A video posted on Chinese social media platform Sina Weibo shows a parked Tesla Model S sedan emitting white smoke and then engulfed in flames on Sunday evening.
“After finding out about the accident in Shanghai, we dispatched a team to visit the location,” said Tesla via its official Weibo account early on Monday morning. “We are actively communicating with the relevant governmental bodies to figure out why this happened. Current information shows that nobody was hurt or killed in this accident.”
The fire, however, did consume an Audi that was parked next to the Model S.
A similar incident happened in the United States, when a Tesla vehicle that was suspected of being the cause of a garage fire in Pittsburgh set off a blaze that burned down the shop where it was to be inspected.
“I think it’s important to look into instances of electric vehicles catching on fire seemingly on their own—without a crash. Those instances certainly need to be investigated in order to find the cause of the fire,” commented Fred Lambert, editor-in-chief of Electrek, a news site that tracks the transition from fossil fuels to electric-based transportation.
Contact the writer at jingli@kr-asia.com