Fiery deaths?

[Bigvbear]

Being a former firefighter i can tell you this would not have been an easy fire to put out. Remember the battery is a sealed unit under the car, very inaccessible to put water/foam/retardant into. Once the batteries inside the pack started to overheat each other without cooling you would have a fire in a contained space, but it would have jets of flame out some openings. In order to extinguish that you would need to fill the battery pack with some coolant to put it out.

you are also assuming it took 4 hours to put the whole car out and not just the pack, which is more likely.

From early reports it seems they were driving on auto pilot with no one in the driver seat and to me it sounds like one of those "hold my beer" moments by two good ole texas boys.

 

[Stuck4ger]

...
Wait... No... sorry... My mistake... Instead, it was a possible sleepy driver in a Mazda 3, so no one outside of our town ever heard about it.

WHY, ELON MUST THOSE MAZDA 3s CRASH? WHY?!!!!

 

[GuitarLunatic]

Not to "fan the flames", but idiots will be idiots and there will never be a cure for Stupid. I'm more pissed about the stock price. ;-)

 

[firsttruck]

--------------------------------------------------------


** Still more Hyundai-Kia fires. Do not park in the garage or near a building !!!!!!!

More Hyundai SUVs Recalled Due to Fire Risk
Over 651,000 Hyundai Tucson SUVs and Kia Stinger sedans should be parked outside until they are repaired
By Keith Barry
Last updated: January 11, 2021
https://www.consumerreports.org/car-recalls-defects/more-recalls-for-hyundai-kia-vehicles-fire-risk/

--------------------------------------------------------

Jan 23 2019

U.S. Highway Loss Data Institute, which analyzes data from insurance companies, found that some Hyundai and Kia vehicles equipped with four-cylinder engines have double the non-crash fire claim rates than the average of comparable vehicles.

Insurance claims means there were actual fires not just a recall.

--------

5 Hyundai and Kia models have higher-than-average fire insurance claim rates
Associated Press
Jan 23 2019
https://www.autoblog.com/2019/01/23/5-hyundai-kia-models-fire-insurance-claims/


**
Jan 2019 Hyundai & Kia announced recall about 168,000 vehicles to fix a fuel pipe problem that can cause fires. The problem stems from improper repairs during previous recalls for engine failures.
**
They also announced additional sensor software for another 3.7 million vehicles.

Hyundai and Kia started recalling 1.7 million vehicles in 2015 — about 618,000 of which are Kias — because manufacturing debris can restrict oil flow to connecting rod bearings. That can cause bearings in 2-liter and 2.4-liter four-cylinder engines to wear and fail. The problem can also cause fires. The repair in many cases is an expensive engine block replacement.

.....
Hyundai said that the majority of its models in the study are already being recalled or are part of additional actions to keep customers safe.

"Hyundai actively monitors and evaluates potential safety concerns, including non-collision fires, with all of its vehicles and acts swiftly to recall any vehicles with safety-related defects," spokesman Michael Stewart said.

Kia spokesman James Bell said the company is cooperating with NHTSA "and will take any necessary corrective action in a timely manner." Many of the fires involve vehicles included the engine failure recall and could have been prevented if owners had the recall repairs done, he wrote.

The institute began studying fire claims after the Center for Auto Safety petitioned NHTSA last year seeking a wider recall of Hyundai and Kia vehicles. The center had found a higher-than-normal number of consumer complaints about Hyundai and Kia fires in the agency's database. NHTSA has used Highway Loss Data Institute studies in the past to help make recall decisions.


** see article for list of models recalled


--------------------------------------------------------

 

[shocker]

I've read (from Europe) the preferred way to extinguish an EV on fire is dunk it in a big tank of water. Literally. This is a diagram for my ride, a Chevy Bolt. Tells emergency workers where the critical stuff is.

 

[Luke42]

The two men in the Texas crash had to circumvent several safety measures in order for the car to continue driving without someone in the driver's seat:

 

[Jhodgesatmb]

What no one is talking about is where is the 3rd person. The driver is missing. Were Aliens involved? Is this a cover up of alien abduction? Why don't teslas prevent alien abduction. Why Elon?

The article I read said that there were only 2 people in the car: one in passenger seat and the other in the back. Without question it is a case of human stupidity. We will have to wait for Tesla to weigh in on the data before anything else can be said. Personally I am pretty damn tired of people playing games with AP and, sadly, gives Tesla good reason to not release the FSD beta more broadly. I can see that idiot kid and his mother killing themselves pretending to be asleep in a downtown scenario and taking out a bunch of people, animals, and property.

 

[rr6013]

The two men in the Texas crash had to circumvent several safety measures in order for the car to continue driving without someone in the driver's seat:

Car left roadway, hit tree - two known fatalities. Puddle of hazardous waste to examine for cause of accident. No forensic evidence. Officer lists two passengers no driver.

This accident report isn’t final, isn’t lining up with known Tesla systems and sadly may never. Long list of questions, failure modes and critical safety measures to analyse.

What we have is a crime scene. It is illegal to tamper with a vehicle or operate a vehicle without a license. Driver has not been listed or found at the scene. Case could go unsolved

 

[Crissa]

Another thing which is suspicious is the 'it caught fire immediately'. There actually wasn't any impingement on the battery pack, so something else was happening to catch the vehicle on fire.

The pack will eventually catch on fire. But the story is that these guys only travelled a few hundred yards and made no maneuvers after pulling out of the driveway.

The question really is, what did they do to the car to make it do that?

-Crissa

 

[firsttruck]

Another thing which is suspicious is the 'it caught fire immediately'. There actually wasn't any impingement on the battery pack, so something else was happening to catch the vehicle on fire.

The pack will eventually catch on fire. But the story is that these guys only travelled a few hundred yards and made no maneuvers after pulling out of the driveway.

The question really is, what did they do to the car to make it do that?

-Crissa

Might be a rock or metal protrusion in the ground that pierced the battery from below.

 

[VolklKatana]

i read elsewhere that the road they were on didnt have lines, so autopilot could not have been engaged anyway....will be interesting to see what the investigation turns up, not just the FUD articles circulating around

 

[Sirfun]

Interesting theory. Human stupidity is my theory. But, a part of this theory, is that they engaged FSD bypassing safety systems and then with nobody in the drivers seat realised they were in a bad situation grabbed, accidentally kicked the wheel while getting out of drivers seat, or somehow, with THEIR input, turned the steering wheel which disengaged FSD. With FSD off and nobody in the drivers seat, YOU GOT A PROBLEM!!!!

 

[Crissa]

Only 2000 beta testers have FSD, so that's pretty unlikely. Also, it won't engage without weight in the seat and hands on the wheel.

-Crissa

 

[speach]

Does Tesla still not have a PR department?
This article was from Oct 2020, but I haven’t seen anything to indicate anything’s changed since.

It seems like accidents like this would be a good reason to have one. With more cars on the road, the odds of someone making a very poor choice go up.

BTW - two souls were lost and they paid the ultimate price for their poor choice. I think a little decorum is warranted. While I have not moved over to the passenger seat on AP, I have done stupid things in my life a handful of times, and just lucky for it to have not gone badly. My condolences to their families.

 

[restyle]

Future Scenario - Lets imagine you're the first on the scene of a 2 car head on crash where smoke & flames are present from the leaking fuel from car 1 - Both drivers appear unresponsive.
You go to the 1st cars drivers door - it remains locked, so you pick up a nearby rock, smash the side window, reach in & pull the door opener - release the seat belt & pull the occupant to safety.
You quickly go to the 2nd car -Jeez, its got No door handles!
Where's my rock - The faithful rock just keeps bouncing off the glass like its bulletproof or something!
Both cars explode - The End
?