Tesla EV Fires: Software Update After Fires

Tesla announced it will implement an over-the-year software update for its vehicles' battery management systems. This decision follows two recent incidents where Model S electric cars caught fire. The company stated it will revise charge and thermal management settings for both the Model S and Model X as an abundance of caution.

Investigations are ongoing into the fires that occurred in Shanghai and Hong Kong. Local reports from Hong Kong indicated one Tesla car ignited in a parking lot approximately half an hour after being parked, with firefighters taking about 45 minutes to extinguish the blaze. Tesla's preliminary findings suggest only a few battery modules were impacted, leaving the majority of the battery pack undamaged.

This action comes weeks after Tesla dispatched a team to investigate a social media video showing a Model S exploding in Shanghai. While Tesla asserts its cars are significantly less likely to catch fire than gasoline-powered vehicles, there have been at least 14 reported instances of Tesla cars igniting since 2013, predominantly after crashes.