Tesla Model 3 Explodes in Shanghai

A Tesla Model 3 has exploded in an underground residential parking garage in Shanghai this week, according to Chinese media reports.

CNBC reports that a Tesla Model 3 exploded in an underground residential parking garage in Shanghai on Tuesday according to the Chinese media. No one was injured in the fire, according to a statement Tesla made to members of the Chinese media. A preliminary review of the fire indicated that the accident was caused by an impact to the car’s underside, Tesla stated.

It is currently unclear whether the Model 3 involved was a locally made vehicle or an imported model. The Chinese battery manufacturer Contemporary Amperex Technology (CATL) denied that it had made the battery that was inside the vehicle when it exploded.

This is far from the first time that a Tesla vehicle has exploded, and not even the first Tesla vehicle to explode in Shanghai. In 2019 Breitbart News reported that Tesla was investigating a video that spread across Chinese social media which appears to show a Model S vehicle exploding into flames while parked.

In the video, the Model S emits smoke then bursts into flames, a few moments later a video which claims to be the aftermath of the blast shows three cars destroyed.

More video of the exploding $tsla in Shanghai pic.twitter.com/r9HiH4GEOA

— BertelSchmitt™ 🎩🎩🎩🎩🎩 (@BertelSchmitt) April 22, 2019

In January of last year, Breitbart News reported that Salt Lake City police stated that three individuals were critically injured after a Tesla vehicle ran a red light and collided with another car in downtown Salt Lake City. After the crash, the Tesla’s batteries exploded, causing a fire.

Salt Lake Police Lt. Brett Olsen told the Deseret News that the vehicle was “traveling at a high rate of speed” in a westward direction and drove through a red light when the crash occurred in downtown Salt Lake City. Two men in the Tesla and one woman from the vehicle the Tesla hit were taken to local hospitals in critical condition.

Since 2013, there have been at least 14 examples of Tesla vehicles bursting into flames, most of these occurred following a crash of some sort. Tesla has claimed that its vehicles are ten times less likely to experience a fire than a petrol-fueled vehicle based on its 500,000 vehicle fleet with more than 10 billion driven miles.

Lucas Nolan is a reporter for Breitbart News covering issues of free speech and online censorship. Follow him on Twitter @LucasNolan or contact via secure email at the address lucasnolan@protonmail.com