Tesla Model S Charger Blamed for Garage Fire
A garage fire that occurred on November 15, 2013 is being investigated by the Orange County Fire Authority, who claim that the cause of the blaze may have been the charging system on a Tesla Model S.
“The fire occurred as a result of an electrical failure in the charging system for an electric vehicle,” said a report by the fire authority. “The most probable cause of this fire is a high resistance connection at the wall socket or the Universal Mobile Connector from the Tesla charging system,” the report continues, although it also emphasizes that the exact cause is still unclear.
The owner of the car plugged the charging cable into a 240-volt wall socket, and set the car to begin charging at midnight. Around 3am, the owner noticed the fire, and called the fire department who quickly put out the blaze. Overall, the fire caused $25,000 worth of damage, though the car only suffered smoke damage. No one in the house was injured.
SEE ALSO: NHTSA Gathering Data on Tesla Model S Fires
A spokesperson for Tesla has already gone on record and denied the claims. “We looked into the incident,” Tesla spokeswoman Liz Jarvis-Shean told Reuters. “We can say it absolutely was not the car, the battery or the charging electronics.”
Three separate incidents of Tesla Model S vehicles catching fire have already been reported, causing Tesla stock to fall sharply. This incident is not related to the other fires, as all three occurred after the vehicle had struck something. US regulators are currently investigating the cause of the three on-road Model S fires.
[Source: Reuters]
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Stephen covers all of the day-to-day events of the industry as the News Editor at AutoGuide, along with being the AG truck expert. His truck knowledge comes from working long days on the woodlot with pickups and driving straight trucks professionally. When not at his desk, Steve can be found playing his bass or riding his snowmobile or Sea-Doo. Find Stephen on <A title="@Selmer07 on Twitter" href="http://www.twitter.com/selmer07">Twitter</A> and <A title="Stephen on Google+" href="http://plus.google.com/117833131531784822251?rel=author">Google+</A>
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