NTSB To Investigate EV Truck Crash, Battery Fire That Shut Down I-80 For Nearly A Day

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) announced late on Wednesday that it will be investigating the Tesla EV truck crash that occurred on Monday in Placer County, as the fire was one involving a lithium-ion battery and closed Interstate 80 for 16 hours.

According to report, the truck began to catch fire around 3 A.M. on Monday. As the Tesla semi-truck was electric with such a battery on board, the California Highway Patrol (CHP) declared it a hazardous materials situation, shutting down both lanes of I-80 for most of the day. The fire itself had to be allowed to burn, as adding water or other suppressants to it would have caused an even greater hazardous situation.

“The battery itself, you can’t just spray water on it to put it out,” said CHP officer Jason Lyman earlier this week. “It takes either some sort of dry chemical or very huge amount of water, I’ve heard as much as 40,000 gallons.”

With the crash being deemed major in large part because of the highway shutdown, the NTSB announced late on Wednesday that they will be investigating the incident along with the CHP.

“The NTSB, in coordination with the California Highway Patrol, has opened a safety investigation into the August 19th crash and fire involving a Tesla electric powered truck tractor on Interstate 80 near Emigrant Gap, California,” noted the federal agency on X.

The NTSB, in coordination with the California Highway Patrol, has opened a safety investigation into the August 19th crash and fire involving a Tesla electric powered truck tractor on Interstate 80 near Emigrant Gap, California.

— NTSB Newsroom (@NTSB_Newsroom) August 22, 2024

The NTSB’s announcement comes less than a day after a large group of California lawmakers, led by Assemblyman Tom Lackey (R-Palmdale), wrote a letter to Governor Gavin Newsom and the California Air Resources Board (CARB) over EV battery fires, the dangers they pose, and the need to delay a mandate that aims at having 100% electric trucks on the road in California by 2045. While they had highlighted a July 26th EV truck crash outside of Baker on I-15 that had closed down the highway for two days because of similar battery concerns in the letter, Lackey later posted about the I-80 crash and the similar concerns around it.

In a statement to the Globe on Thursday, Lackey said that “The NTSB’s investigation is only the first step. To address road safety, the Governor must have a comprehensive plan to protect motorists and communities from the threat of toxic fumes. The unique particles and toxicity of the lithium-ion batteries required by the Governor needs time to be evaluated in order to construct a remedy for this public danger.”

The new investigation started up on Wednesday is also not the first that a federal agency has investigated such a crash and battery fire. Earlier this month, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration announced that they would be looking into a Tesla Cybertruck incident in Texas with similarities to the California crashes. The I-15 crash was also noted for being the first such highway shutdown in both California and the nation caused by a battery fire. However, the NTSB’s investigation will be the first such one started up by the agency, with many automotive industry watchers concerned that battery fires, road and highway shutdowns, and investigations into them will only increase without a proper fire suppressant solution to the fires.

“This isn’t like the Pinto or other cars that had fatal flaws,” explained Michigan-based EV consultant Justin Blanc to the Globe on Thursday. “Electric vehicles have had a track record of being safe. But, yeah, the battery issue is a concern. With the NTSB announcing yesterday, there are now multiple federal inquiries into crashes and road shutdowns caused by battery fires. And as more electric vehicles go on the road, concern has been rising that this can be more and more of a major issue.

“A good comparison is that Philadelphia bridge fire caused by a tanker that shut down I-95 last year and caused huge traffic nightmares. A similar backup was caused last month on I-15 during a weekend between Las Vegas and Los Angeles. The highway is packed as it is on weekends, and that just made things so much worse. And I-80, another big shutdown. Imagine a battery fire being the cause of the Philadelphia incident. We would have had a federal inquiry, not just a NTSB investigation.

“But this is major. It gives a lot more good evidence to lawmakers in California and elsewhere wanting to slow down EV mandates. This is a legitimate issue. And like I told you yesterday, it will take one big national incident with an EV battery fire and a huge investigation to make changes. The NTSB investigation is leading up to something like that.”