And 32,000 gallons of water used to extinguish the resultant fire.
Attachment 170388
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And 32,000 gallons of water used to extinguish the resultant fire.
Attachment 170388
3 things make me wonder about this crash.
1st - is that the self driving tech still has some way to go and it seems Tesla are using its own customers as Beta testers.
2nd - is why did the occupants think it was ok not to have someone in the drivers seat when the tech is clearly sold as ‘driver assistance’ - maybe a candidate for a Darwin award?
3rd - with all the tech on board these vehicles they don’t have an occupant sensor on the drivers seat allowing this in the first place? That is also monumentally dumb.
The reported 4 hours to put the fire outs is still WOW if true. "“It took four hours to put out a fire that normally would have taken a matter of minutes,” Constable Herman said, adding that it took more than 30,000 gallons of water to extinguish the fire"
Another news suggested "The batteries on board the Tesla continued to ignite despite efforts to douse the flames, authorities said. It reportedly took around four hours and more than 30,000 gallons of water before firefighters decided to let the fire burn itself out."
That last bit is interesting not for the water used. That they suggest they could not put it out with out it reigniting which is a issue with electrical fires until the circuit is broken. With hundreds of battery cells it just might be that once the control/BMS is toasted/broken I wonder if the hot batteries in Ip55 rated enclosures just are unable to be isolated causing the ongoing re-ignition? Hot spots in Bush fires do a similar issue some times weeks later.
Fully agree with the Darwin award nomination unfortunately! Tesla know when/where you sit. The car not automatically stopping if the Darwin candidate jumped out of the drivers seat is a oversight on Tesla's programing I think/wonder? I thought the Autonomous driving ceased if your hands were removed from the steering wheel? Odd plus. Assume the fine print would put the blame back on the now dead driver regardless.
Happy to hold the steering wheel myself
Shrug - That's what is quoted in the news reports. Even Tesla's own internal documentation mentions needing ~3000 gallons of water on hand applied directly to the battery to fight a fire and up to 24 hours to cool it - First responders information.
Murder/suicide? The report says it was going at high speed. I wonder if they can recover data as to whether autopilot was in fact engaged.
With no fuel to flow away while burning, the fire probably remained largely concentrated in the battery area after the plastics burnt.
Yes, that is one reason, but it is an involved process with many variables involved to extinguish a fire in a Lithium Iron battery.
The following article is a bit long, just scroll over the basics:
Fire Safety of LithiumIon Batteries in Road Vehicles (diva-portal.org)
Fire Safety of Lithium-Ion Batteries in Road Vehicles