2022 Tesla Model S on 2040-cars

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Tesla says Model S fire started in battery pack; share prices falling

Yesterday's fire that engulfed a Tesla Model S, the first blaze involving the critically acclaimed electric sedan, was caused when a piece of road debris impacted the front of the car, damaging the battery pack and starting a fire, according to an email sent to AutoblogGreen by Tesla. Now, The New York Times has learned that the fire was indeed caused by debris that made "a direct impact ... to one of the 16 modules within the Model S battery pack," according to Tesla spokesperson Elizabeth Jarvis-Shean.
Despite the blaze, Tesla maintains that the battery packs did their job by isolating the fire, with Jarvis-Shean saying, "Because each module within the battery pack is, by design, isolated by fire barriers to limit any potential damage, the fire in the battery pack was contained to a small section in the front of the vehicle."
The nature of the fire, though, seemed to catch the Kent Fire Department Regional Fire Authority off guard. The department's report, which was obtained by the International Business Times and partially published on Jalopnik, claims that water used to put out the blaze seemed to intensify the fire, forcing the firefighters to use a dry chemical. Later, they found the battery pack still burning inside the front end. The report claims firefighters, "had to puncture multiple holes in the pack to apply water to the burning material in the battery," and also had to cut into the frame to douse the burning pack.

The billionaire's passion behind Wanxiang's Fisker bid

If it weren't for billionaire Lu Guanqiu, founder of Chinese auto parts giant Wanxiang Group, the Fisker Automotive bankruptcy bailout deal might have closed earlier this month. Hong Kong tycoon Richard Li, along with Li's affiliate company Hybrid Tech Holdings, assumed their offer was going to be accepted. Instead, the US bankruptcy court judge called for an open auction bid for Fisker's assets on February 12. Lu made a few convincing points to the judge. There's another interesting part of the story that Lu didn't share it with the judge. If the Fisker deal doesn't work out, Lu and Wanxiang might increase their working relationship with Tesla Motors. Lu told US bankruptcy judge Kevin Gross that Wanxiang, which now owns Fisker's supplier of lithium batteries, A123 Systems, is better placed than Hybrid Tech Holdings to restart and expand production at Fisker. Better yet, Wanxiang could move production from Finland to the US. That was convincing enough for Gross to schedule the auction. Lu's move toward taking over ownership and restoring Fisker seems to be driven by two motivations: converting his company from a parts maker to an automaker; and to grow the yet-to-be profitable "new energy " business such as lithium battery and electric vehicle makers. For Lu, it's not so much about believing in Fisker – it's more about playing a leading role in electric vehicles – and that could come through deepening its connection to Tesla Motors. "Of course we want to pocket Fisker. But we will bid rationally," he said to Reuters. "Whatever the result, nothing can stop us from making electric cars." Check out more about Lu in this Reuters piece, including how he and six other farmers pooled together $500 in 1969 to start what would become Wanxiang. Featured Gallery Fisker Karma at Laguna Seca News Source: Reuters Government/Legal Green Fisker Tesla Electric wanxiang

Tesla poaches Renault-Nissan communications boss Sproule

Need another sign that Tesla is growing into a force to be reckoned with? Bloomberg reports it has just snagged high-profile communications boss Simon Sproule from Renault-Nissan to become the EV maker's vice president of communications and marketing.
Sproule is an industry veteran, having spent 20 years at Nissan (where he grew to become CEO Carlos Ghosn's right-hand man). In addition, he logged stints at Ford, Jaguar (when it was still a Blue Oval-owned brand) and Microsoft. Despite all that experience, Sproule is still young, at just 45 years of age, as Bloomberg points out, yet he's held positions in the US, Japan and France over the years.
This is all good news for Tesla, which is in need of a strong spokesman outside of company CEO Elon Musk. It's been battling with the state of New Jersey and its governor, Chris Christie, over direct sales in the Garden State.