OT. Tesla Battery Fire

[Dean Hoffman]

There has been another fire involving Tesla battery packs. Some people were supposed to shelter in place.

Maybe Tesla can find a solution for this.

[Scott Lurndal]

The fire burned itself out without issue and without affecting anything other than the involved module (the size of a shipping container).

It's a function of the current anode/cathode chemistry, and isn't anything new (recall the introduction of the Boeing 787 a few years back, for example; and the on-going restrictions on Li-ion batteries on aircraft).

There are a couple dozen startups working on alternate anode/cathode chemistries (including silicon anodes) which don't have the dendrite buildup issues seen with Li-ion chemistries, several of which have started low-rate production.

[invalid unparseable]

Would you buy a Tesla and park it in your attached garage?

[Scott Lurndal]

Yes, of course. In a skinny minute.

"According to the NFPA, the national average for vehicle fires remains at the same level of one fire per 19 million miles traveled. The difference between Tesla and the average is 11:1, which is a big win not only for Tesla, but in general, for electric cars."

Far safer than gasoline. More Ford Exploders have caught fire than teslas.

[Wade Garrett]

Exactly what the laws of probability would predict, given that there's so many more of them ;-)

[Scott Lurndal]

You're mistaken. The 11:1 is per miles travelled, not per unit.

[Frank]

A ship full of German cars sank from a battery fire.

[micky]

Not in direct reply to your post, but the phrase "shelter in place" has always struck me as strange phrasing, when I would say, Find shelter where you are. But okay. they like their form which is two words shorter.

But lately I've been seeing it when there has been a wild animal or a criminal on the loose. And it still said "shelter in place". I think it should be "hide in place". Seriously.

[micky]

"The difference between Tesla and the average is 11:1 ". FTR doesn't that mean there are 11 times as many fires for Teslas as for the average of other cars, per mile travelled?

[Cindy Hamilton]

Shelter from a predator (two- or four-legged) implies hiding. Although I think I'd grab a gun on my way to shelter. Or shelter in the room where the gun safe is, so I have plenty of ammo.

[Marilyn Manson]

Do you have a cite for that claim?

Not speculation. An actual, official report that the ship sank because of a *battery* fire.

[Ed Pawlowski]

I've not seen a final report but the batteries were a factor but not necessarily the start.

This says speculation

While there is no official report about what caused the blaze, captain Joao Mendes Cabecas of the port of Hortas told Reuters that he believed lithium-ion batteries in the electric cars inside the ship caught fire.

told Reuters over the weekend that the fire was being kept alive by the lithium-ion batteries of the electric cars on board, with flames edging closer and closer to the fuel tanks of the ship.

[Marilyn Manson]

Yep. Lots of things caught fire.

Very possible.

However, none of that proofs what Frank states as a fact.

Still waiting on that cite. Frank...did you find it yet?

[Leonard Blaisdell]

In the U.S., shelter with a gun, if you have one. Easy peasy.