer to power a car with a battery than a large tank of highly flammable liquid."

The NTSB said last week it was sending a technical specialist to review Tesla's examination of a battery fire in West Hollywood, California after actress Mary McCormack posted a video of her husband’s Tesla emitting flames. No one was injured.

The NTSB said that Tesla had shared information about the West Hollywood incident. Tesla said it was investigating.

Earlier this year, the NTSB confirmed it was investigating an August 2017 Tesla battery fire in Lake Forest, California, after an owner lost control and ran the vehicle into his garage.

The NTSB and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration are investigating several crashes involving the use of Tesla's driver assistance system Autopilot including in the fatal crash in California in March. </s> Federal investigators have opened what is now their fourth active investigation involving a Tesla vehicle after two teenagers were killed in a fiery crash of a Model S in Florida on Tuesday.

The National Transportation Safety Board announced Wednesday it was sending a team of four to investigate the crash on State Route A1 in Fort Lauderdale, which killed two 18-year-olds and injured a third 18-year-old.

Barrett Riley, who was driving the 2014 Tesla Model S, and Edgar Monserratt Martinez, who was in the front passenger seat, died at the scene when the vehicle drove off a roadway and crashed into a concrete wall, according to the police report. The car immediately caught fire and was fully engulfed in flames, police said.

Alexander Berry, who was in the back seat, was ejected from the vehicle and taken to the hospital, said police, who theorize that excessive speed may have been a factor in the crash.

The NTSB said it is focusing on the emergency response to the electric battery fire. The agency said it did not anticipate that Autopilot —Tesla's driver-assistance technology, which has been in the spotlight lately —would be part of its investigation.

"NTSB has a long history of investigating emerging transportation technologies, such as lithium ion battery fires in commercial aviation, as well as a fire involving the lithium ion battery in a Chevrolet Volt in collaboration with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration," NTSB Chairman Robert S. Sumwal said in a statement.

Tesla has not been able to retrieve the vehicle logs, "but everything we have seen thus far indicates a very high-speed collision and that Autopilot was not engaged," a spokesman said Thursday.

"The family who owned the car has been a close friend of Tesla for many years, and this hits us particularly hard," he said.

The NTSB is now investigating four accidents involving vehicles made by the Palo Alto electric-car company, including the fatal accident on Highway 101 in Mountain View in March. That accident killed Walter Huang, 38, of San Mateo, who was driving a Model X and crashed into a concrete barrier. The Model X caught fire. Tesla said Autopilot was engaged in the moments leading up to the March 23 crash.

The agency is also investigating two other crashes in California: A Model S crashed into a fire truck near Culver City in January, and the driver reportedly said Autopilot was engaged at the time. And it is looking into a battery fire of a Model X that drove into a home's garage in Lake Forest last August.
The US National Transportation Safety Board reveals the lithium ion battery on a Tesla Model S involved in a double-fatality crash in Florida reignited twice after initially being extinguished by firefighters. It also reveals the vehicle was traveling at 116mph when the accident occurred; Tesla has introduced speed limiters on their cars as a result.