“Fully Engulfed In Flames”: Truck Hauling Tesla Vehicles Spontaneously Combusts On I-80

A truck that was hauling Tesla vehicles down I-80 caught fire on Tuesday night and forced the Nevada Highway Patrol to close the freeway to eastbound traffic, according to the Elko Daily Free Press. 

The incident was called into the Highway Patrol at about 9:10PM local time on Tuesday night and the truck’s cargo of Tesla vehicles was reportedly “fully engulfed in flames”.

The Nevada Highway Patrol released the following image of the truck:

After closing the freeway Tuesday night, work on cleaning up debris continued into Wednesday morning. 

Four separate authorities responded to the fire, including the Eureka Sheriff’s Office, the Carlin Fire Department, the Elko County Fire Protection District and the City of Elko and Lee Engine Company.

As more information on the truck fire becomes available, we will update this story. 

Recall, back in June we reported that Tesla had admitted a Model S that spontaneously combusted in a Shanghai parking garage was caused by a “single battery module malfunction.”

Tesla said then that it didn’t find a “systematic flaw” after its investigation into the car’s battery, software and manufacturing data (other than the car catching fire, unprovoked, randomly?)

Previously, Tesla had disputed the findings of a preliminary investigation that concluded that the fire was caused by a short circuit in the battery.