Tesla Issues Software Update To Prevent Cars From Randomly Bursting Into Flames

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For those that were alarmed by our reports over the last 3 weeks of Teslas in China and Hong Kong appearing to spontaneously combust, don’t worry: there’s a software update for that. That is the business line that Tesla wants you to think while it continues to research the reason behind recent incidents of parked Tesla vehicles catching fire for no reason at all.

Tesla has begun putting out a software update that will change battery charge and thermal management configurations in Model S sedans and Model X SUVs, according to TechCrunch.


Tesla asserts that the software update is being done out of”an abundance of caution”. The business says it is supposed to”protect the battery and improve its longevity”. Since we guess it’s PR to come out and say: rsquo & we;re trying to prevent cars from bursting into flames for no apparent reason at all.

And if battery longevity via a software update can improve, why haven’t they done it already?

Regardless, the software update will not apply to Model 3 vehicles and Tesla says it hasn’t identified the cause of the Hong Kong fire, or discovered any problems with battery packs. Here is the announcement Tesla put out:

We now have well over half a million vehicles on the street, which is more than double the number that we had in the beginning of last year, and Tesla’s team of battery specialists uses that information to thoroughly investigate incidents that occur and understand the root cause. Although fire incidents involving Tesla vehicles are already rare and our cars are likely to experience a fire than a gas car, we think the perfect number of incidents to anticipate is zero.

As we continue our investigation of the root cause, out of an abundance of caution, we’re revising charge and thermal management settings on Model S and Model X vehicles through an over-the-air software update that will start rolling out today, to help further protect the battery and improve battery longevity.

Just weeks after a Tesla Model S seemed to spontaneously combust at a parking garage in China, a Tesla Motors Club forum article  pointed out what seemed to be another incident of a Tesla catching fire while parked – this time in Hong Kong.  In a post online in the TMC forum, a new member named”andinardo” posted photographs of what seems to be a smoldering Tesla Model S. The user wrote: 

“Emergency news for every tesla model s owner after the shanghai incident last month, today in Hong Kong it happen again.  Tesla 2016 model S burn itself while is charging, fortunately the driver wasnt in the car.”

The poster also claimed that the driver had said that he was having problems with the car, and even reported them to Tesla service, who fixed the situation. The poster says there’s CCTV footage from this incident that shows”3 times explosion”:

The proprietor mention he believe the battery have some issue, last year, his car can not start and he did report to Tesla service. Tesla did service his car and they did fix the situation. But from the CCTV footage reveal that some smoke coming out of the front of the Tesla and 3 times burst.

The article was accompanied by photographs of the alleged incident.

A response to the post says that:”The Chinese words said the Tesla parking spot has wall connector installed but at the time of the fire, the car was not charging.”

Approximately 12 days ago, we wrote about an unplugged Tesla that caught fire at a San Francisco garage, prompting an investigation from police. The San Francisco Fire Department responded to a reported car fire in a home on the 1300 block of 26th Avenue near Irving Street. The crews saw”smoke near the rear right tire of a Tesla Model S” which was not plugged in at the time and put out the fire.

The Tesla was then towed in the garage from the fire department. There were no accidents at press time. It was two weeks prior to the San Francisco fire a gorgeous movie surfaced of a Tesla catching fire and exploding, while parked, in China.

Finally, that burst in China came just about a week after we reported a Tesla automobile near Pittsburgh caught fire and burned for hours in an area service garage. The fire occurred despite Tesla engineers having access to the vehicle prior to moving it. The photos were stunning, revealing what seems to be a vehicle that has been incinerated and reduced to a heap of smoldering wreckage.


The same car had previously caught fire back in February at a garage around the exact same area, based on CBS 2 Pittsburgh. It was being towed to a new shop and”somehow” caught fire again, regardless of the fact that a Tesla engineer tried to decrease the risk of fire by removing the fuse from the battery pack prior to transporting the vehicle.

This leads us to ask 1 question: what if whistleblower Martin Tripp was right and it isn’t a software problem, but rather a hardware issue? And why isn’t the NHTSA asking this question?

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