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Printed Sep 12, 2024 • 2 minute learn
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WASHINGTON (AP) — California firefighters needed to douse a flaming battery in a Tesla Semi with about 50,000 gallons (190,000 liters) of water to extinguish flames after a crash, the Nationwide Transportation Security Board stated Thursday.
Along with the massive quantity of water, firefighters used an plane to drop fireplace retardant on the “quick space” of the electrical truck as a precautionary measure, the company stated in a preliminary report.
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Firefighters stated beforehand that the battery reached temperatures of 1,000 levels Fahrenheit (540 Celsius) whereas it was in flames.
The NTSB despatched investigators to the Aug. 19 crash alongside Interstate 80 close to Emigrant Hole, about 70 miles (113 kilometers) northeast of Sacramento. The company stated it might look into fireplace dangers posed by the truck’s giant lithium-ion battery.
The company additionally discovered that the truck was not working on one in every of Tesla’s partially automated driving techniques on the time of the crash, the report stated. The techniques weren’t operational and “couldn’t be engaged,” in keeping with the company.
The crash occurred about 3:13 a.m. because the tractor-trailer was being pushed by a Tesla worker from Livermore, California, to a Tesla facility in Sparks, Nevada. The Semi left the street whereas going round a curve to the best and hit a tree, the report stated. It went down a slope and got here to relaxation towards a number of bushes. The driving force was not damage.
After the crash, the Semi’s lithium-ion battery ignited. Firefighters used water to place out flames and maintain the batteries cool. The freeway was closed for about 15 hours as firefighters made positive the batteries had been cool sufficient to get well the truck.
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Authorities took the truck to an open-air facility and monitored it for twenty-four hours. The battery didn’t reignite.
The NTSB stated all points of the crash are beneath investigation because it determines the trigger. The company stated it intends to problem security suggestions to forestall comparable incidents.
A message was left Thursday looking for remark from Tesla, which is predicated in Austin, Texas.
After an investigation that led to 2021, the NTSB decided that high-voltage electrical automobile battery fires pose dangers to first responders and that pointers from producers about take care of them had been insufficient.
The company, which has no enforcement powers and might solely make suggestions, known as for producers to put in writing vehicle-specific response guides for combating battery fires and limiting chemical thermal runaway and reignition. The rules additionally ought to embrace data on safely retailer autos with broken lithium-ion batteries, the company stated.
Tesla started delivering the electrical Semis in December of 2022, greater than three years after CEO Elon Musk stated his firm would begin making the vans. Musk has stated the Semi has a spread per cost of 500 miles (800 kilometers) when pulling an 82,000-pound (37,000-kilo) load.
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