Electric Vehicle 'Spontaneously' Catches on Fire While at High-End Auto Dismantler

By Johnathan Jones August 3, 2023 at 1:56pm

A Tesla that had been sitting for months after a wreck “spontaneously” ignited into flames on Wednesday in California as it was being prepared to be dismantled.

The Sacramento Bee reported the fire started just after 5 p.m. in the city of Rancho Cordova at a high-end scrap yard.

Firefighters were called out to the location of the fire and discovered a black Tesla Model S lifted on a rack and in flames.

According to the Bee, witnesses said the idle car had “spontaneously caught fire.”

Crews responded for a vehicle fire at a high end auto dismantler. The vehicle was involved in an accident several months ago, and was sitting idle when it spontaneously caught fire in the yard. Crews are unable to move it to a safe location to burn out, the vehicle is blocked in… pic.twitter.com/8ShkbMEQUN

— Metro Fire of Sacramento (@metrofirepio) August 3, 2023

No injuries were reported, and it is not clear how many gallons of water were used to put the blaze out.

But it did take well over an hour for those on the scene to extinguish the flames.

Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District crews were “unable to move it to a safe location to burn out,” the outlet reported.

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The electric vehicle was apparently boxed into the business by “millions of dollars in salvaged vehicles including Ferraris, Lamborghinis and Bentleys.”

The cause of the fire is being investigated, but Wednesday’s “spontaneous” blaze was the fourth such incident involving an electric vehicle in the Sacramento area over the past year.

In every case, the car in question was a Tesla. The cars are known for being powered by lithium-ion batteries that can be unstable.

In some cases, Tesla fires require thousands upon thousands of gallons of water to put out.

Water is one precious resource that is sometimes difficult to spare in California.

In January, a Tesla Model S was driving down a highway in Rancho Cordova when it too “spontaneously caught fire” on a highway.

Metro Fire of Sacramento reported the blaze required 6,000 gallons of water to put out.

The vehicle battery compartment spontaneously caught fire while it was traveling freeway speeds on EB Hwy 50. The fire was extinguished with approx 6,000 gallons of water, as the battery cells continued to combust. Thankfully no injuries were reported. pic.twitter.com/PRmlWzQdXS

— Metro Fire of Sacramento (@metrofirepio) January 29, 2023