California firefighters were faced with an intense situation when they had to extinguish a flaming battery in a Tesla Semi after a crash, as reported by the National Transportation Safety Board on Thursday. Approximately 50,000 gallons (190,000 liters) of water were required to put out the flames from the electric truck. Additionally, firefighters utilized an aircraft to drop fire retardant as a precautionary measure in the immediate vicinity of the incident. The battery reportedly reached temperatures as high as 1,000 degrees Fahrenheit (540 Celsius) during the blaze.
The NTSB dispatched investigators to the scene of the crash on Aug. 19 near Emigrant Gap along Interstate 80, about 70 miles (113 kilometers) northeast of Sacramento. The agency announced its intention to investigate the fire risks associated with the large lithium-ion battery in the truck. According to a preliminary report, it was revealed that the Tesla Semi was not utilizing any of Tesla’s semi-automated driving systems at the time of the accident as the systems were not operational and could not be engaged.
The crash occurred around 3:13 a.m. while the Tesla employee was driving the tractor-trailer from Livermore, California, to a Tesla facility in Sparks, Nevada. The Semi veered off the road while navigating a right curve, collided with a tree, descended a slope, and came to a halt against several trees, with the driver escaping unharmed. Following the crash, the lithium-ion battery of the Semi caught fire, prompting firefighters to use water to extinguish the flames and cool down the batteries, resulting in a closure of the freeway for approximately 15 hours as a safety precaution.
The truck was subsequently moved to an open-air facility where it was monitored for 24 hours to ensure the battery did not reignite. The NTSB confirmed that a comprehensive investigation into all aspects of the crash is ongoing to determine the root cause. The agency plans to issue safety recommendations to prevent similar incidents in the future.
Tesla, headquartered in Austin, Texas, was not immediately available for comment on the matter. Previous investigations by the NTSB revealed the risks high-voltage electric vehicle battery fires pose to first responders due to inadequate guidelines from manufacturers on how to handle such situations. Consequently, the agency urged manufacturers to develop vehicle-specific response guides for combating battery fires and mitigating risks of thermal runaway and reignition. These guidelines should also encompass the safe storage of vehicles with damaged lithium-ion batteries.
Tesla commenced deliveries of the electric Semis in December of 2022, over three years after CEO Elon Musk announced the production of the trucks. Musk claimed that the Semi has a range of 500 miles (800 kilometers) per charge when hauling an 82,000-pound (37,000-kilo) load.