Tesla Model 3 In China Goes Up In Flames Due To “Unresponsive Brake System”

A Tesla Model 3 travelling through China reportedly crashed at high speeds and caught fire as a result of a braking system failure, according to USA Today and Chinese media outlet Sina. 

The vehicle was reportedly traveling at 127 km/h before the driver lost control due to the braking system failure. As of now, it is unknown whether or not the driver survived the wreck. 

Internet users are speculating that “a system upgrade automatically started while the car was driving” but no definitive cause of the crash has been confirmed yet. 

This is the latest in a long line of articles we have posted about various Teslas catching fire for various reasons. 

In January of this year, we wrote about a Tesla battery that reignited after a driver was killed following a vehicle “bursting into flames” in California. 

Back in October 2019, the NHTSA finally stated that they would be looking into the vehicle’s battery fire issues, though nothing material seems to have come from the investigation so far. 

In September 2019, we reported that a Tesla in Sweden’s passenger seat caught fire without there ever being an accident. “The car started to burn by itself,” the report says. 

In June of 2019, we reported about a Tesla that spontaneously combusted while plugged into a Supercharger. 

“The driver of the car had parked it at a so-called ‘Supercharger’, a fast charging station, at the Novotel at Luithagen-Haven. When he returned a little later, his Tesla and the supercharger were lit up. Possibly there was a technical problem before charging.”

In May of 2019, we reported about another Tesla spontaneously combusting in Hong Kong. 

About 10 days before that, we wrote about an unplugged Tesla that caught fire in a San Francisco garage, prompting an investigation from authorities. The San Francisco Fire Department responded to a reported car fire at a home on the 1300 block of 26th Avenue near Irving Street. The crews saw “smoke near the rear right tire of a Tesla Model S” that was not plugged in at the time and put out the fire.

It was two weeks prior to the San Francisco fire that a stunning video surfaced of a Tesla catching fire and exploding, while parked, in China.

The same car had previously caught fire back in February in a garage around the same area, according to CBS 2 Pittsburgh. It was being towed to a new shop and “somehow” caught fire again, despite the fact that a Tesla engineer tried to reduce the risk of fire by removing the fuse from the battery pack prior to transporting the vehicle.

Probably all just a coincidence. Anyways, we’re sure the NHTSA is on top of it.