U.S. fire departments responded to an estimated average of 152,300 automobile fires per year in 2006-2010. These fires caused an average of 209 civilian deaths, 764 civilian injuries, and $536 million in direct property damage.

Facts and Figures

• Automobile fires were involved in 10% of reported U.S. fires, 6% of U.S. fire deaths.
• On average, 17 automobile fires were reported per hour. These fires killed an average of four people every week.
• Mechanical or electrical failures or malfunctions were factors in roughly two-thirds of the automobile fires.
• Collisions and overturns were factors in only 4% of highway vehicle fires, but these incidents accounted for three of every five (60%) automobile fire deaths.
• Only 2% of automobile fires began in fuel tanks or fuel lines, but these incidents caused 15% of the automobile fire deaths.

Three Tesla model S cars have caught fire in just over the past month. All of them very much seem to be caused by running over objects or being driven through walls and hitting a tree. All the drivers did not seem to have serious injuries, which says a lot about the safety of the vehicles.

It does get one to think about the long-term ramifications, especially as it relates to oversight and potential regulations from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). First it is worthwhile the review the fires and get some thoughts from an expert in the field of heat and chemical processes.

Rick Martin from Martin Thermal Engineering has a PhD in Mechanical Engineering and has investigated over 50 car fires in his career. On his blog his overview of Tesla’s car fires (and car fires in general) is “collisions and road hazards can puncture reservoirs and deform insulating materials in ways that expose these elements to each other and create conditions for fires to start. The greater the vehicle’s speed at the time of collision, the more likely it will sustain damage that compromises the protective barriers keeping fuels away from ignition sources.”

A key metric could turn out to be fires per collision

Martin goes on further to write “Unfortunately, their comparison misses two important points”:

(1) All three of the Tesla fires involved collisions, whereas the baseline rate they used to compare conventional car fires included many additional (unrelated) causation factors;

(2) By far, the largest percentage of all vehicle fires occurs in vehicles that are more than 5 years old. Most of these fires have causes rooted in inadequate maintenance, flawed service, or operator carelessness.”

He adds “The more salient electric versus gasoline vehicle comparison would be “fires per collision exceeding a certain speed differential”. Although we don’t have any actual data, we expect a comparison of collision-related fires would yield incident rates more similar for the two types of vehicles than the Tesla blog suggests.”

“So the question regarding Tesla’s Model S seems to be whether its barriers are adequate to protect its battery cells. It may still turn out that fleets of electric cars experience fewer total fires per mile driven than fleets of gasoline or diesel cars, over their respective lifetimes.”

Having regulators becoming involved would probably not be positive for Tesla

It is still very early in the life of the Model S and these incidents could be an anomaly. However since there seems to be very little regulation of electric vehicles the NHTSA may decide to become involved and at least review the incidents. Yes the car may be able to be made safer, but keep in mind that the model S received a 5 star rating overall and in every subcategory.

It may turn out that the NHTSA doesn’t require Tesla to make any changes but if it does (and this may not apply for a few years) it could impact either the cost of the vehicle or the development time for new models. One example of increased costs would be having to install a thicker metal plate underneath the car.

A more worrisome development would be having to redesign where the batteries are placed. It would take time to determine the new locations, test the new design and change the manufacturing process. This may very well not happen but it is worthwhile to monitor since the timing of new vehicles is critical the investor expectations.

A small impact is the filing of a class-action lawsuit

Last Friday a law firm announced that it had filed a class-action lawsuit against the company for misleading investors over the Model S’ fire risk. I don’t think this will have a material affect on the company but it is something that could create short-term headline risk to the shares.

Federal regulators haven't even begun investigatin a trio of recent battery fires related to Tesla's Model S electric car, but that isn't stopping the company's outspoken CEO from writing off the possibility of a recall.

"There's definitely not going to be a recall," Tesla chief Elon Musk said at a conference hosted by The New York Times, calling the Model S "five times less likely" to have a fire as a result of a wreck than a standard car.

"NHTSA has real problems to deal with where people die or are seriously injured. Their time is preoccupied with that, not with fictional issues created by the media."

Musk's comments come in response to three recent wrecks involving Model S EVs that caught fire after being involved in wrecks over the last month and a half.

Despite Musk's confidence, a recall decision isn't ultimately up to Tesla. If NHTSA investigates the Model S and decides that there is a defect related to the fires, the automaker will be required to issue a recall to correct any problem found.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has announced that it is launching a formal safety evaluation of the Tesla Model S after three examples of the electric luxury sedan were involved in fires over the course of five weeks.

The preliminary investigation, which may further harm Tesla's flagging stock, will seek to “examine the potential risks associated with undercarriage strikes on model year 2013 Tesla Model S vehicles,” the NHTSA said in a statement. Roughly 13,100 Model S sedans will be under scrutiny in the probe.

Two of the three fires occurred in the U.S. when debris struck the underside of a Model S, sparking a battery fire, while a third fire in Mexico followed a high-speed crash.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk claimed in a blog post that the company requested that the NHTSA conduct the investigation in order to counter “false perceptions” concerning electric vehicle fire risks. However, NHTSA Administrator David Strickland said today that the request was news to him, and that the agency acted on its own to start to probe.

Will the NHTSA order a recall?

A preliminary investigation is the NHTSA’s first step in determining whether a safety defect requiring a recall is present in a model. The agency usually takes roughly six months to determine whether to upgrade an investigation into a full-blown engineering analysis, which must be performed before the government can require an automaker to conduct a recall.

It’s possible that the NHTSA could find the Model S needs more underbody shielding to protect its battery pack from roadway debris.

“While we think it is highly unlikely, if something is discovered that would result in a material improvement in occupant fire safety, we will immediately apply that change to new cars and offer it as a free retrofit to all existing cars," said Musk, who had previously aserted that the Model S would "definitely" not be recalled.

As a show of confidence in the Model S’ safety, Telsa will amend its warranty coverage to include damage incurred by fires, even if caused by driver error.

Tesla is also updating the Model S’ suspension to provide more ground clearance at highway speeds, and another software update expected to launch in January will give the driver “direct control of the air suspension ride height transitions.”

Tesla's top-ranking sales and marketing executive has left the company.
George Blankenship announced this week via his LinkedIn profile that he has resigned from his post as Vice President, Sales & Ownership Experience at Tesla. Tesla has not confirmed Blankenship's departure and still lists him as an active employee.

Blankenship's resignation was first discovered by the San Jose Mercury News.
Blankenship, 60, was an important member of the Tesla team and was responsible for establishing the company's retail network, both in North America and in global markets like Europe and Asia. Blankenship's retail approach was revolutionary for the auto industry, relying on shops in high-end locations rather than going through the typical franchise model.

Blankenship modeled Tesla's retail operations after Apple's. Blankenship oversaw Apple's retail operations until being hand picked by Tesla CEO Elon Musk in 2010.

Blankenship's LinkedIn profile lists his new position as "Director of Smiles for the Blankenship Family". No reason was given for his departure.
Blankenship's resignation comes at a rocky time for Tesla. The automaker is currently facing several lawsuits from dealer associations over its retail structure and is also battling concerns over vehicle fires in its Model S sedan. Over the last few weeks Tesla's stock has sunk from a high of $194.50 to below $121.

The Orange County Fire Department (OCFD) believes a garage fire that occurred last month in Irvine, California, might have started when a Tesla-supplied wall-mounted electric vehicle charger overheated.

"The most probable cause of this fire is a high resistance connection at the wall socket or the Universal Mobile Connector from the Tesla charging system," explains the OCFD's report.

The owner of the house told the OCFD that she parked the Model S in her garage, plugged it into the charger and programmed it to start charging at midnight. She reported the fire at roughly 3 am.

The fire department has spent the past few weeks determining the exact cause of the blaze. The fire happened on November 15th but the report was only made public a couple of days ago.

A spokeswoman for Tesla says the company adamantly disagrees with the OCFD's report.

"We looked into the incident. We can say it absolutely was not the car, the battery or the charging electronics," explained the company. "A review of the car's logs showed that the battery had been charging normally, and there were no fluctuations in temperature or malfunctions within the battery or the charge electronics."

The fire caused $25,000 of damage to the garage but the no one was injured and the Model S sustained only minor damage.

Last month, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration launched a formal safety evaluation of the Model S after three examples caught fire in the United States and in Mexico over the course of five weeks.

high resistance connection at the wall socket

high resistance connection at the wall socket or the Universal Mobile Connector from the Tesla charging system

Tesla Motor has voluntarily recalled 29,222 vehicle chargers that were delivered with select 2013 Model S sedans.

A bulletin published the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) explains that Tesla's 240-volt NEMA 14-50 Universal Mobile Connector can overheat and catch fire if it is defective or not installed properly. Tesla says it has been aware of the condition for a few months but refuses to classify it as a safety issue, adding that only 2.7 percent of its chargers are defective and that they have not caused any injuries.

The California-based automaker will notify owners of affected chargers by mail. It will send out a new charging adapter equipped with a thermal fuse and provide an over-the-air software update that will allow the Model S' on-board charging system to automatically reduce the charging current by 25 percent if it detects a problem. The fix will reduce the temperature of the charger and its cord if the current suddenly increases and eliminate the risk of a fire.

In a statement, Tesla explained sending out a new charger is not necessary but it is taking the costly measure to make sure customers don't lose confidence in its products.

The problem first became public when a home-charging device caught fire in Orange County, California, and caused $25,000 of damage. Tesla's initial reaction was to adamantly refute the claims that the problem came from the charger.


Under Investigation

Last November, the NHTSA launched a formal safety evaluation of the Model S after three examples caught fire in the United States and in Mexico over the course of five weeks. The problem is unrelated to the charger recall, and a final report has not been made public yet.

Tesla is reportedly investigating another vehicle fire, after a Model S appears to have ignited in a Toronto garage.

Interestingly, in this case, the owner claims the car was not plugged into the charger when the fire occurred. The Model S had been parked in the garage for only a few moments before the fire detector went off, according to a Business Insider report.

Tesla responded to the initial report, reiterating the company's argument that the Model S is the safest car on the road, statistically, and has yet to be involved in a serious injury or death from a fire or any other reason.

"Dealing with occasional fires is something that every car company has to do, as no vehicle is completely fireproof under all circumstances," the company said. "What matters is the number of such incidents per car, and it is worth noting that gasoline car companies experience an average of five to ten times more fires per car than Tesla."

Despite the reassurances, official investigators and Tesla's own team of engineers have yet to determine the cause of the fire. It was quickly extinguished, but not before causing extensive damage to the garage and a Lexus that was parked beside the Model S.

"In this particular case, we don't yet know the precise cause, but have definitively determined that it did not originate in the battery, the charging system, the adapter or the electrical receptacle, as these components were untouched by the fire," the statement adds.

The company recently recalled 29,000 charging cables over fire risk, while the NHTSA late last year opened an investigation into Model S fires to determine if there is an increased risk due to undercarriage strikes that may penetrate the batteries.

"In this particular case, we don't yet know the precise cause, but have definitively determined that it did not originate in the battery, the charging system, the adapter or the electrical receptacle, as these components were untouched by the fire," the statement adds.