NHTSA rejects petition over battery fires on older Tesla Model S > teslamag.de

In the spring of 2019, two Tesla Model S cases caused concern in quick succession, batteries starting to burn after being charged with a supercharger. In fact, this electric vehicle appears to have its own risk, shortly after the second battery fire in mid-May Tesla has distributed an update for the Model S and Model X.In order to “provide additional protection for the battery and improve its life” as it was called at the time. A little later, a lawyer requested an official investigation that could have led to the recall of the two Tesla Models. But the competent authority refused to open such a procedure.

Tesla batteries have not been investigated

Who is this Communications from NHTSA In the Register of Public Records in the United States. Accordingly, the decision was made after studying information from the Tesla attorney and other data about fires in the company’s electric cars. In conclusion, the petition does not presently show a need for a defective procedure, and for this reason it was rejected.

According to the document, the petition earlier stated that Tesla was using wireless updates to cover up a potential widespread and serious problem with its batteries. The attorney cited five cases of Form S burning between June 2018 and July 2019, including two in Asia in quick succession and the last in Ratingen, Germany. The NHTSA goes through these individually in its decision and makes it clear that only those in China and Hong Kong are definitely comparable, because Both S models were previously nearly fully charged and off when the fire started I was. In another case (June 2018 in Los Angeles, see photo above), according to NHTSA, the fire started from the battery, but while driving, in the remaining two cases, it had a different cause.

With the update after the Asian fires, Tesla has already reduced the range or charging speed of some S models – but not for long as per the NHTSA decision. By the end of 2020, it had received 59 complaints, of which 52 were due to poor capacity, according to the authority. According to data from Tesla, only 30 of these owners have installed the throttle update. Of these, three would have had a new battery under warranty by August 2021 and a total of 26 would have had their previous capacity restored through subsequent software updates. For four customers, the maximum voltage in the cells was set at 93 percent.

Model S owners compensation.

Because of the temporary throttle, Tesla had problems in many countries. In the The USA recently awarded the affected owners $625 per person, in Norway even the equivalent of 13,300 euros, which Tesla does not want to accept. There is at least one in Germany A lawsuit filed by the owner of North German Tesla on this matter. However, according to NHTSA’s current opinion, old batteries do not present a systemic safety risk.