LEAF Fire in North Texas

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board350

Member
Joined
Aug 24, 2014
Messages
12
So a LEAF caught fire and burned up yesterday. My boss's wife was driving by and got this video. I don't know much more than that but I am very curious if anyone knows what caused it? As one would expect all my non-LEAF-driving friends instantly gave me flak for driving a LEAF and told me to watch out as it may catch fire, haha. They love to poke fun...

https://youtu.be/8PUG-ldjD48

(I couldn't get the embed feature to work)
 
I suspect arson. Probably a LEAF owner disgruntled about capacity loss. ;)

Explosive yield sign?

Otherwise, a miscellaneous electrical fire.

Note that the battery pack appears to be unscathed and isn't burning.
 
I simply said it was a cigarette mishap.... Don't know how easily water-bottle-fabric covered seats can catch fire but you never know.
 
Tell them that brand new Jeep Cherokees never catch fire especially while parked, less than 48 hours (and only two drives) after its owner bought it: http://www.cbs8.com/story/27757742/brand-new-jeep-bursts-into-flames

FCA's effort wasn't as good as GM's though, because that car actually found a home before self-immolating. One of GM's brand new SUV's caught fire during the test drive: http://ktla.com/2014/03/23/suv-erupts-in-flame-during-test-drive-in-anaheim/#axzz2wukcdknn

This Mini Cooper also caught fire on a test drive, but no points to BMW since the car was used (2 years old): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9kKbivBkJoM

Let's not get into Ferraris and Porsches catching fire spontaneously. Just because you spend as much money on a car as a house in some parts of the US doesn't mean you're immune from that problem.

I won't even get into recalls done by auto manufacturers because of defective wiring (like Ford) if not outright poor fuel tank design and/or placement (Ford Pinto, late 90's to early 2000's Jeep Grand Cherokee) resulting in fires.
 
board350 said:
(I couldn't get the embed feature to work)

Here you go:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8PUG-ldjD48

The trick with this forum is to copy from the URL bar at the top (containing http://www.youtube.com) and not the youtu.be version in the "Share" link. Take out everything after the YouTube ID (8PUG-ldjD48).
 
Story picked up by Torque News and examiner.com, neither of whom gave any credence to my explosive yield sign theory.

Examiner.com stated that it was only the passenger cabin on fire, and that's not what I see - there appears to be fire in the "engine" compartment too, though that could have spread from the passenger compartment (or vice-versa for that matter).
 
I removed the video from my public feed. I feel it was doing more harm than good. I will tell you that it got Nissan's attention though. They called me and wanted to know if I knew the owner of the vehicle. I did not but gave them the intersection and city it happened in. Hopefully they can have the police give them the owners info so they can track down the car and investigate it.
 
board350 said:
I will tell you that it got Nissan's attention though.
Well even if that is a little CYA, I think its good that they are trying to follow-up. I believe some manufactures would just bury their heads in the sand than try to find out anything.
 
Yes, I was quite pleased as well that they were that interested. Made me feel a little better about them still being interested in the cars and further development and safety.
 
They are likely also trying to stay ahead of the NHTSA...

jpadc said:
Well even if that is a little CYA, I think its good that they are trying to follow-up. I believe some manufactures would just bury their heads in the sand than try to find out anything.
 
I've yet to encounter a story of a LEAF fire that could be attributed to it being an electric car. Given the number of LEAFs manufactured and miles driven since 2010, it may be the LEAST fire-prone vehicle out there. So why does this incident garner so much media attention? For the same reason your "non-LEAF-driving friends" instantly gave you flak.
 
dgpcolorado said:
Nubo said:
... Given the number of LEAFs manufactured and miles driven since 2010, it may be the LEAST fire-prone vehicle out there...
This. Let's give credit where it is due: the Li-ion chemistry chosen by Nissan is very safe from fires.

Very Very safe, that one guy burned through the wall of his garage with improper wiring overheating and the Leaf wasn't affected.

All the leafs in AX, TX, etc sitting around over desired temps and no matter how they are treated we end up talking about range not fires.
 
I just found out about this posting. This was my 2013 Nissan Leaf and I have no idea what happened. I was driving to work in the morning and had just turned left onto Cross Timbers from Garden Ridge Boulevard. As I turned onto Cross Timbers I noticed a funny burning smell so I started to make my way from the far left lane to the right lane to find a place to pull over. Before I made it to the next light my car began gushing smoke from the front console just blow the dash. I then started to see actual fire coming through the plastic as I was trying to go to the curb for my safety and others on the road. I couldn't even get the car to go into park and had to jump out as it was still rolling due to the flames flying out toward my legs. I jumped out and ran to the passenger side to grab some of my belongings (bag, wallet, etc) from the passenger seat, only had enough time to grab those things and then run from the car to call 911. I thankfully made it out without being hurt and thankfully no one else was injured. I am not a smoker, was not transporting gasoline, or anything else that could have caused the fire. I'm a nurse who was just trying to get to work and had no idea what a terrible morning was awaiting me. I'm still so freaked out by the occurrence and Nissan seemed to offer little help or concern. I thankfully got a replacement vehicle a couple of weeks ago, went with a diesel as this experience has completely destroyed my faith in the EV!!! You would think Nissan would at least reach out in apology; yet all they did is have a person call for more details and he only seemed to want the information for research. Wish they would let me know what caused this as it really worries me since there are so many of this exact car on the road here. I would like to get any copies of videos or pictures anyone took; I was in shock during the whole event and only have the pictures my friend took when he met me to give me a ride while the tow truck loaded it up to haul the car away. -Shawn
 
Shawn75067 said:
I just found out about this posting. This was my 2013 Nissan Leaf and I have no idea what happened. I was driving to work in the morning and had just turned left onto Cross Timbers from Garden Ridge Boulevard. As I turned onto Cross Timbers I noticed a funny burning smell so I started to make my way from the far left lane to the right lane to find a place to pull over. Before I made it to the next light my car began gushing smoke from the front console just blow the dash. I then started to see actual fire coming through the plastic as I was trying to go to the curb for my safety and others on the road. I couldn't even get the car to go into park and had to jump out as it was still rolling due to the flames flying out toward my legs. I jumped out and ran to the passenger side to grab some of my belongings (bag, wallet, etc) from the passenger seat, only had enough time to grab those things and then run from the car to call 911. I thankfully made it out without being hurt and thankfully no one else was injured. I am not a smoker, was not transporting gasoline, or anything else that could have caused the fire. I'm a nurse who was just trying to get to work and had no idea what a terrible morning was awaiting me. I'm still so freaked out by the occurrence and Nissan seemed to offer little help or concern. I thankfully got a replacement vehicle a couple of weeks ago, went with a diesel as this experience has completely destroyed my faith in the EV!!! You would think Nissan would at least reach out in apology; yet all they did is have a person call for more details and he only seemed to want the information for research. Wish they would let me know what caused this as it really worries me since there are so many of this exact car on the road here. I would like to get any copies of videos or pictures anyone took; I was in shock during the whole event and only have the pictures my friend took when he met me to give me a ride while the tow truck loaded it up to haul the car away. -Shawn
That was a close one! Thank God you escaped uninjured. Imagine if children buckled in were involved. As to the cause, some support from Nissan national or international is in order. If it was an electrical short I would suspect by the location a high voltage short circuit possibly feeding the climate control heat or a/c fed by the drive battery. The 12 volt system seems well fused but the high voltage system seems quite capable supplying enough power to ignite materials quickly under conditions such as a short. I will be checking the service manual as to what protection is in that system. I assume dry conditions at that time?
 
So true, thankfully there were no children in car seats or elderly or disable occupants as I fear there would have been a great chance of injury or death. I do hope no one else goes through the nightmare I experienced with this car; and Nissan does all in its power to ensure the safety of any other drivers and passengers. The conditions were dry as you mentioned also.
 
It is great that you made it out in time! If you don't mind me asking a question, which model did you have, the S or SV/SL and did you have it since it was new?
 
Shawn75067: Wow. Sorry to hear your ordeal.

Would be curious to hear answers to some of the questions posed. Do you know the build month? Would've been on a sticker on the driver' side.

Assuming there was no user error (doesn't sound like there was), I would definitely file a safety complaint w/NHTSA at http://www.safercar.gov/, if you haven't already. Would be interesting to know if the cause is ever discovered and whether yours was a one-off or if there's a recall class issue affecting some other Leafs.
 
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