After video surfaced of a Tesla Model S smoking before catching fire, the electric-car maker has dispatched investigators to China where the incident occurred.
Business Insider reported on the incident after a video of the electric car exploding surfaced on Chinese social media websites on Sunday. The footage made its way to YouTube and Twitter. A security camera captured the car on video parked in a parking garage. Its video shows the Model S begin to produce white smoke before an explosion and fire erupts seconds later.
The Model S was not charging at the time of the incident, but the owner said the electric car was charged a few hours prior to the explosion.
Tesla said via its official Weibo (China's version of Twitter) that it had dispatched its investigators to understand what led to the fire, which also ignited other cars in the parking structure. There are no reported injuries or deaths due to the fire.
Local fire departments sent 15 trucks to battle the flames, which are notoriously trickier to extinguish when an electric car with lithium-ion batteries is involved. Tesla documentation for first responders says it can take up to 3,000 gallons of water to not only put a fire out but cool the battery enough to keep it from reigniting. This instance is far more mysterious than previous Tesla fires because most of them have occurred following a crash.
With so few details available, we'll keep an eye out for new information and follow up when Tesla or local officials provide an explanation for the fire. Stay tuned.
