A Tesla owner in Texas revealed how his five-year-old Model S suddenly burst into flames last month, renewing old safety concerns about electric sedans.
Usmaan Ahmad told the Washington Post that he had just stepped off a public road in Frisco on November 23, when he heard a series of loud metallic bangs emanating from his 2015 Tesla Model S 85D.
Ahmad, 41, said he stopped at the side of the road to inspect the source of the noise, when suddenly his car caught fire, with fireballs “shooting like a flamethrower” from the front passenger wheel.
Ahmad told Tesla he believes the car’s battery may have exploded, but the specific cause of the fire has yet to be determined.
The frightening incident emerges as one of many similar occurrences involving older Models S and X vehicles in recent years, which experts believe are related to the car’s battery.
Concerns have been raised routinely about the safety of electric vehicles as they age, and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is investigating the incident involving Ahmad’s car, according to the Post.
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Usmaan Ahmad said he stopped after hearing a series of loud bangs emanating from his Tesla Model S. Moments after getting out of the car, he burst into flames ‘like a flamethrower’
Ahmad’s 2015 Tesla S model is seen completely enveloped in smoke moments before the firefighters arrive at the scene
Ahmad told Tesla he believes the car’s battery may have exploded, but the specific cause of the fire has yet to be determined.
NHTSA previously opened an investigation into alleged battery defects that could cause fires in older Tesla sedan and SUV models.
The investigation was prompted by a lawsuit that claimed the company founded by Elon Musk had manipulated its battery technology in older car models from 2012 to 2019, shortening the battery’s range and extending charging times to resolve an unspecified defect .
A lawyer filing a class action lawsuit on behalf of Tesla’s owners filed the petition with the agency’s Defect Investigation Office, citing an ‘alarming number of car fires’ that appeared to be spontaneous.
Although the agency agreed to examine the matter last year, few details have since been released about the progress of the investigation.
For Ahmad, he said he drove his Model S for a few seconds before it burned. The business development worker told the Post that his battery was about 60% charged at the time and that he was traveling lightly while returning home.
He immediately called 911 and the firefighters arrived on the scene within minutes.
Witness Robert Watson also called emergency services after seeing black smoke coming out of the vehicle as it passed.
“It looked like the rear of a jet engine with the afterburner coming out of the front passenger wheel,” Watson told the Post.
There was also another problem, according to Ahmad. While firefighters were working to extinguish the flames, one of them would have asked how to get into the cabin.
Model S Teslas doors are operated by retractable handles that pop out when they detect a key ring nearby. Ahmad tried to use the remote control, but it didn’t work.
According to Ahmad, the fireman said he was lucky to have got out of the car at that time, otherwise he could have been trapped inside the burning vehicle.
According to Ahmad, a fireman said he was lucky to get out of the car at that time, otherwise he may have been trapped inside the burning vehicle.
A devastating march is seen on the ground where Ahmad’s car caught fire
NHTSA previously opened an investigation into alleged battery defects that could cause fires in older Tesla sedan and SUV models (pictured above the 2015 S model on the factory line in Tilburg, The Netherlands)
Firefighters kept the fire under control for about 10 minutes.
The car was completely destroyed by the fire and is currently being held in a parking lot.
Ahmad said he was still waiting for a word about what caused the fire. He, however, told the Post that Tesla was allegedly not proactive in investigating the fire.
He wrote to a Tesla representative on November 25, two days after the fire, saying he assumed the ‘battery exploded’.
The representative said he was happy that he was safe and said the company would investigate the matter, but Tesla has since cited a number of insurance obstacles that have prevented the investigation.
Ahmad said he hopes the company can get to the bottom of the problem to ensure that it doesn’t happen to anyone else, including his parents, who allegedly own a Tesla Model X SUV.
“I don’t want anyone else to experience something so scary,” he told the Post.
Tesla had previously argued that its cars are 10 times less likely to catch fire than gasoline vehicles, citing data from the National Fire Protection Association and the U.S. Federal Highway Administration.
However, when an electric car catches on fire, the duration and intensity of the fire – powered by chemicals and the extreme heat accumulated in the lithium-ion batteries – can make them more difficult to put out.
In an emergency response guide posted on its website, Tesla writes: ‘Battery fires can take up to 24 hours to go out. Consider allowing the battery to burn while protecting exposures. ‘
Tesla was also attacked amid concerns that its computerized cars would make the emergency response more challenging, with features like retractable handles.
In South Florida in 2019, driver Omar Awan was killed after being trapped inside his 2016 Model S after he caught fire and the electronic door handles did not extend after an accident.
In South Florida in 2019, driver Omar Awan was killed after being trapped inside his 2016 Model S after he caught fire and the electronic door handles did not extend after an accident
Awan was burned beyond recognition and could not be saved. His family filed an unfair lawsuit against the company, claiming that the design feature caused his death, rather than the accident itself.
Two teenagers were also killed in a fire in Tesla in South Florida in 2018. The family of one of the victims claimed that the car battery was defective and sued Tesla
His family filed an unfair lawsuit against the company, claiming that the design feature caused his death, rather than the accident itself.
His car was later taken to a detention deposit, where the battery has rekindled at least three times, the Florida Sun Sentinel reported at the time.
Likewise, a fatal accident in Fort Lauderdale in 2018 saw the family of one of the two victims sue Tesla, claiming that his son’s vehicle battery was defective.
“The Tesla S sedan had inadequate measures to prevent a post-collision fire and had inadequate measures to contain a fire,” said Chicago lawyer Philip Corboy Jr, one of the lawyers representing the parents.
Similar examples of Model S apparently bursting into flames spontaneously have also been reported outside the United States, including in Shanghai, where a sedan was photographed in flames inside a parking lot before it exploded.
Similarly, in Los Angeles in 2018, a Model S burst into flame while in traffic, with fire coming out of the wheel well.
At the time, Tesla called the incident an ‘extraordinarily unusual occurrence’.
Tesla has not yet returned a request from DailyMail.com to comment on Ahmad’s allegations.