A Tesla Semi truck which crashed and burst into flames on a highway in Sacremento, California required firefighters to spray 50,000 gallons of water and an aircraft dropping fire retardant onto the area to finally bring the blaze under control.

According to a preliminary report by the US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) the crash, which happened at 3:13am on August 19, saw the battery electric semi-trailer truck come off the highway on a bend, hit a tree and burst into flames. The driver was uninjured.

The report said the Tesla Semi’s large 900kWh battery caught fire, reaching a temperature of 1,000 degrees Fahrenheit (538°C) while spewing toxic fumes.

It continued to burn into the late afternoon as firefighters dowsed it with water to cool it down.

Tesla sent a technical expert to assess high-voltage hazards and fire safety. The freeway was not re-opened until 16 hours after the crash

The NTSB team of investigators examined the fire risks posed by large lithium-ion battery packs. The agency said, “all aspects of the crash remain under investigation while the NTSB determines the probable cause.”

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In 2021 an NTSB report warned that battery fires pose a risk to emergency responders and that manufacturers’ guidelines around such fires were inadequate.

The Tesla Semi was launched in 2022. The truck is powered by three motors, and according to Tesla has approximately three times the power of a typical diesel semi truck, a range of 500 miles, and can operate at an energy use of less than two kilowatt-hours per mile.

Two concept vehicles were unveiled in November 2017 and Tesla chief executive Elon Musksaid at the time the vehicle would be in production by 2019. Production finally began in October 2022, with initial deliveries were made to PepsiCo in December 2022.

Volume production of the Semi is planned to begin by March 2026. Once complete, the manufacturing facility, located adjacent to the existing Giga Nevada facility, is planned to produce 50,000 Semi trucks annually. 

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