[p7wang]

Hate it when sites post old news. Really confusing when you read about "Just In" world events on something that happened last year. haha

 

[wonderbolt]

I am very sorry for the owner, but also very glad nobody was hurt.

An interesting story, however extremely strange circumstances,

Jury is still out on this one, IMHO...

 

[V0X]

RIP 5 more Teslas burned

Truck Trailer Carrying Five Tesla Cars Burns In Nevada

A trailer with five Tesla cars and a Subaru caught fire last September 24 in Nevada, but Tesla claims it was a problem with the carrier truck.

insideevs.com

 

[redpoint5]

Seems like a Tesla would have had to initiated the fire. Truck driver did a good job minimizing loss it seems.

 

[MikeyBolt]

It's hard to read anything into any of these fires unless there is a trend over time. One of the Teslas could have taken undercarriage damage when loading, could have been damaged by something on the transport, etc. I too think it unlikely that the trailer itself started the fire, but who knows. Stranger things have happened.

Mike

 

[DaV8or]

Just some thoughts about the Tesla car carrier fire and the Ukrainian Bolt fire-

The Tesla fire could most certainly have been caused by the trailer. I was a truck driver in a past life and I can tell you that any time you have dallies you have the potential for fire. What happens is, one of the two tires on a wheel will go flat for whatever reason. The driver will have no clue as the other tire will support the weight and keep the rig rolling. The flat tire will drag, rub, wobble and build up a lot of heat from friction as it goes down the highway. It can get hot enough to set the tire on fire.

Once a tire is on fire, it's almost impossible to put it out. It's a cascading effect. One tire catches the other tire on fire and two tires together catch the paint, the grease, the oil in the axle, the brake lines, etc. on fire. There could well have been enough heat and fire to ignite the Model 3 sitting above the burning tire on fire and it spreads from there. Is this what happened? Only the truck driver knows for sure.

The Ukrainian Bolt would have had no connection to OnStar. Here in the states, several of us (myself included) have had our battery packs replaced because the onboard computers on the Bolt notified OnStar and ultimately GM that there was a problem long before there were ever any symptoms, or even driver alerts. GM has been very proactive in getting any slightly funky battery cell out of service quickly. This seems to have been a problem mostly with early build cars like mine.

The guy in Ukraine could have been running with unbalanced battery cells for awhile and he may, or may not have had a clue about it. GM certainly didn't know anything about it. Sadly, he is screwed. GM isn't going to do anything about this I suspect.

 

[neutrondrip]

The Tesla fire could most certainly have been caused by the trailer. I was a truck driver in a past life and I can tell you that any time you have dallies you have the potential for fire. What happens is, one of the two tires on a wheel will go flat for whatever reason. The driver will have no clue as the other tire will support the weight and keep the rig rolling. The flat tire will drag, rub, wobble and build up a lot of heat from friction as it goes down the highway. It can get hot enough to set the tire on fire.

Once a tire is on fire, it's almost impossible to put it out. It's a cascading effect. One tire catches the other tire on fire and two tires together catch the paint, the grease, the oil in the axle, the brake lines, etc. on fire. There could well have been enough heat and fire to ignite the Model 3 sitting above the burning tire on fire and it spreads from there. Is this what happened? Only the truck driver knows for sure.

This is absolutely true. I've seen several trailer fires caused by this kind of situation. However, I think it's funny and completely on-brand how quickly Tesla blamed the trailer without any citing facts or testimonials. As you said, the only person who really knows is the driver, and that might not even be the case.

 

[DaV8or]

This is absolutely true. I've seen several trailer fires caused by this kind of situation. However, I think it's funny and completely on-brand how quickly Tesla blamed the trailer without any citing facts or testimonials. As you said, the only person who really knows is the driver, and that might not even be the case.

Well, perhaps all the cars on the trailer were transmitting data back to the mothership like we know customer cars do. Perhaps reviewing this data showed no anomalies that would indicate a battery fire. I guess the insurance companies will get to the bottom of it.

 

[neutrondrip]

Well, perhaps all the cars on the trailer were transmitting data back to the mothership like we know customer cars do. Perhaps reviewing this data showed no anomalies that would indicate a battery fire. I guess the insurance companies will get to the bottom of it.

That's completely possible, and I'm fine with that. If that's the case, Tesla needs to cite that info when they state that it was the trailer.

It's possible that they did cite info and the news agency decided to leave it out.

 

[hhh]

The battery of my 2019 Bolt burned on July 4th of this year. Through the chaos, we contacted our insurance company and the dealership went with that instead of using the warranty. GM then told us that since we contacted our insurance company they wouldn't investigate the cause of the burn (i say burn because there were no visible flames). Anyways, I filed a complaint with NHTSA, NHTSA ID Number: 11339878 2019 CHEVROLET BOLT EV 5 HB FWD
Here's what used to be my car 2019 CHEVROLET BOLT EV PREMIER for Auction - IAA
These are pictures from July 4th:

Here's another 2019 Bolt with similar damage, this one in Miami: 2019 CHEVROLET BOLT EV LT for Auction - IAA

And 2018 Bolt: NHTSA ID Number: 11230072 2018 CHEVROLET BOLT 5 HB FWD

 

[Digi]

 

[greendave]

The battery of my 2019 Bolt burned on July 4th of this year. Through the chaos, we contacted our insurance company and the dealership went with that instead of using the warranty. GM then told us that since we contacted our insurance company they wouldn't investigate the cause of the burn (i say burn because there were no visible flames). Anyways, I filed a complaint with NHTSA, NHTSA ID Number: 11339878 2019 CHEVROLET BOLT EV 5 HB FWD

Yikes. It sounds like nobody was hurt, which is good, but that's still really scary.

 

[GJETSON]

The battery of my 2019 Bolt burned on July 4th of this year. Through the chaos, we contacted our insurance company and the dealership went with that instead of using the warranty. GM then told us that since we contacted our insurance company they wouldn't investigate the cause of the burn (i say burn because there were no visible flames). Anyways, I filed a complaint with NHTSA, NHTSA ID Number: 11339878 2019 CHEVROLET BOLT EV 5 HB FWD
Here's what used to be my car 2019 CHEVROLET BOLT EV PREMIER for Auction - IAA
These are pictures from July 4th:

View attachment 30320 View attachment 30319 View attachment 30318 View attachment 30317 View attachment 30316 View attachment 30321

Here's another 2019 Bolt with similar damage, this one in Miami: 2019 CHEVROLET BOLT EV LT for Auction - IAA

And 2018 Bolt: NHTSA ID Number: 11230072 2018 CHEVROLET BOLT 5 HB FWD

Once again, I do not believe either of these was caused by a cell going into thermal run away.

Firefighter's training for EV's - It's...

Here's a discussion over on Reddit with descriptions and comments from firefighters who have had EV training. https://www.reddit.com/r/askscience/comments/8rqvu5/do_firefighters_have_to_tackle_electric_car_fires/ It appears this is an evolving field with varying standards, opinions, and levels...

www.chevybolt.org

If this had been caused by a cell going off, the destruction would not have been limited to the area under the rear seat. The end result is just as unfortunate for you, but GM needs to be looking at the MSD and BMS.

 

[GJETSON]

Compare these images. Yours is particularly good, in that the firefighters ripped up the sheet metal floor so we can see that the wiring, MSD, and BMS are destroyed...all sitting on top of a relatively unscathed battery section 5

https://i.pinimg.com/originals/25/c3/66/25c366c4bfe5a566893e4346f6c047ee.jpg

https://www.chevybolt.org/cdn-cgi/image/format=auto,onerror=redirect,width=1920,height=1920,fit=scale-down/https://www.chevybolt.org/attachments/img_3342-jpg.30321/

https://vis.iaai.com/resizer?imageKeys=28436145~SID~B736~S0~I6~RW2592~H1944~TH0&width=845&height=633

 

[GJETSON]

There is a well known EV advocate, with a long running online show, and store, who has said many times that more EVs have burned up from a faulty BMS, than from a faulty battery cell. He calls them Battery Mangling Systems.

 

[GJETSON]

Want to note here for possible future reference, that these two Bolts were built 10/18, and 11/18

https://vis.iaai.com/resizer?imageKeys=28473810~SID~B723~S0~I9~RW1280~H960~TH0&width=845&height=633

https://vis.iaai.com/resizer?imageKeys=28436145~SID~B736~S0~I9~RW1280~H960~TH0&width=845&height=633

 

[hhh]

Want to note here for possible future reference, that these two Bolts were built 10/18, and 11/18

https://vis.iaai.com/resizer?imageKeys=28473810~SID~B723~S0~I9~RW1280~H960~TH0&width=845&height=633

https://vis.iaai.com/resizer?imageKeys=28436145~SID~B736~S0~I9~RW1280~H960~TH0&width=845&height=633

Thank you for your insights!

 

[hhh]

There is a well known EV advocate, with a long running online show, and store, who has said many times that more EVs have burned up from a faulty BMS, than from a faulty battery cell. He calls them Battery Mangling Systems.

Do you know how I can find his online show? Thank you!

 

[Jcray]

The battery of my 2019 Bolt burned on July 4th of this year. Through the chaos, we contacted our insurance company and the dealership went with that instead of using the warranty. GM then told us that since we contacted our insurance company they wouldn't investigate the cause of the burn (i say burn because there were no visible flames). Anyways, I filed a complaint with NHTSA, NHTSA ID Number: 11339878 2019 CHEVROLET BOLT EV 5 HB FWD
Here's what used to be my car 2019 CHEVROLET BOLT EV PREMIER for Auction - IAA
These are pictures from July 4th:

View attachment 30320 View attachment 30319 View attachment 30318 View attachment 30317 View attachment 30316 View attachment 30321

Here's another 2019 Bolt with similar damage, this one in Miami: 2019 CHEVROLET BOLT EV LT for Auction - IAA

And 2018 Bolt: NHTSA ID Number: 11230072 2018 CHEVROLET BOLT 5 HB FWD

Wow, that's really scary.

 

[hhh]

Want to note here for possible future reference, that these two Bolts were built 10/18, and 11/18

https://vis.iaai.com/resizer?imageKeys=28473810~SID~B723~S0~I9~RW1280~H960~TH0&width=845&height=633

https://vis.iaai.com/resizer?imageKeys=28436145~SID~B736~S0~I9~RW1280~H960~TH0&width=845&height=633

Pardon my ignorance, but are all Bolts built at a single plant?