page_title: Plug-in electric vehicle fire incidents
section_title: Tesla Model S, 3, X, Y
hierarchical_section_title: Plug-in electric vehicle fire incidents / Electric vehicle incidents / Tesla Model S, 3, X, Y
caption_attribution_description: Tesla Model S 60
context_page_description: Plug-in electric vehicle fire incidents have taken place between the introduction of mass-production plug-in electric vehicles in 2010 and 2014, when the battery type was changed to nickel-metal hydride batteries which do not pose the same risk of thermal runaway as lithium-ion batteries. As a result of these incidents, the United States, Department of Transportation's National Highway Traffic Safety Administration conducted a study to establish whether lithium-ion batteries in plug-electric vehicles pose an exceptional fire hazard. The research looked at whether the high-voltage batteries can cause fires when they are being charged, and when the vehicles are involved in an accident.
  Regarding the risk of electrochemical failure, [this] report concludes that the propensity and severity of fires and explosions from the accidental ignition of flammable electrolytic solvents used in Li-ion battery systems are anticipated to be somewhat comparable to or perhaps slightly less than those for gasoline or diesel vehicular fuels.
context_section_description: A Tesla Model S caught fire after the vehicle hit debris on a highway in Kent, Washington, on October 1, 2013. According to the driver, he hit something while traveling in the HOV lane of Washington State Route 167, and exited because the car reported a problem and told him to stop. Flames began coming out of the front of the car at the end of the off-ramp, so the driver left the car. The fire was caught on video by a witness and posted on several websites.  According to the Kent Fire Department incident report, initial attempts to extinguish the fire with water were unsuccessful, as the fire reignited underneath the vehicle after appearing to be extinguished. Then, the firefighters cut a hole to apply water directly to the burning battery. According to Tesla, the car owner was alerted by onboard systems to stop the car and exit the vehicle, which he did without injury.
  The carmaker confirmed the fire began in the battery pack and it was caused by an impact to one of the battery pack modules by a large piece of metal from a semi-trailer and that the design of the battery pack had isolated the fire to the front section's internal firewalls.
  The company also said that conventional gasoline-powered cars were much more vulnerable to such a situation, because they have less underbody protection. It also noted that the battery pack holds only about 10% of the energy contained in a gasoline tank and is spread across 16 firewalled modules, meaning that the combustion potential is only about 1% as much. Elon Musk posted on his blog that, based on U.S. automobile miles-per-fire statistics from the National Fire Protection Association, a driver is "5 times more likely to experience a fire in a conventional gasoline car than a Tesla."  After news of the accident, Tesla stock fell 6.24% in NASDAQ trading the next day, and an additional 4% the following day, closing at US$173.31. The stock recovered by 4.4% at the closing of the week.
  Tesla's CEO, Elon Musk, issued an official statement on October 4, 2013. The statement said that a curved piece of metal from a semi-trailer that had fallen on the roadway appeared to have impaled the one-quarter-inch (6.4 mm) plate on the base of the vehicle. According to the statement, in order for the object to have made a 3-inch (7.6 cm) diameter hole in the plate, the object must have had enough leverage to produce approximately 25 short tons-force (220 kN). After the driver exited the car, the statement continued, the frontmost of the car's 16 battery modules caught fire due to the initial damage, but the battery pack's internal firewalls kept the fire from spreading and vents directed the flames away from the car down towards the pavement. The statement also noted that the fire never entered the passenger compartment. According to Tesla, the firefighters observed standard procedure, and gained access to the source of the fire by puncturing holes in the top of the battery's protective metal plate and applying water. However, the company noted that although the water and dry-chemical fire extinguisher quickly put out the fire, the firefighters should not have punctured the firewall since the new holes allowed flames to enter the front trunk of the vehicle. Musk closed the official statement explaining that the result of this accident could have been "far worse" had a conventional gasoline-powered car encountered the same object on the highway, because most gasoline cars do not have an armored underbody, leaving the fuel lines and tank vulnerable. He also noted that Tesla's battery pack only contains about 10% as much energy as a standard tank of gasoline and it is divided into 16 sections means that the combustion potential is about 1% of a comparable gasoline-powered car. Based on U.S. statistics from the National Fire Protection Association, Musk's statement claimed that a fire was five times more likely in a gasoline car than in a Tesla car.
  The U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) was not able to send investigators to the scene of the incident due to the U.S federal govern
caption: Tesla Model S
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