A 48-year-German driver died on Thursday when his car hit the barrier in the central reservation of a motorway in the southern canton of Ticino, turned over and burst into flames.
“The violent impact of Lithium-ion batteries could probably have caused a phenomenon called ‘thermal runaway’, i.e. a rapid and unstoppable increase in temperature,” Ticino fire brigade said on its Facebook page on Monday.
Lithium-ion batteries can, under very exceptional circumstances, have a sudden and unstoppable increase in temperature, in a sort of chain reaction that leads to the complete destruction of the batteries and the car, said fire safety expert Guido Zaccarelli in an article quoted by the firefighters.
A Tesla spokesman said: “We are deeply saddened by this accident, and we are working to establish the facts of the incident and offer our full cooperation to local authorities.”
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