A Tesla owner in Texas has revealed how his five-year-old Model S suddenly burst into flames last month, renewing old safety issues over the electric sedans.
Usmaan Ahmad told the Washington Post he had just pulled a freeway in Frisco on November 23 when he heard a series of hard metal bangs coming out from under his 2015 Tesla Model S 85D.
Ahmad, 41, said he was pulling to the side of the road to investigate the source of the lunch when his car suddenly caught fire, with fireballs firing like a flamethrower from the front passenger wheel.
Ahmad told Tesla he believes the car’s battery may have exploded, but the specific cause of the fire has yet to be determined.
The horrific incident over the past few years is one of many similar incidents with older Model S and X vehicles that experts say are related to the car’s battery.
Concern is regularly expressed about the safety of electric vehicles as they age, and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is currently investigating the incident with Ahmad’s car, according to the Post.
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Usmaan Ahmad said he withdrew after hearing a series of loud bangs emanating from under his Tesla Model S. Moments after getting out of the car, it allegedly burst into flames ‘like a flame worker’.
Ahmad’s 2015 Model Tesla S is seen completely swollen in smoke moments before firefighters arrived on the scene
Ahmad told Tesla he believes the car’s battery may have exploded, but the specific cause of the fire has yet to be determined.
The NHTSA had earlier launched an investigation into alleged battery failures that could cause fires in older models of Tesla sedans and SUVs.
The investigation was prompted by a lawsuit alleging that the company, founded by Elon Musk, manipulated its battery technology in older model cars from 2012 to 2019 by lowering the batteries and extending the charging times to address an unspecified defect. .
A lawyer who filed a lawsuit on behalf of Tesla owners brought the petition to the agency’s office for investigation into defects, citing a “worrying number of car fires” that appeared to be spontaneous.
While the agency agreed to investigate the case last year, little detail has since been released about the status of the investigation.
For Ahmad, he said he had been driving his Model S for a few seconds before it burned. The business development worker told the Post his battery was about 60 percent charged at the time, and he crossed slightly when he was on his way home.
He immediately called 911 and firefighters were on the scene within minutes.
Witness Robert Watson also called emergency services after seeing black smoke coming out of the vehicle as he drove past.
“It looked like the back of a jet engine with the afterburner coming out of the passenger wheel,” Watson told the Post.
According to Ahmad, there was another case as well. While firefighters were working to put out the flames, one apparently asked him how to get into the cabin.
The doors of Model S Teslas are operated with retractable handles that protrude when they locate a nearby key head. Ahmad tried to use the fob but it does not work.
According to Ahmad, the firefighter told him that he was happy to get out of the car, otherwise he might have been trapped in the burning vehicle.
According to Ahmad, a firefighter told him that he was happy to get out of the car, otherwise he might have been trapped in the burning vehicle.
A scorching march is seen on the ground where Ahmad’s car caught fire
The NHTSA has earlier launched an investigation into alleged battery failures that could cause fires in older models of Tesla sedans and SUVs (photo above in 2015 Model S on the factory line in Tilburg, the Netherlands)
Firefighters apparently had the fire under control for about ten minutes.
The car was completely destroyed by the fire and is currently being held in an insurance premises.
Ahmad said he was still waiting for word on what caused the fire. However, he told the Post that Tesla was allegedly not proactive in investigating the fire.
He wrote to a Tesla representative two days after the fire on November 25, writing that he accepted that the ‘battery was exploding’.
The representative said they were happy that he was safe and that the company would investigate the matter, but Tesla has reportedly since cited a series of insurance barriers that prevented the investigation.
Ahmad said he hoped the company could reach the trail of the problem to ensure it does not happen to anyone else, including his parents, who allegedly own a Tesla Model X SUV.
“I do not want anyone else to feel so frightening,” he told the Post.
Tesla had earlier argued that cars catch ten times less flame than gasoline vehicles, citing data from the National Fire Protection Association and the U.S. Federal Highway Administration.
However, when an electric motor catches fire, the duration and intensity of the fire – fueled by chemicals and the extreme heat that builds up in lithium-ion batteries – can make it harder to extinguish.
In an emergency guide published on its website, Tesla writes: ‘It can take up to 24 hours to burn. Consider burning the battery while protecting exposure. ‘
Tesla has also come under fire amid concerns that its computerized cars have made emergency response more challenging, with features such as retracting handles.
In South Florida in 2019, driver Omar Awan died after being trapped in his 2016 Model S after it caught fire and the door’s electronic door handles could not protrude after an accident.
In South Florida in 2019, driver Omar Awan died after being trapped in his 2016 Model S after it caught fire and the door’s electronic door handles could not protrude after an accident.
Awan was burned beyond recognition and could not be saved. His family has filed a lawsuit against the company, claiming that the design function caused his death, rather than the accident itself.
Two teenagers were also killed in a Tesla fire in South Florida in 2018. The family of one of the victims claimed the car’s battery was defective and sued Tesla.
His family has filed a lawsuit against the company, claiming that the design function caused his death, rather than the accident itself.
His car was later taken to a soothing lot where the battery came up again at least three times, the Florida Sun Sentinel reported at the time.
In a fatal crash in Fort Lauderdale in 2018, the family of one of the two victims sued Tesla, claiming the battery of their son’s vehicle was defective.
“The Tesla S sedan had insufficient measures to prevent a fire after the collision and insufficient measures to contain a fire,” said Chicago attorney Philip Corboy Jr., one of the attorneys representing the parents. , said.
Similar cases of Model S that apparently burst into flames spontaneously were also reported outside the US, including in Shanghai, where a sedan was set on fire in a parking lot before exploding.
Similarly, in Los Angeles in 2018, a Model S burst into flames while in traffic, with a fire out of the wheel.
At the time, Tesla called the incident an “extraordinary event.”
Tesla has not yet returned a DailyMail.com request for comment on Ahmad’s claims.