The National Transportation Safety Board provided an update on the investigation into an Aug. 19 crash and electrical fire involving a Tesla Semi.
According to the report released Thursday, the driver, a Tesla employee, was roughly 70 miles northeast of Sacramento, California at 3:00 a.m. when the vehicle went off the road, collided with a tree and traveled down a slope to eventually stop among several trees. The driver was uninjured, but the crash ignited the Semi’s lithium-ion battery.
The Tesla battery burst into flames, spewing toxic fumes and reaching temperatures of 1,000 degrees Fahrenheit, requiring 50,000 gallons of water to extinguish the flames and cool the battery. As a preventative containment measure, an aircraft dropped fire retardant on the surrounding area.
The highway stayed closed for 15 hours before the battery was adequately cooled for transportation. Firefighters took the truck to an open-air facility where it was monitored for 24 hours.
The safety board stated its intention to issue safety recommendations to prevent similar incidents, calling for manufacturers to write vehicle-specific guides for troubleshooting lithium-ion batteries.
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