Photo: @davidciccone via X, EV FireSafe via YouTube
Not reading the owner's manual can be costly, as one Tesla Model Y owner discovered. A self-proclaimed EV advisor saw steam coming out of his car while charging and alerted emergency services, thinking it was smoke. The first responders disabled his vehicle, not knowing that steam is a normal occurrence while Supercharging in cold weather.
Many people think electric vehicles are more prone to catching fire due to their volatile lithium-ion batteries. This misconception is often shared on social media, contaminating more people. One of the explanations is that ICE fires are so common that nobody talks about them. On the other hand, EV fires are rare enough to cause an emotional response.
While it's true that extinguishing a battery fire is indeed tricky, evidence points to electric vehicles being far less susceptible to bursting into flames. According to a recent study, ICE cars are more than 60 times more likely to catch fire than electric vehicles. In the United States, there were 1,530 ICE fires per every 100,000 cars sold in 2023 versus only 25 EV fires per 100,000 vehicles sold.
The thought of having your car burst into flames is terrifying enough to make your heart pump when you see anything that looks like smoke. One Tesla Model Y owner made this mistake while charging his car at a Supercharger, and it cost him dearly.
David Ciccone, who considers himself an EV influencer and advisor, saw a plume of what looked like smoke coming out of his Model Y and panicked, calling 911. However, instead of smoke, it was, in fact, steam, a normal occurrence while charging an EV with a heat pump in cold weather. That didn't matter because the first responders who arrived at the scene proceeded by the book and cut the firefighter's loop on his Model Y.
This is part of the main wire running from the high-voltage battery and is usually positioned under the hood. Cutting it ensures the battery is disconnected from the vehicle, and firefighters are trained to start with this step whenever they deal with an EV fire to avoid injuries. However, in this case, there was no fire, which means the first responders disabled Ciccone's car for nothing.
Tesla explains in the owner's manual that steam might come out of a heat-pump-equipped EV when charging at a Supercharger in cold weather. The reason is that ice can form on the heat pump's condenser on a cold day. When you pre-condition the battery, the ice melts and, in some circumstances, can produce steam that might look like smoke to the untrained eye.
The funny thing is that the Model Y owner was convinced he faced a life-threatening situation, which is why he also notified the NHTSA about the incident. Although he later admitted in a Space (live audio conference on X) that what he saw was steam, not smoke, he kept the original posts without explaining what was happening. Thankfully, a community note provided more context so that everyone learned what really happened.
While it's true that extinguishing a battery fire is indeed tricky, evidence points to electric vehicles being far less susceptible to bursting into flames. According to a recent study, ICE cars are more than 60 times more likely to catch fire than electric vehicles. In the United States, there were 1,530 ICE fires per every 100,000 cars sold in 2023 versus only 25 EV fires per 100,000 vehicles sold.
The thought of having your car burst into flames is terrifying enough to make your heart pump when you see anything that looks like smoke. One Tesla Model Y owner made this mistake while charging his car at a Supercharger, and it cost him dearly.
David Ciccone, who considers himself an EV influencer and advisor, saw a plume of what looked like smoke coming out of his Model Y and panicked, calling 911. However, instead of smoke, it was, in fact, steam, a normal occurrence while charging an EV with a heat pump in cold weather. That didn't matter because the first responders who arrived at the scene proceeded by the book and cut the firefighter's loop on his Model Y.
This is part of the main wire running from the high-voltage battery and is usually positioned under the hood. Cutting it ensures the battery is disconnected from the vehicle, and firefighters are trained to start with this step whenever they deal with an EV fire to avoid injuries. However, in this case, there was no fire, which means the first responders disabled Ciccone's car for nothing.
Tesla explains in the owner's manual that steam might come out of a heat-pump-equipped EV when charging at a Supercharger in cold weather. The reason is that ice can form on the heat pump's condenser on a cold day. When you pre-condition the battery, the ice melts and, in some circumstances, can produce steam that might look like smoke to the untrained eye.
The funny thing is that the Model Y owner was convinced he faced a life-threatening situation, which is why he also notified the NHTSA about the incident. Although he later admitted in a Space (live audio conference on X) that what he saw was steam, not smoke, he kept the original posts without explaining what was happening. Thankfully, a community note provided more context so that everyone learned what really happened.
?? me some $TSLA Community Notes
— Christopher Dungeon (@ChrisDungeon) December 28, 2023
Dude carried on about an odorless "smoke"
He later admitted it was steam in Spaces but refused to update his post with that relevant info. pic.twitter.com/BVhgodNSWD
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