Tesla Burns and Explodes
 

Crashed Tesla explodes into a massive fireball

After crashing into a tree, a Tesla Model S violently burst into flames causing cells from its lithium-ion battery to explode.

The video above shows parts of the batteries, which can burn for up to 24 hours, bursting into flames after the crash and shooting into the air like fireworks. The single-vehicle crash, which killed the driver and a passenger, occurred Thursday morning in Indianapolis, WTHR reported.

In a press conference following the accident, Indianapolis Fire Department Battalion Chief Kevin Jones explained that although he and his team have been trained on how to respond to fires in hybrid or electrical vehicles, fires related to high-voltage lithium-ion batteries require "copious amounts of water" to extinguish and burn at an extremely high temperature.

Jones described the scene of the fatal crash, noting debris and battery cells were strewed approximately 100 feet in each direction.

"Some of those smaller cells that had broken apart began firing off almost like projectiles around the rescuers," Jones said, before he noted he had not seen anything of this magnitude before.

Jones explained that the accident occurred after the driver lost control of the vehicle while driving at a high speed. He also made it clear that large fires following high-speed crashes are not unique to electric vehicles.

“If you have collisions at high rates of speed with impacts like that, regardless if it’s a traditional power vehicle via gasoline or hybrid or all electric, you can see a fire in a vehicle like that or severe damage," Jones said. "And so to say it was simply because it was an electric vehicle, you can’t say that because we’ve seen collisions that are non-electric vehicles with just as bad of damage or fire.”

Well, that left a pretty large carbon footprint..... So much for saving the world with their electric car.

So much for worlds safest car.

Damn. That's a hell of a crash and burn.

Conventional cars can certainly burn violently after a big accident. I spent years litigating fuel fire cars. Typically those involve rear end hits since that's where the fuel tank usually is. I never saw a fuel fire from a frontal impact.

This is nothing. Wait'll you see what the roof panels can do.

Nothing to see here. Cars (gas or electric) crash and burn all the time.

There is a lot of energy stored in there, and it needs a lot careful charge/discharge management to prevent fires. I am surprised fires are not more common.

I was fiddling with a smaller new battery pack at work (non-Tesla) and it was very easy to get it smoking. The design of the individual batteries makes it pretty easy to create a short circuit. As a result we are implementing some new fire control procedures.

I've seen plenty of them. Although they do not normally occur.


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A beautiful woman, 25, died in the crash. They couldn't get her out for an hour because of the flames.

25...bloody hell. That is too young. very sad.

I hate it when golf carts explode.

Didn't two people, including a well known actor, die when their car hit a tree and burst into flames?

IIRC, that car might have been gas powered.

In a case where an explosion blows debris 100 feet away I don't think the location of the battery (or a gas tank) within the vehicle really makes any difference.

Sad to hear about the loss of life.

The issue is the length of time it burns and ability to put the fire out once it starts.

I'm working with an insurance company on placing a 180kW li-ion battery system in a building. They are balking at putting it in there at all. They would prefer it in an unattached outbuilding.

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Another tree takes a life, when will the madness end?

Fire was not unique to being electric, but that continuous fireworks display was.

So if it was an ugly old lady it would be no big deal?

What about some really ugly fat dude that was 16?

Hey GH85 carrera, go f**k yourself. I'm just stating that 2 people lost their lives, both were up and coming members of the community.

I know this is off topic, and only a guess, but the time of the accident (1am), leaving a work/social function, and the speed/loss of control all make me think the biggest contributor to their deaths (both died) was alcohol. But this is only speculation on my part.