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Why is this one accident getting so much attention. In 2011 there were 500 vehicle fires every single day! http://www.nfpa.org/research/fire-statistics/the-us-

Why is this one accident getting so much attention. In 2011 there were 500 vehicle fires every single day! http://www.nfpa.org/research/fire-statistics/the-us-fire-problem/highway-vehicle-fires http://www.nfpa.org/research/fire-statistics/the-us-fire-pro... tesla has 3 fires in 6 weeks. I'd say thats pretty damn good! Leading cause of highway vehicle fires, "mechanical failure" http://www.usfa.fema.gov/statistics/reports/vehicles.shtm http://www.usfa.fema.gov/statistics/reports/vehicles.shtm

smackfu 13y ago
Because Teslas aren't running on flammable fuel. Seems pretty straightforward to me.
- johnnymonster 13y ago
  Most gas powered car fires are caused by mechanical and electrical related problems, nothing to do with the actual fuel.
  - smackfu 13y ago
    Well, yeah, fuel doesn't ignite itself in a car in working order. Something else has to cause the fire. But according to the report, only 28% of fires started with the fuel igniting. So that's less than I expected.
Vvector 13y ago
So with 250M vehicles in the USA, there is about a 1 in 1333 chance of the average vehicle catching on fire. Tesla has about 15k Model S cars sold in the USA. If there are 12 Tesla fires per year, we get around that same 1 in 1333 number. Are Tesla cars less likely to catch on fire? Maybe. There isn't enough data to determine yet. Are Tesla cars much safer than gas vehicles when they do catch on fire? Yes! This should be the focus.
- johnnymonster 13y ago
  I completely agree with your statement about combustion and safety when the do catch on fire. Have you seen a car on fire when it hits the gas tank? its crazy! have you seen a battery on fire? Kinda boring.
  - 6689591 13y ago
    Have you ever seen a fire when it hits the gas tank? In real life, not a movie.
    - johnnymonster 13y ago
      yup
- tedunangst 13y ago
  A more comparable statistic would be how many one year old gas powered vehicles catch on fire each year.
- Lagged2Death 13y ago
  ...there is about a 1 in 1333 chance of the average vehicle catching on fire. Well. There's that chance of the average vehicle burning. There's a breakdown in the PDF "Highway Vehicle Fires (2008-2010)" that points out a lot of the fires in traditional vehicles (about 40%) are started by arson and accidental, non-malfunction sources of ignition. And that there's reason to believe arson is under-reported: NFIRS no longer collects information on suspicious fires that may have been intentionally set. As a result, intentional fires may be undercounted. Moreover, due to the volume of fires, many automobile fires are not investigated for possible arson. Only about a quarter of vehicle fires are considered to be definitely malfunction-related. I want to see Tesla succeed. But I don't think its hype or alarmist to say that they seem to be malfunctioning in this way a lot, catching fire in everyday situations (like driving down the road) that don't seem to ignite many conventional cars. That's probably perfectly natural; new tech always has growing pains.
nilkn 13y ago
The Model S is claimed to be the safest sedan in production right now. I don't think it is unnatural for people to scrutinize these fires, especially since the source of the fire is potentially different from gasoline-based vehicles. Of course, the investor types will sensationalize it all, but I suspect most people are just curious on what the overall statistics will converge to. Are fires more or less likely in Tesla vehicles compared to gasoline vehicles? We don't have enough data to say yet. When a fire does happen, is it more dangerous or less in a Tesla compared to a gasoline vehicle? Again, probably not enough data, but the odds are looking good so far. Finally, a volatile stock price is to be expected when there's so much speculative trading going on surrounding the company.
tedunangst 13y ago
Because after the second fire, everybody said it was merely a fluke and it would be long time until the third fire.
- talmand 13y ago
  I would have said that's only crazy talk and the laws of Murphy would require that there be another event as soon as possible after such a silly statement would be said. So far I would say the most common link between all three events is that people were driving them. People should stop driving them as to prevent these fires.

smackfu 13y ago

Because Teslas aren't running on flammable fuel. Seems pretty straightforward to me.

johnnymonster 13y ago
Most gas powered car fires are caused by mechanical and electrical related problems, nothing to do with the actual fuel.
- smackfu 13y ago
  Well, yeah, fuel doesn't ignite itself in a car in working order. Something else has to cause the fire. But according to the report, only 28% of fires started with the fuel igniting. So that's less than I expected.

Vvector 13y ago

So with 250M vehicles in the USA, there is about a 1 in 1333 chance of the average vehicle catching on fire. Tesla has about 15k Model S cars sold in the USA. If there are 12 Tesla fires per year, we get around that same 1 in 1333 number. Are Tesla cars less likely to catch on fire? Maybe. There isn't enough data to determine yet. Are Tesla cars much safer than gas vehicles when they do catch on fire? Yes! This should be the focus.

johnnymonster 13y ago
I completely agree with your statement about combustion and safety when the do catch on fire. Have you seen a car on fire when it hits the gas tank? its crazy! have you seen a battery on fire? Kinda boring.
- 6689591 13y ago
  Have you ever seen a fire when it hits the gas tank? In real life, not a movie.
  - johnnymonster 13y ago
    yup
tedunangst 13y ago
A more comparable statistic would be how many one year old gas powered vehicles catch on fire each year.
Lagged2Death 13y ago
...there is about a 1 in 1333 chance of the average vehicle catching on fire. Well. There's that chance of the average vehicle burning. There's a breakdown in the PDF "Highway Vehicle Fires (2008-2010)" that points out a lot of the fires in traditional vehicles (about 40%) are started by arson and accidental, non-malfunction sources of ignition. And that there's reason to believe arson is under-reported: NFIRS no longer collects information on suspicious fires that may have been intentionally set. As a result, intentional fires may be undercounted. Moreover, due to the volume of fires, many automobile fires are not investigated for possible arson. Only about a quarter of vehicle fires are considered to be definitely malfunction-related. I want to see Tesla succeed. But I don't think its hype or alarmist to say that they seem to be malfunctioning in this way a lot, catching fire in everyday situations (like driving down the road) that don't seem to ignite many conventional cars. That's probably perfectly natural; new tech always has growing pains.

nilkn 13y ago

The Model S is claimed to be the safest sedan in production right now. I don't think it is unnatural for people to scrutinize these fires, especially since the source of the fire is potentially different from gasoline-based vehicles. Of course, the investor types will sensationalize it all, but I suspect most people are just curious on what the overall statistics will converge to. Are fires more or less likely in Tesla vehicles compared to gasoline vehicles? We don't have enough data to say yet. When a fire does happen, is it more dangerous or less in a Tesla compared to a gasoline vehicle? Again, probably not enough data, but the odds are looking good so far. Finally, a volatile stock price is to be expected when there's so much speculative trading going on surrounding the company.

tedunangst 13y ago

Because after the second fire, everybody said it was merely a fluke and it would be long time until the third fire.

talmand 13y ago
I would have said that's only crazy talk and the laws of Murphy would require that there be another event as soon as possible after such a silly statement would be said. So far I would say the most common link between all three events is that people were driving them. People should stop driving them as to prevent these fires.