Tesla's EV fire manual, a burning Model S battery was put out with 20 times as much water as usual

Firefighters from the Sacramento Metropolitan District had to use 20 times as much water to extinguish the Model S's "spontaneously" blazing battery despite strictly adhering to Tesla's first responder guidelines. Tesla does mention in its guidelines that up to 8,000 gallons would be needed to put out a burning electric vehicle. A Tesla Model S battery compartment caught fire "spontaneously as it was going motorway speeds on EB Hwy 50," according to the Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District, and 6,000 gallons of water were required to put out the flames. The Model S caught fire on the freeway, but it is unclear what caused it to do so or how. Despite this, the occupants escaped unharmed, and there have been no injuries reported. Photo Credit: Engadget According to Tesla's firefighting guidelines, which they use as a guide, the firefighters had to jack up the Tesla and place the nozzles below the undercarriage to try and cool down the battery first. Despite this, they still needed to use a significant amount of water to completely extinguish the pack that kept combusting. According to Tesla's own Model S fire-extinguishing manual, which advises that up to 8,000 gallons of water may be required per battery fire, the fire department was responding in accordance with the following: "Use a lot of water to cool the battery if it burns, is exposed to a lot of heat, or is producing heat or gases. A battery fire can be completely put out and cooled down with the use of about 3,000–8,000 gallons (11,356–30,283 liters) of water; always establish or request additional water supply early. Use CO2, dry chemicals, or any common fire-extinguishing agent to fight the fire until water is available if it is not immediately available. Tesla advises against using foam on electric vehicles. With different degrees of effectiveness, fire departments throughout the world are increasingly forced to deal with batteries in electric vehicles that spontaneously catch fire. The Felicity Ace ship's electric Porsches that took fire last year couldn't be extinguished, and the ship sank with them burning. Another incident involved a wrecked Tesla that had been sitting on the lot for weeks when it caught fire and needed to be dipped in water to put it out, even though Tesla "does not recommend placing the vehicle in a large tank of water." Unprepared firefighters in Texas have sometimes needed to use almost 30,000 gallons to extinguish a Tesla, which is more than the agency regularly uses in a month. Photo Credit: The Washington Post But as the issue of spontaneously combusting EVs continues to rise, manufacturers of firefighting equipment are progressively developing solutions to address it. One manufacturer of fire trucks, Rosenbauer, has created high-pressure nozzles that are designed to fit directly beneath the battery pack. The water can then penetrate the unit's packaging and immediately saturate the cells, resulting in a significantly better success rate and less water being consumed. However, putting out electric vehicle batteries appears to continue requiring more than 20 times the water used to put out a raging gas-powered automobile until more such EV firefighting instruments are developed and made available to fire departments. Get the Tesla Motors 24' Cable Wall Connector on Amazon