In a shocking turn of events, less than a year-old Tesla Model Y was captured by the cameras burning on the streets in Canada. Fortunately, the driver was able to escape from the car. However, he had to break the window open to get out of the burning Tesla Model Y.
The incident again turns light on the aspect of how often people neglect the emergency release and manual door release placed on every door to manually open the doors. However, this is a fact that primarily doors are operated through the electronic release on the doors but without power, the mechanism does not work.
What Happened?
The horrifying incident is said to have taken place last week, Friday, May 20, 2022, in North Vancouver, British Columbia.
Jamil Jutha, the owner of the blue Tesla Model Y, was driving toward Mountain Highway in his EV, bought only eight months earlier, like any ordinary day. He claims that his car display pushed a notification of the error and the vehicle came to a standstill after electronic components shut down.
“I had to smash the window to get out of the car. I kicked through the window. Everything stops. The power didn’t work. The door didn’t open. The windows didn’t go down so I’m thinking I need to get the f*ck out of this car so I kicked through,” said Jutha when the fire department enquired about the incident.
It took only moments to him to notice the cabin was getting filled with smoke as fumes were coming out of the air vents. Jamil decided to break his way out of the car as panic started to seep in.
“Of course, there’s always going to be panic in a moment when you feel trapped. I kicked through the window, climbed out, and called 911 right away,” he said.
The fumes soon turned into the interior of Tesla, and flames started shooting up to the sky. Fire workers arrived in minutes on the scene and were able to extinguish the fire.
Why Did The Tesla Vehicle Catch Fire?
Fire investigators will examine the car soon to come out with the possible cause of the Tesla Model Y fire break-out. However, many users on online forums are contemplating that the fire began because of a possible 12V malfunction.
“No that looks like something shorted out on the 12v circuit and overheated…. considering that most if not all factory-run circuits are tied back to electronic fuses… I would bet on a third-party mod gone wrong… dash lights? auto frunk? head light mods,” said a Reddit user Kimorin when another user said that the fire doesn’t look like caused by the battery.
Many netizens complained that vehicle owners do not give any heed to the manuals and ignore a lot of important information crucial for such emergencies. Jamil Jutha agreed that he was not consciously aware of the emergency release and how it could be difficult to figure out the manual release location when in an emergency.
How Do The Door Locks Work On Tesla?
Tesla Model Y has a meticulously designed door release system on all its doors that works electronically and manually when there is no power. When Model Y has no power, doors can be manually opened, using the manual release lever located on the front doors of the vehicle.
Only the front doors of the Tesla Model Y are equipped with a manual release system. Rear seated passengers can also access the emergency door release located on the map pocket of the door. The standard vehicle manual states that passengers should only use emergency door release in urgent situations.
The front door release pull lever is placed in plain sight and is easily distinguishable. However, in this mishappening Jutha was not able to get hold of this to get out of the fuming car. Some users pointed out how they get annoyed with people not familiar with Tesla electronic door release to pull the manual release to open the door.
Bottomline
Many users are not aware of the emergency door release system for their vehicles. Jamil Jutha is lucky to escape the fire incident of his Tesla Model Y unhurt. But the incident should bring the emergency door release and other safety features to notice of everyone.
Some users pointed out that earlier, the manual release handles were blank and, therefore, many confused would open the manual unlock first. However, as the new models started to roll out, Tesla started putting up symbols on the button that are useful to identify the buttons.
Coming back to the fires, this is an unfortunate accident, and it is critical Tesla comes out with the due investigation of the fire breakout to come to the right conclusion.
The fire department was able to control the fire sooner in this Model Y case. However, battery fires are harder to extinguish as the fire bottom located battery fumes engulfs the entire electric vehicle.
Vehicle fires are common after accidents or severe crashes involving either gasoline or electric vehicles. This is why incidents such as this one where the Tesla EV caught fire without involving in any accident is a rare but worrisome happening.
Write down below, what are your thoughts on the accident while we wait for the official investigation results.
Auto manufacturers do dome dumb sh*t. I was driving my mother’s car last night, and there was a tree limb on the road blocking my path. I stopped, thinking I’d get out and move it to the side of the road. But the doors automatically lock when you start driving, and although I knew where the door handle was, I couldn’t find the switch to unlock the doors (handles don’t work if the doors are locked, even from the inside), and I couldn’t find a light switch to look around. Not the first time I’ve been trapped in a car. Not a good feeling, especially when you’re claustrophobic.