By: Chris Biderman
Source: The Sacramento Bee (TNS)
It took roughly 50,000 gallons of water and aerial drops of fire retardant to cool the batteries from Tesla Semi truck that crashed on Interstate 80 near Emigrant Gap last month, according to federal investigators.
The National Transportation Safety Board this week released preliminary findings from the Aug. 19 accident that happened roughly 70 miles northeast of Sacramento on the Sierra mountain freeway.
The driver, who was uninjured, was driving on the eastbound lane and left the roadway amid a right turn at 3:13 a.m. The 13-ton semi collided with a tree near the Laing Road offramp before careering down a slope and coming to rest against other trees. The electric vehicle’s batteries caught fire, leading to a lengthy battle for firefighters.
The truck was equipped with Tesla’s Advanced Driver Assistance Systems, though the NTSB report said it was not operational and could not be used by the driver at the time of the crash. The system, which Tesla calls “Autopilot,” is designed to ease the workload of drivers using external cameras to match the speed of surrounding traffic and assist in staying in lanes. Tesla says the system is designed to be used by a “fully attentive driver” and are not designed to make a vehicle autonomous.
Westbound lanes were lanes were closed for 14 hours while eastbound lanes were shut down for 15 hours, according to the NTSB report, while the water was used to cool the lithium-ion batteries and prevent the spread of flames into the surrounding forest. Crews also used chemicals to fight the battery fire that reached extreme temperatures. The fire was smoldering for six hours after the crash, officials said.
The California Highway Patrol, Cal Fire and Caltrans dispatched crews while Tesla deployed a technical expert to assess high-voltage hazards and fire safety. Cal Fire used an aircraft to drop fire retardant as a precautionary measure.
The truck, which was traveling from Livermore to a Tesla facility in Sparks, Nevada, was later moved to an open-air facility in Nevada and monitored for 24 hours. The truck was not hauling a trailer at the time of the crash.
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