The driver of a Tesla Model 3 shared a video recently of his car on fire after a hydroplaning accident in Indiana.
The accident occurred on October 15th, but the video only surfaced recently.
The accident was worse than it could have been, we assume, as the metal railings on the side of the road had previously been damaged and were missing. This meant, the Tesla hit metal posts, which destroyed the battery pack and "immediately set the car into flames."
The Tesla Mex, who shared the video, commented: "While driving southbound on I 65 in West Lafayette Indiana on October 15th at approximately 5 AM my car hydroplaned while in auto pilot hitting the left median cement barrier with my front driver side bumper then sliding to the side of the road, but the day before that, their was an accident where a tractor trailer took out the metal guard rail.
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So when I slid to the side of the highway shoulder, the exposed metal posts from the missing metal guard rail from the day before accident, made me slid across the grass shoulder which made me hit my undercarriage across one of the metal posts and it opened up my battery pack underneath the vehicle which immediately set the car into flames.
If the guard rail would have been there I just would’ve smashed up my passenger side door and my Tesla would have been completely fine except for the smash door and the front scraped on the front driver side bumper."
The video shows the battery fire, with 2170-type cylindrical battery cells popping out in all directions.
FireFighters appear, and quickly try to dampen the fire with water. But battery fires are incredibly hard to extinguish, and even with some help from the rain - "The car kept lighting back up!"
Thankfully, the driver seems to be okay. His sense of humour wasn't damaged in the accident, he is heard laughing in the video "I'm pretty sure that's gonna be a total loss."
An excavator then flips the car upside down to tear down the battery pack, making easier access for water to put out the fire and finally cool the batteries down so they would not reignite.
Amazingly, the hazard lights continue to work throughout the drama.
