Posted on 03/05/2019 11:06:07 AM PST by woodbutcher1963
SHELBURNE, Vt. — Over the weekend, a Tesla Model X caught fire on the frozen surface of Lake Champlain in Vermont.
The fire happened around 8 p.m. on Sunday, and the fire almost completely consumed the vehicle.
A few news reports had mentioned the burned-up Tesla. So, we decided to walk out onto the lake and have a look:
WMUR-TV
Avery Thompson/Popular Mechanics
The Shelburne Police Department tells Popular Mechanics that the owner of the vehicle took their Tesla onto the ice to go fishing, and that at some point during the expedition the car hit a rock.
The car started making unusual noises, and shortly after that caught fire. No one was hurt.
The specific cause of the fire is as-yet unknown.
People on Tesla forums who saw the crazy pictures began to speculate about insurance fraud or some other oddball explanation, but the most likely explanation would be a battery failure.
If damaged, lithium-ion batteries can rapidly discharge their stored energy in the form of heat, leading to an inferno.
The bigger the battery, the bigger the fire.
Teslas necessarily have giant battery back, so if the car suffers sufficiently severe impact, it can go up in flames -- as plenty of previous Tesla incidents have illustrated.
WMUR-TV
Avery Thompson/Popular Mechanics
For the time being, this Tesla's burned out husk remains on the lake, where Popular Mechanics photographed it on Wednesday afternoon.
No word yet on what will become of the charred remains, but it's hard to imagine someone freeing the metal from the ice and dragging it away, so we'd have to guess these remains are bound for the bottom of the lake once springtime melts the ice.
The car hit a rock and caught on fire.
There is a sales benefit if I ever saw one.
Taking a Tesla ice-fishing. OK, sure.
Well gee, what could go wrong?
Did he catch anything?
Hey, hold my Chardonnay.
Its like Raaaaayiiiiiin on yor wedding dayyyyy
“Did he catch anything?”
No, but his car caught fire.
That is right. Electric cars are as deadly as electric chairs....LOL
Insanity for fools.
And how did the rock get out on the lake ON TOP of the ice?
Pneumonia.
:: we’d have to guess these remains are bound for the bottom of the lake once springtime melts the ice. ::
In Michigan, once that vehicle hits the water after ice-out, you get a hefty fine from the DEQ and are court ordered to remove it at your own cost.
Marine salvage ain’t cheap.
How much carbon was emitted into the atmosphere of our dying earth?
I read somewhere that fire departments and EMTs are having to get updated training because if they use the Jaws of Life on an electric vehicle they can cut through wires carrying main battery current to the motor and get electrocuted or burned by a rapid discharge.
Anyone get any barbecued lake trout?
That burned really well for being Electric. Does it come in a gas engine model too?
As many idiots who drive their Rams on northern Lake St. Claire will attest to. You can’t leave your junk on the bottom of the lake.
Well if you decide you don’t like it and prepare to jump out, hitting a rock might be a way to get your insurance money :)
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