Firefighters in Mexico have struggled to extinguish an electric vehicle (EV) fire believed to have been caused by a Tesla charging directly from power lines.
The Related Press – through ABC News – The Tijuana fire reportedly began on Monday, when firefighters discovered the Tesla plugged into a cable that was attached directly to overhead power lines.
Tijuana Fire Chief Rafael Carrillo said the fire continued to burn into Tuesday as the battery continued to burn, despite efforts by fire crews to create a berm around it so water could flood the battery.
Worse still, the fire spread to the house next door – although neither the EV nor the occupants were injured.
Based on ABC NewsMany Mexican cities including Tijuana have seen illegal electrical connections become widespread, often involving wiring directly into power lines or removing the meter box and patching directly in.
EV FireSafe, an Australian company that compiles data on vehicle fires globally, found that there have been 511 reports of thermal runaway incidents in electric and plug-in hybrid (PHEV) batteries worldwide from 2010 to the end of June 2024.
This is unrelated to this latest incident or the fire at an apartment building in South Korea. earlier this weekbelieved to have been caused by a Mercedes-Benz EQE spontaneously combusting, damaging 70 other cars and sending 16 residents to hospital.
