Fiery Tesla electric semi-truck crash on I-80 under government investigation

This week's fiery crash involving a Tesla electric semi-trailer on the Sierra Nevada section of Interstate 80 has sparked an investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board.

The Tesla semi-truck went off the road on I-80 near Emigrant Gap around 3 a.m. Monday, Aug. 19. No one was injured, but the vehicle caught fire and ignited brush, and the truck's batteries continued to burn for four hours, the NTSB said.

While truck traffic was held up on both sides of the Sierra Nevada, a 25-mile stretch of highway remained closed and a California Highway Patrol aircraft dropped fire retardant over the burning wreckage.

The westbound lanes between Yuba Pass and Colfax finally reopened shortly before 5 p.m., and the eastbound lanes reopened at 7 p.m., the CHP said.

Tesla manufactures the semi at its factory near Reno and uses it to transport parts to its car plant in Fremont. Although the semi was unveiled in 2017, it is still a pilot production.

The NTSB said in a statement that it decided to conduct the investigation “due to its interest in the fire risks associated with lithium-ion batteries.”

The agency has long been concerned about electric vehicle fires, partly because extinguishing burning batteries poses a major challenge for emergency services.

A separate NTSB study – launched in 2021 and upgraded to an engineering analysis the following year – focuses on 17 crashes in which a Tesla using Autopilot collided with a stationary emergency vehicle on a highway. One of those crashes killed a woman on Interstate 680 in Walnut Creek.

Originally published: August 22, 2024 at 8:53 am

Fiery Tesla electric semi-truck crash on I-80 under government investigation

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