Following a series of fires in 2013, Tesla began outfitting new cars with a triple underbody shield to bring the risk of fire down to ‘virtually zero,’ according to a March 2014 blog post written by Chief Executive Elon Musk.
Here is a list of incidents of Tesla vehicles catching fire since 2013:
October 1, 2013 – A Tesla Model S caught fire near Seattle, after the car collided with a large piece of metal debris on the road that punched a hole through the protective armor plating. The driver was not injured.
October 2013 – A Tesla car crashed through a concrete wall and hit a tree, catching fire in Merida, Mexico. The driver was not injured.
November 2013 – A Tesla Model S caught fire after the electric car ran over a tow hitch that hit the undercarriage of the vehicle, in Smyrna, Tennessee. The driver was not injured.
February 2014 – A Tesla Model S caught fire in Toronto, Canada, with the fire originating in the engine area. There were no injuries.
March 2014 – Following the fires, Tesla cars were outfitted with a triple underbody shield to bring the risk of fire down to ‘virtually zero’, following the car fires of 2013, Elon Musk said in a blog post on March 28, 2014.
July 2014 – A stolen Tesla Model S crashed into several vehicles and split in half after striking a light pole in West Hollywood, catching fire and leaving the driver in a critical condition, two officers hospitalized and half of the car wedged in a synagogue.
June 2015 – A 2013 Tesla plunged off a cliff along Malibu Canyon Road, and caught fire killing the 53-year-old driver.
August 2016 – A Tesla electric car caught fire during a promotional tour in southwest France. No one was injured in the incident.
November 2016 – A Tesla vehicle crashed into a tree and burst into flames in Indianapolis, killing the driver and the passenger.
March 2017 – A Tesla Model S caught fire at the Jinqiao Supercharger Station in Shanghai, China. No one was harmed in the incident.
August 2017 – A Tesla vehicle went off road in Lake Forest, California and crashed into a home, igniting a garage fire. The driver in the Tesla was taken to a hospital with non-life threatening injuries.
October 2017 – A Tesla Model S caught fire in Austria, after the driver crashed into a concrete barrier at the side of the road. The driver survived the crash.
March 2018 – A Tesla Model X crashed and caught fire near Mountain View, California. The crash involved two other cars resulting in the death of the 38-year-old Tesla driver at a nearby hospital shortly after the crash.
May 2018 – A 2014 Tesla Model S drove off the road and hit a concrete wall in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, immediately catching fire killing two teenagers and injuring another.
December 2018 – A three-month old Tesla Model S catches on fire in a repair garage in Californian