California firefighters had to use approximately 50,000 gallons (190,000 litres) of water to extinguish a burning battery in a Tesla Semi after a crash on August 19, according to the National Transportation Safety Board's preliminary report.
The battery reached temperatures of 1,000 degrees Fahrenheit (540 Celsius) during the fire. As a precautionary measure, firefighters also used an aircraft to drop fire retardant on the area surrounding the electric truck .
The NTSB sent investigators to the crash site along Interstate 80 near Emigrant Gap, about 70 miles (113 kilometers) northeast of Sacramento, to examine the fire risks associated with the truck's large lithium-ion battery .
The agency found that the truck was not operating on any of Tesla's partially automated driving systems at the time of the crash, as they were not operational and "could not be engaged," reported news agency AP.
The crash occurred at approximately 3.13 am when a Tesla employee was driving the tractor-trailer from Livermore, California, to a Tesla facility in Sparks, Nevada. The Semi veered off the road while navigating a curve to the right, hitting a tree and coming to rest against several trees after descending a slope. The driver was uninjured in the incident.
Following the crash, the Semi's lithium-ion battery caught fire. Firefighters used water to extinguish the flames and cool the batteries, resulting in a 15-hour closure of the freeway to ensure the batteries were sufficiently cooled for recovery. The truck was then transported to an open-air facility and monitored for 24 hours, during which time the battery did not reignite.
The NTSB is investigating all aspects of the crash to determine its cause and intends to issue safety recommendations to prevent similar incidents in the future. In a previous investigation that concluded in 2021, the agency found that high-voltage electric vehicle battery fires pose risks to first responders and that manufacturer guidelines for dealing with such fires were inadequate.
The NTSB called for manufacturers to create vehicle-specific response guides for fighting battery fires, limiting chemical thermal runaway and reignition, and providing information on safely storing vehicles with damaged lithium-ion batteries.
Tesla began delivering the electric Semis in December 2022, more than three years after CEO Elon Musk announced the company would start producing the trucks. Musk has stated that the Semi has a range of 500 miles (800 kilometers) per charge when hauling an 82,000-pound (37,000-kilo) load.
The battery reached temperatures of 1,000 degrees Fahrenheit (540 Celsius) during the fire. As a precautionary measure, firefighters also used an aircraft to drop fire retardant on the area surrounding the electric truck .
The NTSB sent investigators to the crash site along Interstate 80 near Emigrant Gap, about 70 miles (113 kilometers) northeast of Sacramento, to examine the fire risks associated with the truck's large lithium-ion battery .
The agency found that the truck was not operating on any of Tesla's partially automated driving systems at the time of the crash, as they were not operational and "could not be engaged," reported news agency AP.
The crash occurred at approximately 3.13 am when a Tesla employee was driving the tractor-trailer from Livermore, California, to a Tesla facility in Sparks, Nevada. The Semi veered off the road while navigating a curve to the right, hitting a tree and coming to rest against several trees after descending a slope. The driver was uninjured in the incident.
Following the crash, the Semi's lithium-ion battery caught fire. Firefighters used water to extinguish the flames and cool the batteries, resulting in a 15-hour closure of the freeway to ensure the batteries were sufficiently cooled for recovery. The truck was then transported to an open-air facility and monitored for 24 hours, during which time the battery did not reignite.
The NTSB is investigating all aspects of the crash to determine its cause and intends to issue safety recommendations to prevent similar incidents in the future. In a previous investigation that concluded in 2021, the agency found that high-voltage electric vehicle battery fires pose risks to first responders and that manufacturer guidelines for dealing with such fires were inadequate.
The NTSB called for manufacturers to create vehicle-specific response guides for fighting battery fires, limiting chemical thermal runaway and reignition, and providing information on safely storing vehicles with damaged lithium-ion batteries.
Tesla began delivering the electric Semis in December 2022, more than three years after CEO Elon Musk announced the company would start producing the trucks. Musk has stated that the Semi has a range of 500 miles (800 kilometers) per charge when hauling an 82,000-pound (37,000-kilo) load.
