A new surveillance video made rounds on Twitter yesterday afternoon that showed a parked Tesla Model S catching fire out of nowhere. The video shows a Tesla Model S in a car parking in Shanghai bursting into flames spontaneously without any warning whatsoever.
The video has also been shared widely on Weibo – the Chinese version of Twitter. The video seemed to have been obtained from a surveillance camera and captured the moment when Tesla Model S caught fire. It was parked along with other cars and all of a sudden; smoke started coming out of it, and then it caught fire.
The videos that have been posted on Twitter show the aftermath of the fire. The fire totally consumed the Tesla while damaging the vehicles that were parked around it. This is the second incident of a Tesla catching fire. The previous one caught fire while it was being charged. This particular Tesla Model S was not being charged but did catch fire nonetheless.
Tesla also released a statement on Weibo as a response to the video. The statement said, ‘After learning about the incident in Shanghai, we dispatched a team to the scene last night as soon as possible. We are actively liaising with the relevant departments and cooperating with the verification of the situation. According to the current information, there were no casualties.’
The lithium-ion batteries that Tesla incorporates into its cars are known for catching fire or when they get damaged in an accident. We all remember the fiasco of Samsung Galaxy Note 7 and how Samsung had to recall its devices because of reports of them catching fire.
Tesla’s lithium-ion batteries have caught fire in a total of five incidents so far. Some because of a collision while other when the cars were parked. Let’s see what Tesla finds out and how the situation can be remedied. Meanwhile, this is what you do when an electric vehicle catches fire!