The following list of Tesla car fires is not comprehensive. 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. 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. On 24 October 2013, the NHTSA announced it will not open a formal investigation into the Model S fire incident, saying that they had not found evidence that the fire was caused by a vehicle defect or noncompliance. A second reported fire occurred on October 18, 2013, in
Merida, Mexico. In this case, the vehicle was being driven at high speed through a roundabout and crashed through a wall and into a tree. A Tesla Model S being driven on
Interstate 24 near
Murfreesboro, Tennessee caught fire on November 6, 2013, after it struck a tow hitch on the roadway, causing damage beneath the vehicle. Subsequently, the company announced its decision to extend its current vehicle warranty to cover fire damage and to apply a software update on Model S cars to increase the ground clearance of the Model S when driving at highway speed. On November 15, 2013, a fire broke out in an
Irvine, California garage where a Tesla Model S was plugged in and charging. The fire appears to have originated at the wall connection where the Tesla charging equipment was plugged in. Shortly afterwards, Tesla updated the Model S firmware to reduce charging current when power fluctuations were detected and replaced wall adapters with a new unit containing a
thermal fuse. On November 18, 2013, Tesla released a software update to the
air suspension system to increase the ground clearance at highway speeds, and agreed to cooperate with the NHTSA on a formal investigation of recent incidents involving Tesla S vehicles. Another fire incident took place in
Toronto, Canada, in early February 2014. The Model S was parked in a garage, and it was not plugged in or charging when the fire started. , the origin of the fire was still unknown. Tesla's response was that "[i]n this particular case, we don't yet know the precise cause, but have definitively determined that it did not originate in the battery, the charging system, the adapter or the electrical receptacle, as these components were untouched by the fire." On March 28, 2014, the NHTSA announced that it had closed the investigation into whether the Model S design was making the electric car prone to catch fire, after the automaker said it would provide more protection to its lithium-ion batteries. According to the NHTSA, the titanium underbody shield and aluminum deflector plates, along with increased ground clearance, reduce the severity, frequency, and fire risk of underbody strikes. All Model S cars manufactured after March 6 have the aluminum shield over the battery pack replaced with a new three-layer shield designed to protect the battery and charging circuitry from being punctured even in very high speed impacts. The new shielding features a hollow aluminum tube to deflect impacting objects, a titanium shield to protect sensitive components from puncture damage, and an aluminum extrusion to absorb impact energy. The new shields, which decrease vehicle range by 0.1%, will be installed free-of-charge in existing Model S vehicles by request or during the next scheduled maintenance. According to the NHTSA, the titanium underbody shield and aluminum deflector plates, along with increased ground clearance, "should reduce both the frequency of underbody strikes and the resultant fire risk." In response to an incident in July 2014, the NHTSA contracted with Dynamic Science, Inc to investigate a "fire in a 2013 Tesla Model S that resulted from a multi-event crash." Among the findings of the investigation was that the firefighters ... went through at least four cycles of extinction using copious amounts of water. Each time after it appeared the fire was extinguished it restarted. The fire department contacted Tesla who provided information about the first responder cut loop which shuts down the high voltage system and disables the SRS and air bag components. The fire department could not access the cut loop. Tesla technicians were dispatched and indicated which wire could be safely cut... A fire occurred in a Tesla Model S charging at a
Tesla Supercharger in Norway on January 1, 2016. The fire was slow, and the owner had time to unplug the car and retrieve possessions. An investigation by the
Norwegian Accident Investigation Board (AIBN) indicated that the fire originated in the car, but was otherwise inconclusive. In March 2016, Tesla stated that their own investigation into the incident concluded that the fire was caused by a short circuit in the vehicle's distribution box, but that the amount of damage prevented them from determining the exact cause. Tesla stated that the Supercharger detected the short circuit and deactivated, and a future Model S software update would stop the vehicle from charging if a short circuit is detected. On August 15, 2016, a new Tesla Model S 90D spontaneously caught fire during a promotional test drive in
Biarritz, France. Following a sudden, loud noise the dashboard presented the driver with a warning of a "charging" problem. Following advice from a passenger Tesla employee, the driver pulled over and all three occupants safely exited the vehicle. Moments later the vehicle started burning and although firefighters quickly arrived, the fire completely destroyed the vehicle within 5 minutes. Tesla subsequently determined that the vehicle in question had a "bolted electrical connection" which would normally have been tightened by a robot, but which in this case had been "improperly tightened" by a human, causing the fire. On August 25, 2017, the driver of a Model X lost control of the vehicle, which went over an embankment and struck a garage in
Lake Forest, California, starting a fire that damaged the car and structure. The NTSB stated the resulting battery fire was under investigation. On May 8, 2018, an 18-year-old lost control of his Tesla Model S while driving 116 mph in a 30 mph zone and hit the curb, a wall, the curb and a light pole causing the battery pack to ignite; the car was reportedly modified to be limited to a top speed of 85 mph. The driver and passenger died in the crash and subsequent fire. The battery pack reignited twice, requiring fire fighters to extinguish the burning battery pack three times. On May 10, 2018, a Tesla S caught fire after hitting the guard-rail on the Swiss A2 highway on Monte Ceneri, between Lugano and Bellinzona, killing the 48-year-old German driver. On June 16, 2018, pedestrians on a Los Angeles street alerted a driver of a Tesla Model S that smoke was emanating from his vehicle. The driver pulled over and safely exited the vehicle and flames started shooting out from under it. Firefighters quickly extinguished the fire, which left the cabin unaffected. The
National Transportation Safety Board subsequently stated that they would monitor Tesla's investigation of the fire to learn more about fires in battery-powered vehicles, while the
NHTSA stated that it collects information regarding the incident and would take action as warranted. On February 8, 2019, A Tesla Model S caught on fire in a private garage in Pittsburgh. Two months later, on April 8, it caught on fire again, while it was under investigation. On February 24, 2019, a Tesla Model S that crashed into a tree burst into flames and burned its driver beyond recognition Sunday evening along Flamingo Road in Davie, Florida, then repeatedly caught fire after being brought to the tow yard used by police. Also on February 24, 2019, a Tesla Model X was consumed by fire in the middle of frozen Lake Champlain. More than two years later, the investigation concluded that the car had been set on fire and the owner was charged with federal fraud. On April 21, 2019, a Tesla Model S was exploded in an underground garage in Shanghai, China. Five cars were damaged by the fire. On May 4, 2019, a Tesla Model S, not plugged in, with smoke observed near the rear right tire. Then, on May 13, 2019, a Tesla Model S, caught on fire while parked in Hong Kong. On June 1, 2019, a Tesla Model S burned down while supercharging in Belgium. On August 10, 2019, a Tesla Model 3 collided with a truck on a high-speed road in Moscow, Russia, and subsequently burned down. On November 12, 2019, a Tesla Model X from 2017 burst into flames while charging, leaving the vehicle completely destroyed in Chester, England. On January 19, 2021, a Tesla Model 3 exploded in an underground residential parking garage in Shanghai on Tuesday, Chinese media reported. In July 2021, one of the first 250 issued Model S Plaids spontaneously burst into fire as its owner was driving it. In September 2021 alone, there were five fire related incidents involving Tesla's. On February 22, 2022, State Farm sued Tesla after another home was destroyed by fire. On April 10, 2022, in Nashua, New Hampshire, a brand-new Tesla Model S lost control and struck a tree at high speed, igniting the battery pack. Nashua Fire said, in a social media post, "These electric vehicle fires pose some unique challenges and fire crews were on scene for an extended time to complete extinguishment." Six days later, it rekindled at a tow yard. According to Deputy Chief Kevin Kerrigan, crews knocked down the flames enough to get close to the vehicle and, using equipment, rolled the vehicle over to access the battery compartment under the car. The bottom of the vehicle had a protection plate over the batteries and firefighters worked to remove it while the vehicle continued to burn. Once the plate was removed, crews continued to use water and specially rated extinguishers. No one was injured in the incident, and the vehicle will continue to be monitored for rekindling. On July 22, 2022,
Jimmy Lin was driving a Tesla Model X in Taoyuan, Taiwan, and crashed into a traffic island, then the car caught fire. == Tesla Cybertruck ==