Tesla Semi on fire: Ilon Musk's electric truck involved in a serious accident in the US

A crash involving a Tesla Semi electric truck has occurred on I-80 in California, US, and caught fire after a collision.

Here's What We Know

The incident took place on the morning of 20 August 2024. According to eyewitnesses, the truck crashed into trees, which caused it to catch fire. Fire services arrived on the scene quickly and were able to extinguish the fire, however, the lorry was severely damaged. The driver of the Semi truck was reportedly hospitalised after leaving the scene of the accident. Authorities are currently investigating the cause of the accident, including the possibility that the driver fell asleep at the wheel.

Fire crews began extinguishing the fire upon arrival, using thousands of gallons of water to cool the lithium-ion battery to a safe temperature. Once the batteries were cooled to a safe level, work began to move the remains of the truck to Tesla's Gigafactory in Sparks, Nevada. Due to this accident, the I-80 motorway was blocked for 16 hours.

The Tesla Semi was being used to transport freshly assembled batteries from the gigafactory to Tesla's plant in Fremont, California. In this case, it wasn't pulling a trailer, so it's likely that the Semi's own batteries caught fire.

Source: The Verge