50K gallons of water required to douse battery-powered Tesla Semi fire, feds say

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) released a new report on the Tesla Semi fire the closed a portion of I-80 in California for approximately 15 hours in August.

On September 12, the NTSB released a preliminary report on a single vehicle collision that resulted in a serious post-crash fire.

The crash occurred at 3:13 a.m. on August 19, 2024, near Emigrant Gap in Placer County, California. A 2024 Tesla Semi operated by a Tesla, Inc. employee was eastbound on I-80 en route from Livermore, California, to a Tesla facility in Sparks, Nevada.

Investigators say that the Tesla operator “departed the roadway to the right while navigating a right-hand curve and uphill grade” and struck a traffic delineator, then a tree, then “continued down an earthen slope to rest against several trees.”

The Tesla operator was not injured.

The Tesla Semi’s lithium-ion electric battery system ignited following the crash.

The crash was treated as a hazmat incident, with traffic stopped over concerns about the battery fire spewing “toxic fumes.”

The NTSB said that first responders used about 50,000 gallons of water to extinguish the fire and cool the Tesla Semi’s batteries. CAL FIRE also used an aircraft to apply fire retardant to fight the vehicle fire.

After the fire was extinguished, the wrecked vehicle was transported to an open-air facility, where it was monitored for 24 hours. The vehicle did not reignite.

Authorities say that the incident resulted in the closure of westbound and eastbound I-80 for 14 and 15 hours, respectively.

The NTSB noted that while the Tesla Semi was equipped with Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS), “ADAS was not operational on the vehicle and could not be engaged at the time of the crash.”

The NTSB will continue to investigate and plans to issue safety recommendations at a later date.

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