A Tesla Cybertruck caught on fire in the lot of a Tesla store in North Decatur, Georgia, near Atlanta. The local fire authorities suspect a battery fire.
The incident went mostly unreported because it happened just a few hours before the highly publicized Cybertruck explosion in front of the Trump Hotel in Las Vegas on January 1st.
While the Las Vegas accident involved firework-like explosives in the back of the Cybertruck and was likely intentional, foul play is not suspected in this other incident.
It happened in the early hours of December 31st at the Tesla store on Church Street in Decatur, Georgia.
The fire was quickly extinguished, but not before it destroyed the entire interior of the vehicle as well as the bed and the tires.
Here are some images of the aftermath from Atlanta News First:
The local news reported that the fire authorities believe the battery pack started the fire, but it is still under investigation.
As we have previously reported, there have been a few other instances of Cybertrucks catching on fire in the last few months, but it was after crashes.
The Cybertruck explosion yesterday appears to have been foul play – although the situation is still under investigation.
Electric vehicle batteries can sometimes catch on fire, but statistically, they don’t catch on fire at a higher rate than fossil fuel-powered vehicles.
We recently reported that Tesla is having an issue with the Cybertruck’s battery pack. Tesla has referred to the problem as “cell dent.” Tesla is having to replace battery packs in many Cybertrucks, including some sitting at its lots, but there’s no evidence that this issue is linked this specific fire at this time.
Tesla has yet to issue a service bulletin or recall about this issue despite changing the battery pack of a few customers over it.