Parked Tesla Burst Into Flames Due to Battery Module Fault Following an investigation by Tesla, the Model S was found to have a single battery module fault which caused the vehicle to catch fire.
This story originally appeared on PCMag
Back in April a Tesla Model S parked in a Shanghai car park burst into flames. Tesla just concluded its investigation into the incident and tracked the fire back to a single faulty battery module.
As Reuters reports, the important part of the investigation for Tesla is the fact no systematic defect was found. It means there isn't a general fault across the Model S range which would make these parked vehicle fires likely to happen again.
The faulty battery module thought to have caused the white smoke and subsequent first was located at the front of the Model S. While the investigation was ongoing, Tesla released an over-the-air update for Model S and Model X vehicles which revised the charge and thermal management settings. It looks as though the revisions will now remain in place.
Tesla is keen to point out that its electric vehicles are 10-times less likely to burst into flames than an equivalent gasoline-powered car. However, with electric cars rapidly growing in popularity and Tesla leading the field, even the smallest of incidents grabs the media's attention and puts renewed focus on the company.
The conclusion a battery module was faulty will now most likely be fed back into Tesla's manufacturing process and production lines. The important thing is to identify how a faulty module was allowed to go unnoticed before the vehicle left Tesla's facilities.
