September 21, 2022

Tesla Battery Fire at Utility Substation Closes Highway

Tesla vehicles have been and continue to be associated with battery fires and fires that are difficult to extinguish (see 1, 2). Of course, battery fires and fires that are difficult to extinguish have been reported with other companies’ electric vehicles (EVs) as well (see 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7). Regardless, another Tesla battery caught fire yesterday, this time at a utility substation in California.

From ZeroHedge:

by Tyler Durden

There are reports of a utility-scale battery fire at a PG&E facility in Moss Landing, an area located in Monterey County, California.

FYI: the fire causing the road closure on #hwy1 is NOT at the #MossLanding Power Plant. It’s at the adjacent property- a PG&E substation and battery facility.
— Caltrans District 5 (@CaltransD5) September 20, 2022

Local media says the fire has forced a temporary closure of Highway 1 along a 6-mile stretch from Portero Road to Salinas Road.

TRAFIC ALERT:
🚨 Hwy 1 closed in Moss Landing due to fire at power plant. Closure from Salinas Rd to Potrero Rd. ETA 4-6 hours.
VIA @CHPscrz
— KTVU (@KTVU) September 20, 2022

Bloomberg headlines note the fire at the PG&E substation originated from a Tesla battery pack, but the size of the utility-scale battery has yet to be determined.

*TESLA BATTERY FIRE AT PG&E SUBSTATION CLOSES PART OF HIGHWAY 1
*PG&E SAYS TESLA BATTERY ON FIRE AT CA SUBSTATION
— zerohedge (@zerohedge) September 20, 2022

Here are images of the fire:

Highway 1 is closed as crews respond to a large fire at the PG&E energy storage facility in Moss Landing. The highway is closed between Salinas Road and Potrero Road, the California Highway Patrol told @KSBWPhil. The CHP said the highway could be closed four to six hours. pic.twitter.com/GW69kzqHJY
— Paul Dudley (@PaulDudleyKSBW) September 20, 2022

Fire in Moss Landing. Looks like around the Pick n Pull pic.twitter.com/qfAgWMkHzG
— S (@Sonic_Ambulance) August 3, 2020

The incident comes as utilities increasingly rely on large lithium-ion batteries to store renewable energy from the wind and the sun. These batteries are similar to ones used in electric cars and are also prone to fires.

Last July, a massive Tesla Megapack caught fire in Australia’s Victoria state. The blaze took three days to be extinguished.

There’s no official word on what caused the Tesla battery pack fire in California this morning.

In addition to fires, Teslas have been associated with numerous other safety issues as well, some of which have led to fatal accidents, investigations lawsuits, and recalls (see 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22). High maintenance costs (see 1, 2) and security issues (see 1, 2, 3) continue to be identified too with Tesla vehicles too. High levels of biologically and environmentally harmful radiation emissions have also been reported in Teslas and other EVs (see 1, 2, 3, 4, 5). Got pets? Radiation exposure from EVs (and other common sources) can affect them too.