Tesla is investigating how one of its cars appeared to suddenly catch fire on a busy street near Los Angeles. Cellphone video shows flames shooting out of the electric vehicle last week. 
 
 Local authorities said it could have been a faulty battery, but Tesla says it's still too early to know exactly what happened. 
 
 A Model S quickly caught fire Friday afternoon in West Hollywood, California. Actress Mary McCormack tweeted cellphone video of the fire, saying, "Tesla this is what happened to my husband and his car today …. no accident, out of the blue, in traffic…." 
 
 @Tesla This is what happened to my husband and his car today. No accident,out of the blue, in traffic on Santa Monica Blvd. Thank you to the kind couple who flagged him down and told him to pull over. And thank god my three little girls weren’t in the car with him pic.twitter.com/O4tPs5ftVo — Mary McCormack (@marycmccormack) June 16, 2018 
 
 Tesla is calling the incident "extraordinarily unusual." 
 
 In a statement Tesla said, "Our initial investigation shows that the cabin of the vehicle was totally unaffected by the fire due to our battery architecture, which is designed to protect the cabin in the very rare event that a battery fire occurs." 
 
 "Well, of course the video footage itself looks alarmist," Alistair Weaver, editor-in-chief at Edmunds, told CBS News correspondent Jamie Yuccas. "There's obviously been some issues with lithium ion batteries in the past, particularly around cellphones, but electric car batteries are very different. It's a lot of sophisticated technology." 
 
 Tesla maintains that it takes extraordinary measures to protect passengers from fires, which it says are at least 10 times less likely in a Tesla than in a gas-powered car. 
 
 "We've driven over 50,000 miles in these vehicles and have never replicated this or anything like it, nor have we seen any evidence elsewhere of other cars spontaneously catching fire, so I think it needs more investigation," said Weaver. 
 
 YouTube/LiveLeak 
 
 Other incidents where Teslas caught fire involved collisions, like a deadly Florida crash last month, or impact with objects on the road, like this 2013 accident in Washington State. 
 
 There were no injuries in this latest incident, and Tesla says it is still working to understand the cause of the fire. ||||| Tesla's stock is burning up. 
 
 Tesla Inc. (TSLA) shares slumped in pre-market trading Monday following a weekend report that one of its electric cars, owned by British film director Michael Morris, burst into flames in Hollywood over the weekend. 
 
 Actress Mary McCormack, who is married to the director of the Netflix Inc. (NFLX) series 13 Reasons Why, Kingdom and Bloodline. filmed the incident, which she said took place on Santa Monica Blvd in Los Angeles, and posted it on the social networking site Twitter. Tesla said it was investigating the incident. 
 
 "This is what happened to my husband and his car today," McCormack said in a Saturday post that has since been deleted. "No accident, out of the blue, in traffic on Santa Monica Blvd." 
 
 Tesla shares were marked 1.9% lower in pre-market trading in New York Monday, indicating and opening bell price of $352.6 each, a move that would trim the stock's year-to-date gain to around 13.5%. 
 
 @Tesla This is what happened to my husband and his car today. No accident,out of the blue, in traffic on Santa Monica Blvd. Thank you to the kind couple who flagged him down and told him to pull over. And thank god my three little girls weren't in the car with him pic.twitter.com/O4tPs5ftVo — Mary McCormack (@marycmccormack) June 16, 2018 
 
 The report is the latest in a series of negative headline and setbacks for the Elon Musk-founded group, which is attempting to convince its investors that it won't seek fresh capital in the months ahead and that it can meet its own aggressive delivery targets despite recent layoffs and ongoing bottlenecks in its production. 
 
 Musk himself Tweeted Saturday that a new assembly line had been completed in three weeks at his Fremont, Calif., facility as he continues to push to meet the 5,000-unit-a-week target for production of his mid-priced Model 3 sedan. 
 
 Amazing work by Tesla team. Built entire new general assembly line in 3 weeks w minimal resources. Love u guys so much! Pic of 1st Model 3 dual motor performance coming off the line … pic.twitter.com/Xr55P3fmGd — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 16, 2018 
 
 Last week, filings revealed that Musk bought about 72,000 Tesla shares between June 12 and 13th for $342.77 to $347 a share and now owns 33.74 million shares worth a staggering roughly $12 billion at current prices. 
 
 That follows Musk's previous most recent insider purchase of 33,000 shares between $295.02 and $302.13 on May 7th. That came less than a week after Tesla reported its fiscal first quarter of earnings. ||||| Tesla Motors Inc. (TSLA)’s third fire in five weeks involving a Model S suggests U.S. regulators need to examine the luxury electric car, a safety advocate said after a Tennessee accident. 
 
 Shares of the Palo Alto, California-based carmaker led by Elon Musk slid 7.5 percent to $139.77 at the close yesterday in New York after reports of the newest fire. That decline follows a 15 percent drop Nov. 6 after the carmaker’s third-quarter results and fourth-quarter outlook disappointed investors. It was the biggest two-day plunge since Dec. 27, 2010. 
 
 The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration “absolutely has to investigate” the Nov. 6 Tennessee incident, Clarence Ditlow, executive director of the Center for Auto Safety, based in Washington, said in a phone interview. 
 
 A Model S driver struck a tow hitch in the middle of a lane on Interstate 24 near Murfreesboro, Tennessee, damaging the car’s undercarriage and causing the fire, Dalya Qualls, a Tennessee Highway Patrol spokeswoman, said in an e-mail. The driver pulled the car over and was uninjured, Qualls said. 
 
 NHTSA declined to investigate a Model S fire in Washington state in October, the first such reported blaze, in which metal debris was involved. 
 
 Source: Tennessee Highway Patrol via Bloomberg A firefighter works at the scene of an accident involving a Tesla Model S sedan near Murfreesboro, Tennessee on Nov. 6, 2013. The driver, identified as Juris Shibayama, struck a tow hitch that was in the middle of a lane, which damaged the car’s undercarriage and caused the fire, said Dalya Qualls, a Tennessee Highway Patrol spokeswoman. Close A firefighter works at the scene of an accident involving a Tesla Model S sedan near... Read More Close Open Source: Tennessee Highway Patrol via Bloomberg A firefighter works at the scene of an accident involving a Tesla Model S sedan near Murfreesboro, Tennessee on Nov. 6, 2013. The driver, identified as Juris Shibayama, struck a tow hitch that was in the middle of a lane, which damaged the car’s undercarriage and caused the fire, said Dalya Qualls, a Tennessee Highway Patrol spokeswoman. 
 
 “It appears there’s inadequate shielding on the bottom of these vehicles,” Ditlow said. “Road debris is a known hazard to the undercarriage of vehicles.” 
 
 The U.S. agency “will contact the local authorities who are looking into the incident to determine if there are vehicle safety implications that merit agency action,” Karen Aldana, a spokeswoman for NHTSA, said in an e-mail. 
 
 Tesla Team 
 
 Liz Jarvis-Shean, a Tesla spokeswoman, declined to comment on Ditlow’s remarks and on whether the company needed to strengthen the aluminum casing that houses the 1,000-pound (454-kilogram) lithium-ion battery that powers the Model S. 
 
 “We have been in contact with the driver, who was not injured and believes the car saved his life,” Jarvis-Shean said in an earlier e-mail. “Our team is on its way to Tennessee to learn more about what happened in the accident. We will provide more information when we’re able to do so.” 
 
 Tesla, the best-performing automotive stock this year, has been under scrutiny as Chief Executive Officer Musk works to create the world’s biggest and most profitable seller of electric cars. Even with this week’s declines, Tesla shares have surged more than fourfold this year after reporting its first quarterly profits. 
 
 ‘Rocket Science’ 
 
 The Washington state Model S fire took place Oct. 1, and another occurred in Mexico in mid-October. NHTSA said Oct. 24 it found no evidence the first fire resulted from defects or violations of U.S. safety standards. The agency has said it doesn’t investigate vehicle accidents outside the U.S. 
 
 A possible fix for the Model S, priced from $70,000 to more than $100,000, “is not rocket science,” Ditlow said. “Probably the simplest task Tesla has is putting a strong steel shield on the bottom of the car.” 
 
 The Model S has “a six-millimeter thick armor plate on the bottom,” Musk told Bloomberg Television last month. 
 
 A U.S. investigation or recall of the Model S “could raise near-term concerns to a higher level in terms of cost, image and production disruption to Tesla,” Adam Jonas, an analyst for Morgan Stanley, said in a research report yesterday. 
 
 “We would be very surprised if Tesla has not already launched its own investigation into the cause of battery compartment intrusion to explore causes and potential remedies,” said Jonas, who rates the stock overweight. A voluntary recall “would be consistent with Tesla’s extraordinary efforts to build brand value and trust.” 
 
 Battery Issues 
 
 Lithium-ion batteries have come into widespread use in laptop computers, consumer electronics, rechargeable cars and hybrids, and even aircraft, owing to their lighter weight and high energy density. 
 
 Tesla isn’t the first company to experience battery pack-related fires. The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration ordered the grounding of Boeing Co. (BA)’s 787 Dreamliner aircraft this year after meltdowns of lithium-ion batteries. 
 
 NHTSA formally investigated fires in two other battery-powered vehicles, General Motors Co. (GM)’s Chevrolet Volt and Fisker Automotive Inc.’s Karma. 
 
 GM conducted a voluntary program to strengthen the Volt’s battery pack. Fisker, which stopped making plug-in Karmas more than a year ago, issued recalls to fix flawed lithium-ion packs at risk of shutting down and for a separate wiring issue linked to a fire. 
 
 Tesla’s Image 
 
 Multiple reports of battery fires may harm Tesla’s image, said Karl Brauer, an industry analyst for Kelley Blue Book in Irvine, California. 
 
 “At some point the cause of the fire, the safety of the drivers and even the attitude of the owners -- all three apparently want another car -- stops mattering because you’re left with recurring headlines featuring the words ‘Tesla’ and ‘fire,’” Brauer said. 
 
 “For a company with a stock price based as much or more on image than financials, those recurring headlines are highly damaging,” he said. 
 
 Musk’s net worth has more than tripled this year to $7.4 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. Share declines yesterday for both Tesla and SolarCity Corp., another Musk-affiliated company, cut his wealth by $576.8 million, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. 
 
 Musk is Tesla’s largest shareholder. Daimler AG and Toyota Motor Corp. (7203) are also investors in the company. 
 
 The Tennessee Model S fire was first reported on the ValueWalk website, which cited photos of the car fire posted on the Tesla Motors Club forum website. 
 
 To contact the reporters on this story: Alan Ohnsman in Los Angeles at aohnsman@bloomberg.net; Angela Greiling Keane in Washington at agreilingkea@bloomberg.net 
 
 To contact the editor responsible for this story: Jamie Butters at jbutters@bloomberg.net ||||| 1 of 2. A Telsa Model S automobile destroyed by a fire is seen in a handout picture from the Tennessee Highway Patrol taken in Smyrna, Tennessee November 6, 2013. 
 
 DETROIT (Reuters) - Tesla Motor Inc's (TSLA.O) Model S electric car has suffered its third fire in six weeks, sending its shares down nearly 9 percent in Thursday midday trading. 
 
 The Tesla Motors Club website contains pictures and a story about another fire involving a Model S that a company spokeswoman confirmed. The accident occurred on Wednesday in Smyrna, Tennessee, where Nissan Motor Co (7201.T) makes the Leaf electric car. 
 
 While none of the drivers in any of the accidents were injured, the glaring headlines about fires was not welcome for Tesla. 
 
 "For a company with a stock price based as much or more on image than financials, those recurring headlines are highly damaging," Kelley Blue Book senior analyst Karl Brauer said. 
 
 Morgan Stanley analyst Adam Jonas said the risk of a formal investigation by U.S. safety regulators "could raise near-term concerns to a higher level in terms of cost, image and production disruption." 
 
 Tesla said it has been in touch with the driver, who was not injured. The vehicle was driven by Juris Shibayama, 38, of Murfreesboro, Tennessee, according to the highway patrol. 
 
 "Our team is on its way to Tennessee to learn more about what happened in the accident," Tesla spokeswoman Elizabeth Jarvis-Shean said in a statement. "We will provide more information when we're able to do so." 
 
 The company said the fire was the result of an accident and was not a spontaneous event. 
 
 The Tennessee Highway Patrol said the afternoon incident occurred on Interstate 24 in Smyrna when the electric car "ran over a tow hitch" that "hit the undercarriage of the vehicle causing an electrical fire." 
 
 The Model S undercarriage has armor plating that protects the lithium-ion battery pack. Tesla said it did not yet know whether the fire involved the car's battery. 
 
 Tesla's battery pack is made up of small lithium-ion battery cells that are also used in laptop computers, an approach not used by other automakers. The battery pack stretches across the base of the vehicle. In comparison, General Motors Co (GM.N) uses large-format battery cells in a T-shape in the center of the Chevrolet Volt plug-in hybrid car. 
 
 Other automakers have dealt with battery fires in electrified vehicles, including GM's Volt and Mitsubishi Motors Corp's (7211.T) i-MiEV. 
 
 The highway patrol report did not say how fast the 2013 model Tesla Model S was traveling in Tennessee, but the driver was able to pull off the roadway and get out of the car. The incident occurred four miles from the exit for the Nissan plant. 
 
 A woman who answered the phone at the lot where the car was towed said Tesla officials had arrived Thursday morning and were inspecting the vehicle. 
 
 On Tuesday, Tesla forecast a weaker-than-expected fourth-quarter profit and posted third-quarter Model S deliveries that disappointed some analysts. 
 
 The first Model S fire occurred on October 1 near Seattle, when the car collided with a large piece of metal debris in the road that punched a hole through the armor plate protecting the battery pack. U.S. safety regulators at the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration later said they found no evidence to indicate a vehicle defect. 
 
 The second fire took place later in the month in Merida, Mexico, when according to reports a car drove through a roundabout, crashed through a concrete wall and hit a tree. 
 
 Neither driver was injured in the earlier accidents and in all three cases the company said the owners have asked for replacement cars. 
 
 After the first fire, Tesla Chief Executive Elon Musk defended the safety performance of electric cars. "For consumers concerned about fire risk, there should be absolutely zero doubt that it is safer to power a car with a battery" than a conventional gas-powered vehicle, he said on a blog post. 
 
 Company executives called that first fire a "highly uncommon occurrence," likely caused by a curved metal object falling off a semi-trailer and striking up into the underside of the car in a "pole-vault effect." 
 
 At the time, Musk did not say if Tesla would make any changes to the Model S battery design as a result of the first accident. Jarvis-Shean had no immediate comment when asked if such changes were being considered. 
 
 Tesla's shares fell as low as $137.62 on Nasdaq. 
 
 Since the first fire, Tesla's shares have lost more than 27 percent and this week's declines are the worst one-week drop since May 2012. 
 
 (Additional reporting by Deepa Seetharaman; Editing by Gerald E. McCormick and Maureen Bavdek) ||||| CLOSE The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating a crash and fire involving a Telsa Model S car. Two teens died in Fort Lauderdale, Florida crash on Tuesday. The probe is not expected to involve Tesla's semi-autonomous Autopilot system. (May 11) AP 
 
 A Tesla sedan with a semi-autonomous Autopilot feature rear-ended a fire department truck at 60 mph (97 kph) apparently without braking before impact on May 11, 2018, but police say it's unknown if the Autopilot feature was engaged. (Photo: South Jordan Police Department/AP) 
 
 SAN FRANCISCO — A Tesla Model S that crashed into a stopped fire truck at high speed was operating in Autopilot mode, the driver of the car told Utah police officials. 
 
 Tesla says it continues to work with police on the investigation, and has not yet released details of the incident based on the car's computer logs. 
 
 The driver of the vehicle, a 28-year-old woman from Lehi, Utah, slammed into the truck in South Jordan, Utah on Friday. The woman also told police she was looking at her phone prior to the collision and estimated her speed at 60 mph, which is consistent with eyewitness accounts, according to a police statement issued late Monday. 
 
 The result of the violent crash was an accordioned front end for the electric car, but only a broken foot for the driver, according to Sgt. Sam Winkler of the South Jordan Police Department. 
 
 The driver of the United Fire Authority mechanic truck was evaluated for whiplash and was not checked into the hospital. 
 
 Tesla said the company's previous response to the crash still stood, which noted that Autopilot — a semi-autonomous system that works like a souped-up cruise control — requires constant vigilance and is not meant to take over driving responsibilities while the driver focuses on other chores. 
 
 Winkler said that South Jordan police was continuing to investigate the crash, and would be working with Tesla to gather vehicle information from the Model S's computers over the coming days. Police officials also said they were getting technical assistance from National Transportation Safety Board officials. 
 
 Eyewitness accounts indicate the Model S did not slow down or swerve as it rammed into the back of the truck, which was stopped at a traffic light in the far right lane. 
 
 More: Elon Musk shakes up Tesla as another Model S faces crash queries 
 
 More: Tesla crash that killed two Florida teens probed by NTSB investigators 
 
 Autopilot has been in the crosshairs of federal crash investigators, dating back to a 2016 crash of Tesla Model S in Autopilot mode that killed its driver after the car failed to stop for a tractor trailer that cut across its path. 
 
 More recently, the NTSB was called in to review details of a March crash in which a Tesla Model X slam into a highway divider in Mountain View, Calif. The driver died. 
 
 Tesla has said the California driver ignored the car's warnings to take back control of the vehicle. But the driver's family is considering suing on the grounds that Tesla ignored the driver's previously raised concerns about Autopilot acting up on that same stretch of Silicon Valley highway. 
 
 NTSB and National Highway Traffic Safety Administration officials also are investigating a recent Tesla Model S crash in Florida in which two teens died and one was injured. 
 
 The car hit a concrete barrier at high speed in a residential neighborhood and burst into flames. Autopilot is not thought to be a factor, but investigators are looking into the ensuing battery fire. 
 
 Just prior to Utah police announcing that the driver indicated Autopilot had been in use, Tesla CEO Elon Musk posted a series of tweets that emphasized the safety of his product. 
 
 What’s actually amazing about this accident is that a Model S hit a fire truck at 60mph and the driver only broke an ankle. An impact at that speed usually results in severe injury or death. — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 14, 2018 
 
 "What’s actually amazing about this accident is that a Model S hit a fire truck at 60mph and the driver only broke an ankle," Musk tweeted (although initially reported as an ankle injury, South Jordan officials said the injury was a broken foot). "An impact at that speed usually results in severe injury or death." 
 
 Musk also lamented media coverage that he said glossed over the 40,000 annual U.S. road deaths, and acknowledged that while no technology is perfect "a system that, on balance, saves lives & reduces injuries should be released." 
 
 Follow USA TODAY tech reporter Marco della Cava on Twitter. 
 
 Read or Share this story: https://usat.ly/2rDPulU ||||| A Tesla Model S crashed into yet another fire truck resulting in two injuries in San Jose earlier today. 
 
 The driver said that he “thought the Model S was on Autopilot”, but he was arrested under suspicion of drunk driving. 
 
 I have to say “yet another fire truck” because it is the third accident involving Tesla vehicles reportedly on Autopilot and fire trucks this year alone. 
 
 It happened in Culver City last January and again in San Jose a few months later. 
 
 Now the San Jose Fire Fighters are complaining of another accident that happened early this morning. 
 
 They reported on Twitter that a Tesla vehicle rear-ended one of their fire engines again: 
 
 TESLA near miss! For the 2nd time in recent months SJ FF’s escaped serious injury as a @teslamotors “Zero Emissions” vehicle slammed into the back of a #SJFD FireEngine @ 70 MPH on Hwy 101 at 1am – Reportedly the vehicle was in auto mode but auto braking system was not engaged. pic.twitter.com/gDQzXrFZ5S — SanJoseFireFighters (@SJFirefighters) August 25, 2018 
 
 The media started reporting earlier today that Autopilot might be involved in the crash. 
 
 We contacted Tesla about the situation and the company responded with the following statement: 
 
 “Tesla has not yet received any data from the car, but we are working to establish the facts of the incident.” 
 
 A few hours later, things got more complicated because the Tesla driver, 37-year-old Michael Tran of Monterey, was arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol. 
 
 NBC reported that the police report makes note that Tran blamed Autopilot when talking to the police officers: 
 
 “Tran told officers “I think I had auto-pilot on,” but it was unclear whether the Tesla was in self-driving mode when it crashed into the firetruck. The collision sent Tran and his passenger, 26-year-old Yorleyda Londono of Monterey, to San Jose Region Medical Center with minor injuries.” 
 
 Of course, Autopilot is not a “self-driving mode” as mentioned in the article. It is a driver assist system and drivers are always responsible for their vehicle when using the Autopilot’s features. 
 
 Electrek’s Take 
 
 It’s not the first time an allegedly drunk Tesla driver has tried to use the Autopilot card to get out of it. 
 
 Earlier this year, a Tesla driver passed out allegedly drunk in his Model S and he told the police that the car was on Autopilot. 
 
 To be honest, I find it hard to believe that these people don’t understand what Autopilot can do under its current form and really think that they could get in their car drunk because they had Autopilot. 
 
 I think they are just doing everything they can to get out of a bad situation that they created themselves. 
 
 That said, Tesla should still be interested in the data from this accident because even though Autopilot most likely had nothing to do with the cause, automatic emergency braking (AEB) should still have been a factor. 
 
 According to the fire department, it didn’t activate, but it’s important to keep in mind that AEB sometimes activates to reduce the impact of the accident and not necessarily avoid it completely if it can’t. 
 
 Though we don’t have enough information right now to know for sure what happened in this case.
– The latest unfortunate headline for Tesla comes courtesy of actress Mary McCormack, who on Friday tweeted a video of a Model S with flames shooting from it. "This is what happened to my husband and his car today. No accident,out of the blue, in traffic on Santa Monica Blvd. Thank you to the kind couple who flagged him down and told him to pull over. And thank god my three little girls weren’t in the car with him," wrote McCormack, who has had leading roles in series including Murder One and The West Wing. Tesla says it is investigating, calling such an incident is "extraordinarily unusual," CBS News reports. Responding to queries on Twitter, McCormack said the Tesla wasn't equipped with Autopilot and that her husband was "barely moving in traffic" at the time. "Our initial investigation shows that the cabin of the vehicle was totally unaffected by the fire due to our battery architecture, which is designed to protect the cabin in the very rare event that a battery fire occurs," Tesla says in a statement. It is not officially blaming a faulty battery for the fire, but local authorities say that could be the case. The editor-in-chief of car site Edmunds notes, "We've driven over 50,000 miles in these vehicles and have never replicated this or anything like it, nor have we seen any evidence elsewhere of other cars spontaneously catching fire, so I think it needs more investigation." The Street notes that Tesla's stock slumped in pre-market trading Monday.