Tesla Motors Inc. reported a third fire within a month in one of its $70,000 EVs, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal The company is investigating the blaze in the Model S sedan, which happened on a Tennessee roadway.
The Tesla Motors Club website published images of the car in the aftermath of the fire. No one was hurt in the incident.
Tesla has sent a team to Tennessee to investigate the accident. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) vowed to uncover any overarching vehicle safety implications that could merit regulatory action, although the agency declined to investigate a previous Model S fire that happened in Seattle. There, a car accident caused a piece of metal to puncture the car’s lithium-ion battery pack, which then caught fire. In the same month, a car crash in Mexico involving the model also caused a fire.
Reports and pictures of the incident caused a brief dip in Tesla’s stock price. At the same time, Tesla announced an unrelated third-quarter net loss of $38 million.
To read the Wall Street Journal article cited in this story, click here