A brand new Tesla Model S Plaid has been destroyed in a fire last night in Gladwyne, Pennsylvania. No one was inside the vehicle at the time of the fire, the cause of which is still under investigation.
According to the Gladwyne Volunteer Fire Company, firefighters responded to a call of a vehicle fire in the 100 block of Rose Lane just before 9:00pm local time last night, June 29 2021. The black Model S Plaid was fully engulfed in flames when fire crews arrived.
Due to prior training on Tesla vehicle fire emergencies, crews set up a separate water line to provide a continuous stream of water on the battery to ensure the fire was completely extinguished.
Firefighters were on the scene for more than 3 hours, after the which only the front and rear of the vehicle, along with the new Arachnid wheels were recognizable. The PLAID badge is also still visible on the trunk of the burnt out car.
The fire was so intense that what appears to be battery cells were laying on the street after being released from the pack, likely either from the fire itself or from the force of the water used to extinguish it. The cells also clearly show the new Plaid vehicles do not have the 4680 battery cells, which have a much larger form factor than those seen below.
As previously mentioned, no one was in the car at the time of the fire, so fortunately there were no injuries either from the owner of the vehicle or to firefighters. There will likely be an extensive investigation into the fire.
UPDATE: Making the fire appear a little suspicious, Reddit user wilyson said he was one of the EMTs at the scene of the fire yesterday. According to him, the person who called the fire in reported seeing the car rolling down the street while on fire.
The car itself was likely no more than a week old. The first Model S Plaid deliveries began with a special event at the Fremont factory on June 10. Deliveries to other customers began about a week later.
This is a developing story, check back for updates…
