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Car-B-Q Part III: Tesla Flames Out Premarket On Reports Of Another Car Fire
One momo company that will almost certainly miss out on all of today's Twitter/ECB induced BTFATH-euphoria, is Tesla which is down 3% premarket at last check for one simple reason: the one shown on the photo below. This is the third reported car fire in the past month. So much for that "best safety rating of any car ever tested" - perhaps it really is time to inquire just what the NHTSA kickbacks were in order to go with that "objective" determination?
Source: Teslamotorsclub
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Buy the dip I will.
Thanks for the heads up. Go Greenies!
I'll pick that one up at http://www.manheim.com
Over.
The NSA Tesla version sets itself on fire if you exceed the speed limit and holds you until the cops can get there.
I'll take it. I'll cruise the airport circle looking for a TSA 'friendly' in the crosswalk and squish him into the back of a bus. Tesla style. The fire will destroy all evidence so FBI will have notin' on me! Except my bitcoins.
Over.
Opt for the court ordered anal probe option. It's a little pricey....but it's the best 8 hours of you're not officially arrested life you'll ever have.
I hear the NSA have them installed in the heated seats front and rear.
C'mon gubermint, let's fund them hyperlupes - free rides on rainy days!
Interesting comments on this by Peter De Lorenzo, a retired industry veteran, on his website Autoextremist.com. Second half of the page:
"What I’ve found out about the Tesla is this: There is a reason for fires upon impact with the Model S and it has nothing to do with the batteries themselves but how the batteries are – or are not, as the case may be - protected in the vehicle.
We all know Elon is a genius and that Tesla is the miracle of the new automotive world, but the fact remains that the miracle workers at Tesla skipped a step. It’s something that GM – you know, that tired old rust-belt auto company from a bygone era – learned while developing the Volt. The GM engineering team zeroed in on a critical area of concern with the Volt’s batteries when it came to protecting them upon impact, something like, “Gee, if someone were to really crash one of these things there could be a problem with the batteries, so, we better do something about it.” So the GM development team triple-wrapped the Volt battery pack to reduce the chance of “piercing” during accidents.
And guess what? The “piercing” of the batteries is exactly what caused the two post-crash fires in the Model S. Why? The Tesla development team chose to single-wrap the Tesla batteries, thus leaving the batteries less protected and more exposed during incidents, which is a giant heaping, steaming bowl of Not Good, when it comes right down to it."
+1
I mean WTf is with this? This is typical nor cal silicon valley BS. We are so much smarter than all of you. Yeah at being whores who sell out to the spy agencies to spy on everyone. We come up with the best IPO scams.
We make the best cars that catch on fire and scam solar companies to rip off taxpayers.
You would think Elon would have spent $2 a vehicle for a little plastic and bubble wrap. What a moron.
Just like Ford who saved $3 on a Pinto to avoid a cheap peiece of plastic shield to protect the gas tank. Elon Musk is an idiot and the people who fawn over him are even bigger idiots.
Is this the Big 3 buying Tesla cars and lighting them on fire? Wouldn't put it past them.
no, this is Tesla lighting itself on fire.
I wonder if they're beginning to regret sourcing their batteries from Boeing.
need a fire insurance combine sale with Tesla. (110% full coverage to estimate human body price)
If you were to point out that a GM and Telsa fight would be yet another example of inter-agency governmental fighting, like that between the FBI and CIA it might make sense.
<--- Elon Musk = Insane genius
<--- Elon Musk = total douchebag & friend of Obama
I wonder if Elon will drive one down to the bankruptcy court when Tesla files
chapter 7.
A well worn and travelled route in history for electric vehicle ' innovators'.
The real Tesla couldn't crack the battery problem ,and Elon ain't no Tesla.
Are the batteries even stored up there in the front of the car where it looks like the fire was?
I remember reading an article that stated the battery resides in a compartment near the front passeger side of the car.
Not to worry. Tesla is the safest car in this world when not on fire.
Pretty soon Tesla will start running ads that look like pharmaceutical ads. The first 15 seconds will tell you about what a great car it is. The next 45 seconds will consist of warnings and disclaimers. "If you feel your flesh melting away while using Tesla, discontinue use immediately and see your fireman. Tesla may cause unexpected skin blistering. If you are allergic to smoke, talk to your doctor before chosing Tesla...."
I'm sure they're working on hiding it in the fine print of the car sale/lease.
eh, wake me when the engine is 80 yards behind the car.
It's a Tesla dude. No Engine.
Just batteries, electric motors and unicorn farts for the 1%.
Classic line from the kid who shot the first video in his Wash state accent:
"Oh dude it's a Tesla!"
Classic.
I love the smell of Tesla in the morning...
"The Model S lithium-ion battery did not catch fire at any time before, during or after the NHTSA testing. It is worth mentioning that no production Tesla lithium-ion battery has ever caught fire in the Model S or Roadster, despite several high speed impacts. While this is statistically unlikely to remain the case long term, Tesla is unaware of any Model S or Roadster occupant fatalities in any car ever."
Seems that there are a bunch of caveots. I wonder if they will offer double indemnity in case of fire.
When the test batteries are produced, it is under pristine conditions. What they sent to the NHTSA were batteries produced under pristine conditions. I also wonder if the NHTSA has protocols for testing these batteries that are sufficient (including stress testing).
Lab produced batteries vs. assembly line batteries. Which do you think best reflects the performance of the vehicles being sold?
Someone should have a an indep testing lab crash one. I am getting a feeling the NHTSA crash test was bullshit because Elon/Tesla are a friend of O. All these O loving companies get ramp up by algo/HFT trading to pump the stocks.
Maybe Tesla will have a fire sale to bring back customers?
That has to do something to the insurance rates I would assume....a little crash and your car gets totaled....can´t rebuild melted plastic...
Don't Worry Elon will explain that a piece of moon debris the size of mars, hit the underside of the car, and punched a black hole in the battary shield. This rare event caused a fire which the occupant walked away from. If this happened to a normal car the moon debris would have squashed the car, before casusing it to explode, killing all the occupants including Jack the collie dog.
The offending Debris is now back at Tesla, and we ain't going to let anyone see it...
Car B Q.... I think that is so funny. Damn why didn't I think of that!
Soon they'll be including NOMEX suits as an option.
Give me a fucking break ZH. I'm getting tired of this hyberbolic reporting on electric cars and then the next post is how we are gonna run out of oil and everyone will have to bike/walk everywhere. I drive a Leaf, and I will never go back to an ICE, its quieter, smoother, no maintenance and it is 1/10 of the fuel cost. When you drive an ICE car, you're effectively sitting on a bomb; its just the nature of dense energy storage, it is inherently dangerous.
Stop being so petty ZH, its becoming boring. If you want to ding TSLA, its the stock that has a problem, not the company.
" its the stock that has a problem, not the company. "
So you mean the guy was driving around with a bunch of TSLA stock certificates in the glove box and they instantaneously combusted?
I suspect that because TSLA is one of the overpriced, overhyped MOMOs of the year, Tyler loves to take a jab at it. My point is I came to ZH back in the day because I was looking for insightful analysis. This is article (with increasing frequency it seems like) are the opposite of Yahoo Finance 'buy TSLA at any price' articles, a 'sell everything at any price (except gold)', but its the same kind of stupid. I had come to expect a higher standard from ZH.
"My point is I came to ZH back in the day because I was looking for insightful analysis."
Then why don't you just cancel your subscription?
I hear there's a full money back guarantee!
Tesla engineer Bill Underwood quit because Tesla wanted him to sign off on unsafe electrical. You going to blame ZH for that too?
No ones being petty.
I dont hear of fires with the Nissan Leaf, the Mistubishi i MieV or other economical plug in electrics which run on dirty coal.
Just Telsa and the billions of taxpayer dollars they received to make a car for the 1%.
I bike to work already! because Gas is too damn expensive. Driving in Europe has become almost a luxury.
Rate X Kwh. per charge = ?
My marginal rate for electric is 5.5 cents/kWh and I get 4 miles/kWh, $0.01375/mi on electric. With ICE, I was getting 28 mpg at $4 gallon, $0.143/mi.
I really have no clue and am looking for accurate information...what is the frequency and cost of battery change outs?
Nice trolling.
it is 1/10 of the fuel cost because you suckers pay for the electricity subsidies that make recharging my figLeaf so cheap!
the nature of dense energy storage see the energy storage of my batteries is much less dense, and I declare this problem to be a feature! I also will never ever want to drive further than 50 miles away from my home.
Looks like the Tesla engineers took the brief too seriously...
Tired of your Barbecue? Use a Tesla Coil!
http://unlimitedphysics.wordpress.com/2012/10/12/tesla-barbecue/
Behind the scenes of the Tesla teleportation research.
Not quite perfected...but they're working on it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y_4buUtKAjg
Meh, I'll reserve judgement at this point. The spotlight is on the company, like a lamborghini catching fire gets lots of media attention.
Here are some recent car fire stats:
http://www.usfa.fema.gov/downloads/pdf/statistics/v13i11.pdf
Car fires are 14% of fire dept fire responses nationally. That is alot of car fires.
You gotta love Elon. He is a true entrepreneurial maverick who gets things done. He puts his entire fortune on the line. He has a level of honesty and integrity unseen in todays CEO's. He is a national treasure.
You can remove Elon's dick from you mouth any time now.
I cant wait to give Elon some of my taxpayer dollars to develop the Hyperloop. An idea introduced in 1956. Mass transit for the 1%.
so let me get this straight. If there were federal financial incentives for your business, YOU WOULDN"T TAKE THEM???
I agree there shouldnt be taxpayer funded BS, but as a business owner, you'd be a FOOL not to take them if they were available.
> Car fires are 14% of fire dept fire responses nationally. That is alot of car fires.
Because 14% is a lot? 14% of how much?
Or because firemen like to go out for anything to justify their existence.
> You gotta love Elon. He is a true entrepreneurial maverick who gets things done.
Like Obama, he's really good at destroying taxpayer money.
Elon is a douchebag and FOO aka friend of Obama. Also wasn't Musk's family one of those lib white South Africans who wanted apartheid ended but had their bags packed because they knew what was going to happen? Note - I am not for apartheid but these liberal hypocrites bailed on SA on day one. I have run in to more than one.
I do not hate hybrids or electrics. I think some of the Ford stuff is good along with Toyo but battery technology is not there yet and may never get there. The BMW i3, and i8 look interesting and I will be curious to see what the Germans do.
I think the oppty for electric cars/ electric golf carts are in dense urban areas where commutes are short and parking is at a premium. For people to consider buying who may not even have a car, there are millions of those.
At present, it's not going to be for the average person living in the burbs.
My Nissan Leaf is great, it hasn't expoded yet or required any maintenance that a regular car does besides rotating the tires. The 100 mile range isn't that big of a problem, that's why they have charge stations in strategic locations.
Sir! The stockholders are ReVolting!
Double pun anyone?
I don't want a Tesla because I don't like the name. I like Subaru. I live in Lithuania, and that name translates to... "with a bar" bar as in place you drink. What does my comment have to do with anything?
Has anyone been hurt in any of these accidents? If no, then TSLA still seems pretty safe.
Investors who bought Tesla shares lately have surely been hurt a lot. And I like it!
I'll stick with my VW air cooled thank you very much
Looks like the Tesla need to put a pool of water under the hood...->
"The Model S has the advantage in the front of not having a large gasoline engine block, thus creating a much longer crumple zone to absorb a high speed impact. This is fundamentally a force over distance problem – the longer the crumple zone, the more time there is to slow down occupants at g loads that do not cause injuries. Just like jumping into a pool of water from a tall height, it is better to have the pool be deep and not contain rocks. The Model S motor is only about a foot in diameter and is mounted close to the rear axle, and the front section that would normally contain a gasoline engine is used for a second trunk."
http://www.teslamotors.com/about/press/releases/tesla-model-s-achieves-b...
Another view of the burning car -- prices starting at $101,500
Here is a badass electric built on a infinti g35 chassis, currently at SEMA show in Vegas. Most builds will keep the gas engine tho. This guy is a SUPER design talent, doing this car nearly single handedly in less than a year.
http://www.vaydor.com/#!video/c1qlo
http://www.madmechanics.com/forum/attachments/build-diaries/24736d138228...
http://www.madmechanics.com/forum/attachments/build-diaries/24735d138228...
Gasoline is flamable. There were 270,000 vehicle fires and 270 resultant deaths in the US in 2011.If they aren't Tesla fires, they aren't news.
The man speaks the truth - a very inconvenient thing to do when we're having so much fun raggin' on the company.
In % of total cars sold, please
Thank you.
And all these vehicle fires started by themselves, so no accident or other serious adverse event involved?
And all the resulting deaths happened because the fire spread so quickly the occupants couldn't get out fast enough??
You need to wake up.
Like mission impossible. Self-destructing cars.
They need a fire extinguishing system as standard equipment.
Give everyone in Congress a Tesla for Christmas
Very bullish when The Tesla lease gets to be too much.....just tap the bumper of the car in front of you.......and you are out of your lease
Stock is still a buy, the CEO is a cult hero and the super rich like his car/lighter.
Lithium-ion batteries may suffer thermal runaway and cell rupture if overheated or overcharged, and in extreme cases this can lead to combustion. To reduce these risks, lithium-ion battery packs contain fail-safe circuitry that shuts down the battery when its voltage is outside the safe range. When handled improperly, or if manufactured defectively, some rechargeable batteries can experience thermal runaway resulting in overheating. Sealed cells will sometimes explode violently if safety vents are overwhelmed or nonfunctional.
Press release: Shocking development! New government program: Obamacar for everyone - eliminates the need for health care death panels. Dual purpose glove box can smoke a brisket in 3 hours.
chinese EV refarm
This car is definitely not safe for any (anti-government) journalists and anybody on the MIAC Report list, plausible deniability, bitchez!
C'mon this is just another guy following the FZP-TLT profit plan:
1. Finance with Zero down
2. load up on Puts
3. Torch it Live on Twitter
Best investment idea EVAR!
You read my mind.
HAHAAH, nice trading strategy!!!
We need a name for it.
Torch n dump?
lithium batteries are dangerous in this application. eventually they will work it out but i wouldn't want to be a beta-tester expecially at those prices. another thing i haven't seen mentioned is that the tesla has ridiculously low ground clearance. i bet these things bottom out on potholes...
Bottom clearance adjusts automatically and can be manually adjusted if ou are in snow or going up a steep driveway.
And here I was already to trade my Volt in for one of these babies!
I didn't remember the same fuss over Mercedes' exploding car:
Energy-density of lithium is real-time testing the thought experiment of what if dirty gas (poorly-refined) could be self-igniting? You can drive lithium, until lithium drives you.
Tell me honestly;
Are the same 'engineers' working on both the tesla AND the 787 Screamliner?
Just wonderin'...
http://money.cnn.com/2013/07/12/news/companies/boeing-dreamliner-fire/in...
Wasn't the battery, tho. The Au-tor-ities told me:
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/14/business/fire-on-boeing-787-dreamliner...
WAIT! unplug your damned chargers!
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-505123_162-57564789/overcharged-batteries-ey...
It was the battery...um, no, it wasn't the battery...
I gotta drive my Tesla to the grope-port now. Anyone got a good fire insurance plan?
Any tips on how to set one of these pieces of shit on fire?
I'm thinking New Years Eve will be a great time for free fireworks.
Shut the door.
Awww, did I hurt someone's feelings?
Time to get these lithium time bombs off the roads. Where's the recalls.
If you'll notice, the cabin was unaffected. Everyone got out safely, since the battery compartment is designed this way. I'm not sure of the specifics of the latest fire, but hte last one was caused by a curved piece of mental from the road jamming up ino the uderside of the car with huge frces, something that would have caused a gasolin epowered car probbaly even more damage. And with that incident too, the cain was unaffected and everyone got out no problem. Safety record? Remiains perfect as far as I can tell, no injuries.
You know, sometimes gasoline powered cars catch fire after accidents too! Ever watch the A Team?
Great to see all the support Americans can give to one of the few shining examples of innovation left in their country! That's it boys, kick them while they're down, distort the facts to make it seem worse than it is, and support he dinosaur-burning stats qup that's been suppressing you and addicting you to expensive oil for 40 years!
Go on, continue to believe that almost half of your oil ISN'T imported via the trade deficit. Go on, continue to deny the fact that US oil production is now 2/3 of what is was in 1970. The US is well beyond Peak Oil, and the cynical denialists here can only denigrate the growing pains of a company that is offering you a way out. That's the 'Murican way! No wonder your country's going down the toilet, wat a bunch of ignorant luddites y'all are.
Thomas Alva Edison once said "When a man begins to talk about batteries, it brings out his latent capacity for lying."
He also electrocuted an elephant to prove that Tesla's AC system wasn't as good as his batteries. Which is about on par with the guys who gave an elephant too much LSD.
Topsy the elephant was going to be hanged for killing a sadistic trainer, but the ASPCA objected. Edison offered electrocution as a more humane method (criminals were already being electrocuted in 1903). Edison seldom missed an opportunity to magnify the danger of alternating current and had already electrocuted other animals in attempts to discredit AC, but that wasn't the primary purpose in electrocuting the elephant. The elephant was given 460 grams of potassium cyanide with carrots just prior to the electrocution. Edison filmed the electrocution and it was released nationally. AC is more dangerous than DC, particularly at high frequencies, but its advantages greatly outweigh the somewhat greater danger at 60Hz.