Tesla Responds To Shanghai Spontaneous Car Fires In April
Tesla confirmed on June 28 that the self-combustion of a Tesla in April was due to one battery unit’s malfunction, rather than any system defects.
“Tesla highly values the safety of our customers,” said the company’s official Weibo account.
Two months ago, a Tesla Model S spontaneously caught fire in Shanghai, igniting two cars in a residential area. Although there were no casualties, Tesla had to deal with huge concerns about the safety of their electric cars.
SEE ALSO: Shanghai Tesla Spontaneously Caught Fire Igniting Two Cars
Tesla said it started its response program as soon as they received the warning message and sent a team to the scene. They also called together an investigative team of Chinese and American technical experts and managers to cooperate with related government branches and property departments.
After looking into the the car’s batteries, software, manufacturing data and historical data, the team denied the existence of any system defects, an accusation levied by many netizens. They also speculated that people inside the car should have time to evacuate, as the battery unit’s system controlled the heat from the combustion causing a delayed combustion.
The company has released another round of updates on the charging and heat management systems on the Model S and Model X via OTA update. “We will continue pursuing the goal of ‘zero accident,’ even if Tesla electric cars have an absolute lower rate of self-combustion than gasoline cars,” said Tesla.
Featured photo credit to Tesla
