HUFFINGTON POST: …This week video emerged of a Tesla Model S engulfed in flames following an accident in Washington state. The resulting bad press proved disastrous for the share price, with the company losing more than $2 billion in market value. On Friday, the company’s CEO sought to get out ahead of the story in an extensive blog post explaining why the car had caught fire — and why consumers and investors shouldn’t be concerned.
The car, wrote Musk, ran over a curved object that had fallen off a semi-truck, puncturing the underside of the vehicle and starting a fire in the battery pack. Musk emphasized, though, that the design of the Model S contained the fire to the front section of the car and allowed the driver to pull over and exit the vehicle unharmed. It wasn’t until the fire department punctured holes in the battery in an attempt to extinguish the fire that the car was engulfed in flames.
“It is important to note that the fire in the battery was contained to a small section near the front by the internal firewalls built into the pack structure,” wrote Musk. “Had a conventional gasoline car encountered the same object on the highway, the result could have been far worse.” … (more)
