Fiery Tesla Sparks Safety Fears After 35 Firefighters Took 2 Hours To Extinguish Battery Blaze

35 firefighters and 5 fire trucks took two hours to extinguish a fire caused after a Tesla Model S crashed into a barrier.

Published: Friday, October 20, 2017, 16:29 [IST]

A Tesla Model S that caught fire in Austria has sparked safety fears about electric cars after 35 firefighters and five fire trucks took two hours to contain the inferno caused by the crash.

The Tesla Model S in question was being driven by a 19-year-old driver when it crashed into a concrete barrier near the Pians-Quadratsch tunnel in Austria. The impact caused the car's battery pack to catch fire, a blaze that took a rather long time to be put out.

Tesla Model S Fire Takes 35 Firefighters & 5 Fire Trucks 2 Hours To Extinguish

The reason for why the fire crews from the Landeck voluntary fire brigade struggled was the lithium-ion battery pack which was emitting toxic fumes (sulfuric acid, oxides of carbon, nickel, aluminium, copper and cobalt), which required the use of severe respiratory protection. The battery packs were was also bursting back into flames repeatedly after being put out.

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35 firefighters and five fire trucks finally triumphed after two hours when they got the blaze under control. This allowed other firefighters to cut the power supply to the battery pack, stopping any more fires from breaking out again. However, by then, the front end of the Tesla Model S was a charred wreck.

Tesla has detailed procedures for firefighters in case one of their electric cars catch fire and suggests the use of a thermal imaging camera to ensure that the battery packs have cooled down properly, before leaving the vehicle alone, as battery fires can take up to 24 hours to extinguish.

DriveSpark Thinks!
The video highlights the worst-case reaction of what happens when a car powered by lithium-ion battery packs crashes and while it may just be a singular case, the toxic fumes and the fire's ability to restart is something carmakers should keep in mind when they try and improve electric cars.

Maybe, an automatic battery kill switch to ensure that the power does not continue to flow inside the battery packs in case of a fire is something Musk and Co should look into.