The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is investigating why Tesla vehicles have spontaneously burst into flames.
The federal agency has launched an investigation possible battery defects in Tesla sedans and SUVs and the possibility that battery defects may have caused a number of cars to burst into flames.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration sent a letter, dated October 24, to Al Prescott, Tesla’s deputy general counsel, telling that it is evaluating a petition to investigate defects in battery software updates in Model S and Model X vehicles made between 2012 and 2019. In the letter, the company was also asked for an accounting of software updates to the battery management system as well as other documents, including consumer complaints and any reports related to the fire incidents in response to an “alarming number of car fires that have occurred worldwide.”
The alleged defects in question are “high-voltage battery fires” that are not related to collision or impact damage to the battery pack, says the safety agency in the letter.
The agency plans to interview all past and present officers and employees who have been involved with the design, engineering, modification, production, testing, analysis, or evaluation of the battery management system, as well as those who had consideration of potential actual defects through forums such as field reports or complaints and had communication to or from zone representatives, dealers or other field locations.
According to Business Times.
