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What’s Causing a Number of Teslas to Catch on Fire in Past Few Days?

May 23, 2022

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4:32 pm

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33 comments

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Economics

MLCC and Ceramic Capacitor image from Tweet dioscussion

On Fire Articles

Fox News: Tesla owner responds to car catching fire in California City
Inside EVs: Tesla Model Y Catches Fire While Driving, Driver Struggled To Escape
Alaska News: ‘I didn’t know how to react’: Owner shocked after Tesla catches fire

Ignore The Hype: Spontaneous Tesla Fires Are Incredibly Rare

Clean Technia comments Ignore The Hype: Spontaneous Tesla Fires Are Incredibly Rare

Teslas fires are big news, but other car fires don’t make the news. That’s the other side of the story for interested parties.

What’s Happening Now?

An excellent Tweet thread by @mcontrol11 has a possible answer.

2) But which components would be the most critical here?

The probably most critical components are so-called MLCCs. These are ceramic capacitors that are used almost exclusively as filters in power supplies.https://t.co/hRDDMo8Br6

— mcontrol (@mcontrol11) May 23, 2022

4) A characteristic of these MLCCs is that they are extremely inflexible. They are therefore very sensitive to vibrations and mechanical shocks.
Therefore, there are special automotive versions of MLCCs that have flexible connections and can also be installed in vehicles.

— mcontrol (@mcontrol11) May 23, 2022

6) The probability that an MLCC will cause a short circuit when it breaks is relatively high. MLCCs are made of many individual conductive layers.
If these layers touch in the event of a break, this triggers a short circuit like here in one of my own (very old) PCBs : pic.twitter.com/vD1z2s2DFX

— mcontrol (@mcontrol11) May 23, 2022

8) Unfortunately, MLCCs usually have no imprint. Detection is difficult without a forensic technician, but not impossible.

— mcontrol (@mcontrol11) May 23, 2022

Did Tesla install non-automotive compliant components?

I don’t know, but it sure sounds like a reasonable place to start an investigation.

IF Tesla is using non-compliant parts, big lawsuits are on the way along with huge recalls.

Anyway, there’s three points of view: Sensational reporting, a rebuttal, and a rational proposal worth investigating.

Addendum: More Fires

To be clear, we have NO idea what’s causing this. Seeking your direction @NHTSAgov/@NTSB. We would reach out to TSLA, but they’ve never once answered a question, email, or phone call from @GLJ_Research.

— Gordon Johnson (@GordonJohnson19) May 23, 2022

This post originated at MishTalk.Com.

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33 Comments

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Lisa_Hooker

4 years ago

When the investment doesn’t work out as planned an insurance fire is often an alternative solution.

JRM

4 years ago

Not isolated to Tesla’s..

BBC and RT did stories last year about a number of EV’s catching fire in Europe and Britain.

bayleaf

4 years ago

Could it also be that some irate liberals are deliberately setting their Tesla on fire?

Six000mileyear

4 years ago

Along the same line of not using automobile grade components is using a voltage rating that is too low, which can result in dielectric breakdown / short to ground /poof fire.

vboring

4 years ago

Tesla has used non automotive components for years. The big shiny touch screens from early years were available in Teslas – and in no other cars at the time – for this exact reason.

This is why all of their cars have continuous temperature control, even when not running. Non automotive components aren’t designed for the hot interior of a car parked in the sun. They saw too many electronics failures under warranty, so they updated the cars to prevent overheating.

SAKMAN1

4 years ago

Reply to vboring

OMG really? I need to get confirmation of this. That is insane. Bandaids over bandaids.

ZZR600

4 years ago

Regardless, the big problem with EVs is the necessary infrastructure to charge them, assuming a high degree of market share. A 50 kWh battery, if charged over 24 hrs, will consume just over 2kW per hour. Compare that to the typical electrical use of a small family home: a few low energy lightbulbs, a refrigerator, a TV, maybe a washing machine on, at the same time. Maybe 2kW, for a few hours per day? So an EV will take the same power to charge as a small family home. So if each family replaces their IC engine with an EV, you are effectively doubling a country’s domestic electrical consumption (at least) . Feasible? I don’t think so.

Carl_R

4 years ago

Reply to ZZR600

How often do most people have to charge their car fully? With my use, I fill my 13 gal vehicle about once a month, so I would guess that if I had an eV, I would charge it no more often than one time per 3 weeks. Thus, while it might double my electric usage on that one day on average my electric usage would go up about 5%, not 100%.

ZZR600

4 years ago

Reply to Carl_R

True. But using the UK as an example, with 20 million households and 20 million cars on the road, a significant portion of those 20 million EVs (assuming 100% replacement) will be plugged in at any one time. A 300 mile range may be a week’s commuting for one person, or a month for someone else. Regardless, I don’t think the grid can handle so many additional EVs being plugged in. Even if you charge the car for a couple of hours per day (on a slow charge) that is still 4-5 kWh, equivalent to what your household might use in one evening. If you fast charge the full pack over say 8 hours, that’s a 6kWh power consumption which is more than any household (unless you are running several ACs) will use in an 8 hr period.

Casual_Observer2020

4 years ago

I’ve said it before and will say it again. Teslas are not affordable for the vast majority of people and this is why you don’t see one everywhere. I am really surprised Honda or Hyundai haven’t come out with a mass produceable EV but I believe Hyundai will be much closer by the end of this year. When the recession hits in earnest, no car company will be spared.

TexasTim65

4 years ago

I personally haven’t noticed an abundance of Tesla fire articles, just the regular amount of them that I see (any new technology is viewed suspiciously).

If this is indeed the case, it should be manifesting itself in Tesla’s built in in the last 2 years when the chip shortages started. Without combing every article, is that the case (new Tesla’s only)?

Tony Bennett

4 years ago

Reply to TexasTim65

The 90s Sony Trinitron bit the dust in 2010 … so went to buy a replacement. LED The Next Big Thing at the time … while LCD being phased out.

Not an early adopter (let someone else take the lumps as bugs worked out) so settled on LCD. 12 years later still going strong. Every once in a while think of upgrading. But, honestly, current models pictures not much better. Won’t replace till it dies.

Maximus_Minimus

4 years ago

Reply to Tony Bennett

Not to mention that the quality of viewables is what counts, not the screen they are displayed on. In my mind, the quality is going down even as the picture keeps improving.

KidHorn

4 years ago

Reply to Tony Bennett

OLEDs look way better than a 12 year old LCD.

Lisa_Hooker

4 years ago

Reply to Tony Bennett

Yeah, my 14+ year old LG flatscreen died. Reason: cheap Chinese capacitors in the power supply.

Zardoz

4 years ago

Reply to TexasTim65

You see them everywhere in Southern California. It’s the perfect climate for them.

Lisa_Hooker

4 years ago

Reply to Zardoz

It’s to be expected. Southern California is the land of fruits and nuts.

Billy

4 years ago

Remember all of the stories about iphones catching on fire?

Can you guess what were the 10 best-selling smartphones of 2021?

What about the top 5?

KidHorn

4 years ago

Reply to Billy

Both Apple and Tesla have dogmatic followers who will ignore anything bad about their products.

Carl_R

4 years ago

Reply to Billy

I remember the Samsung Note catching on fire. But, of course, the Samsung Note still sells. Oh wait, the Note not longer exists. Oh, Samsung still sells big phones with a stylus, but they are no longer called “Note”.

Esclaro

4 years ago

Aside from the fires talk to anyone who has had an accident with their Tesla. My son waited almost a year before his car could be repaired. The whole time he was driving a rental his insurance company was paying for. I would NEVER get a Tesla. Musk is a criminal fraudster who should be in jail for life.

Dr_Novaxx

4 years ago

Reply to Esclaro

As we say in Latin circles, “caveat emptor” my friend. I can think of a lot of politicians who should be at the front of that line.

LPCONGAS99

4 years ago

Reply to Esclaro

“his insurance company was paying for” is that a typo? the insurance company paid that long?

Esclaro

4 years ago

Reply to LPCONGAS99

Not a typo. The insurance company paid out $60,000 in rental fees. They should have just totaled the Tesla but they thought it could be repaired. Bad gamble on their part.

Lisa_Hooker

4 years ago

Reply to Esclaro

I’m assuming the car payments continued while the car awaited repair.

Dr_Novaxx

4 years ago

it’s called entropy.

Lisa_Hooker

4 years ago

Reply to Dr_Novaxx

Entropy always wins.

Always.

PreCambrian

4 years ago

Interesting article on MLCCs https://article.murata.com/en-us/article/automotive-mlcc-1#:~:text=First%2C%20in%20terms%20of%20quality,long%20operating%20life%20are%20required.

I am not sure if there is an actual SAE (or ISO, ASTM, or similar standards organization) specification for automotive MLCCs as opposed to just a capacitor industry classification. An SAE or other standards organization specification would hold a lot more legal weight.

MPO45

4 years ago

in Texas, you’re not supposed to charge your Tesla between 3 pm and 8 pm. Speaks volumes for what will happen when all cars go electric.

https://www.thedrive.com/news/tesla-asks-texan-owners-to-limit-charging-due-to-heat-wave

Zardoz

4 years ago

Reply to MPO45

third world infrastructure isn’t gonna support first world vehicles. Is that a flaw in the vehicles?

KidHorn

4 years ago

Reply to Zardoz

Where is the infrastructure that has many inhabitants and can support more than 25% of all cars being electric?

Zardoz

4 years ago

Reply to KidHorn

Texas can’t even keep the heat or ac on, so definitely not there.

ajc1970

4 years ago

Search youtube for “tesla gas station”

Until I know otherwise, I’m going to assume the owners figured out a way to put gas in them.

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