A Texas-based Tesla owner revealed how its five-year-old Model S suddenly burst into flames last month, renewing old safety concerns about electric sedans.
Usmaan Ahmad told the Washington Post that he had just come out of art in Frisco on November 23, when he heard a series of powerful metal bangs emanating from the 2015 Tesla Model S 85D.
Ahmad, 41, said he stopped at the side of the road to inspect the source of the noise when his car suddenly caught fire, with fireballs “pulling like a flamethrower” from the front passenger’s wheel. .
Ahmad told Tesla he thought the car’s battery could have exploded, but the specific cause of the fire is yet to be determined.
The frightening incident appears to be one of many similar events involving older Model S and X vehicles in recent years, which experts believe are linked to the car’s battery.
Concerns have usually been raised about the safety of electric vehicles as they age, and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is currently investigating the incident involving Ahmad’s car, according to the Post.
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Usmaan Ahmad said he stopped after hearing a series of loud bangs emanating from under his Tesla S. A few minutes after he got out of the car, he allegedly entered the flames “like a flamethrower.”
Ahmad’s 2015 Tesla S model is seen completely engulfed in smoke a few moments before firefighters arrive on the scene.
Ahmad told Tesla he thought the car’s battery could have exploded, but the specific cause of the fire is yet to be determined.
NHTSA has previously opened an investigation into alleged battery defects that could cause fires in older Tesla sedan and SUV models.
The probe was fueled by a lawsuit alleging that the company founded by Elon Musk manipulated its battery technology in older cars from 2012 to 2019 by reducing battery life and extending charging times to fix an unspecified defect.
A lawyer who filed a class action on behalf of Tesla owners brought the petition to the agency’s Defects Investigation Bureau, citing an “alarming number of car fires” that appeared to be spontaneous.
While the agency agreed to look into the matter last year, some details about the state of the investigation have since been revealed.
For Ahmad, he said he drove his Model S for a few seconds before it burned. The business development worker told the Post that the battery was about 60 percent charged at the time and crossed easily as he headed home.
He immediately called 911 and firefighters were on the scene within minutes.
Witness Robert Watson also called emergency services after he saw black smoke emanating from the vehicle as he was driving.
“It looked like the back of a jet engine, with the burner after the front passenger got out of that wheel,” Watson told the Post.
There was also another problem, according to Ahmad. While firefighters were working to put out the flames, someone asked him how to get into the cabin.
Teslas S doors are operated by retractable handles that appear when it detects a nearby key. Ahmad tried to use the phobia, but it didn’t work.
According to Ahmad, the firefighter told him that he was lucky to get out of the car when he got out, otherwise he could have been caught inside the burning vehicle.
According to Ahmad, a firefighter told him he was lucky to get out of the car when he got out, otherwise he could have been caught inside the burning vehicle.
A creek can be seen on the ground, where Ahmad’s car caught fire
NHTSA has previously opened an investigation into alleged battery defects that could cause fires in older Tesla sedan models and SUVs (pictured above in the 2015 Model S on the factory line in Tilburg, the Netherlands)
Firefighters reportedly had the fire under control in about 10 minutes.
The car was completely destroyed by fire and is currently in an insurance lot.
Ahmad said he was still waiting to find out what caused the fire. However, he told the Post that Tesla was not proactive in investigating the fire.
He wrote to a Tesla representative on November 25, two days after the fire, writing that he assumed the “battery had exploded.”
The representative said he was glad he was safe and said the company would look into the matter, but Tesla has since cited a number of insurance hurdles that backed the survey.
Ahmad said he hopes the company can get in the way of the problem to ensure that this does not happen to anyone, including his parents, who owns a Tesla Model X SUV.
“I don’t want anyone else to experience something so scary,” he told the Post.
Tesla previously claimed that its cars are 10 times less likely to catch fire than gasoline vehicles, citing data from the National Fire Protection Association and the US Federal Highway Administration.
However, when an electric car ignites, the duration and intensity of the flame – powered by chemicals and the extreme heat accumulated in lithium-ion batteries – can make them more difficult to extinguish.
In an emergency response guide posted on its website, Tesla writes: “Battery fires can last up to 24 hours until extinguished. Consider burning the battery while protecting your exposures.
Tesla was also set on fire amid concerns that its computerized cars made the emergency response more difficult, with functions such as retractable door handles.
In South Florida, in 2019, driver Omar Awan was killed after being trapped inside his 2016 S model, after catching fire and the electronic door handles could not extend due to an accident.
In 2019, in South Florida, driver Omar Awan was killed after getting stuck in his 2016 S model, after catching fire and the electronic door handles could not extend due to an accident
Awan was burned beyond recognition and could not be saved. His family filed an unfair lawsuit against the company, claiming that the design feature caused his death, rather than the collapse itself.
Two teenagers were also killed in a Tesla fire in South Florida in 2018. The family of one of the victims claimed that the car’s battery is defective and sued Tesla
His family filed an unfair lawsuit against the company, claiming that the design feature caused his death, rather than the collapse itself.
His car was later taken to a confiscation lot, where his battery was turned on at least three times, the Florida Sun Sentinel reported at the time.
Similarly, a fatal accident in Fort Lauderdale in 2018 led the family of one of the two victims to sue Tesla, claiming that their son’s vehicle battery is defective.
“The Tesla S sedan had inadequate measures to prevent a post-collision fire and had inadequate measures to prevent a fire,” said Chicago attorney Philip Corboy Jr., one of the parents’ attorneys.
Similar examples of S-models seemingly spontaneously bursting into flames have been reported outside the US, including in Shanghai, where a sedan was photographed burning inside a car park before exploding.
Similarly, in Los Angeles in 2018, an S model burst into flames while in traffic, with the fire coming out of the wheel.
At the time, Tesla called the incident “an extraordinarily unusual event.”
Tesla has not yet sent a DailyMail.com request for comment on Ahmad’s claims.