U.S investigators said that Tesla S car that burned in the Southern Calif. garage in November was not caused by its battery. They are leaving it to the carmaker and the insurance company to decide on the cause of the fire.
The U.S regulators delisted the high-class electric car’s battery for causing the said fire.
Tesla Motors, Inc. has also released a statement through e-mail that while it was true that the electric automobile was plugged in a socket inside the garage, the vehicle itself was not burned.
The investigators couldn’t identify yet if the fire was caused by the charger or if it started in the wall socket, said Steve Concialdi, a spokesman for the Orange County Fire Authority, in a phone interview with Bloomberg.
Tesla released a statement to Bloomberg: “The cable was fine on the vehicle side; the damage was on the wall side.” It added, “Our inspection of the car and the battery made clear that neither were the source.”
Tesla’s reaction came out subsequent to Reuters report quoting a statement by the Orange County Fire Authority that a fire incident that took place in Irvine, Calif. in November 15 may have been due to an overheated charging system of the Tesla electric vehicle.
The Orange County Fire Authority has finalized and fulfilled its investigation and will let Tesla and car insurance companies to determine and decide on the cause of fire.
Tesla Motors’ shares have plummeted for over 25 percent from its 2013’s peak in September after three battery-related fires on its Model S have been reported in the two following months.
One of the three reported fire case is allegedly a result of a collision that damaged the lithium-ion battery casing, and in the two other cases were reportedly caused by bumping into metal debris on the road while driving at highway speed.
However, Nathan Naylor, a spokesperson for the highway administration, said he had no immediate comment on the Irvine, Calif. garage fire.
**Photo has been replaced on this article.
