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 shares continued to fall Thursday as the automaker confirmed a third fire in one of its high-end electric cars and a major auto reviewer pointed out problems with its Model S luxury hatchback. 
 
 The 9%, or $13.40, decline in mid-morning trading to $137.76 followed a 15% plunge in the shares Wednesday after the automaker said limited supplies of batteries were hampering sales and that it was spending heavily on research and development to design new models. Tesla shares have been on a run for most of the year, rising about 400% before this reversal. 
 
 Car shopping website Edmunds.com said its 2013 Model S was “making an ominous noise under acceleration and deceleration. It originates from the rear of the car and seems to be getting worse.” 
 
 PHOTOS: Tesla Model S 
 
 It is a complaint that’s also starting to show up on Tesla’s owners forum, an online discussion group hosted by the automaker for drivers of its cars. 
 
 “Mine had that and it got bad at 70 mph,” said one owner, posting under the “mortgagebruce” moniker. 
 
 He said Tesla had to replace the drive unit twice to fix the problem. 
 
 Tesla also replaced the drive unit on the Edmunds car, but declined to tell the company what caused the problem. It also replaced the driver door mechanism because of another problem. The car has just less than 11,000 miles on the road. 
 
 “We're not sure what to think about the fact that both of these repairs were completed with just one overnight stay,” said Mike Schmidt, Edmunds’ vehicle testing manager. “Maybe the dealer is really on the ball. Maybe the supply chain is short. Or maybe the parts are readily available because they've seen these before.” 
 
 Tesla spokeswoman Liz Jarvis Shean said she was not familiar with the Edmunds complaint. 
 
 Meanwhile, another Model S electric car caught fire Wednesday near Smyrna, Tenn., following a crash. This was the third Model S to have caught fire in the last five weeks. One burned near Seattle and another in Mexico. Both cars were in crashes and the fires injured no one. 
 
 
 
 Normally, car fires are not significant events that influence investors. There are about 150,000 annually, according to the National Fire Protection Assn. However, safety officials have been tracking fires in electric cars, as well as computers and other equipment, out of concern that the lithium-ion battery systems might be fire-prone. 
 
 Earlier this year, federal regulators grounded Boeing 787 planes for four months after batteries on two planes overheated, with one catching on fire. Boeing later ordered modifications to the jets to increase ventilation and insulation near the batteries, but the company and investigators never determined the root cause of the overheating. 
 
 The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reviewed the Tesla fire in Seattle and concluded it was caused by the accident rather than a vehicle defect. 
 
 Tesla said it contacted the driver of the car in Tennessee and noted he was not injured and “believes the car saved his life. Our team is on its way to Tennessee to learn more about what happened in the accident.” 
 
 “The problem is that we have three fires in six weeks,” said Karl Brauer, senior analyst at Kelley Blue Book, the car information company. “For a company with a stock price based as much or more on image than financials, those recurring headlines are highly damaging.” 
 
 The Palo Alto automaker said Tuesday it posted a loss of $38.5 million, or 32 cents per share, in the third quarter. That compares to a loss of $110.8 million, or $1.05 per share, in the same period a year earlier. Now that it is delivering cars, revenue grew to $431 million from just $50.1 million a year earlier. 
 
 Follow me on Twitter (@LATimesJerry), Facebook and Google+. 
 
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 What's behind Toyota settlement of sudden acceleration lawsuit ||||| 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 How to lose over $3 billion overnight? Elon Musk found out the hard way. Veuer's Nick Cardona has that story. Buzz60 
 
 A Tesla Model X is displayed at the Paris Motor Show in Paris on Sept. 30, 2016. The base model has a 237 mile range and starts at $79,500, according to Tesla. (Photo: IAN LANGSDON, EPA) 
 
 SAN FRANCISCO — The National Transportation Safety Board said Wednesday that it was sending four investigators to probe a Tesla Model S crash that killed two Florida teens when it hit a concrete wall and burst into flames. 
 
 Two Fort Lauderdale high school students were killed in the crash Tuesday night, while a third 18-year-old was ejected from the vehicle and taken to a local hospital, according to Miami's NBC 6. 
 
 The car's speed — and not the electric automaker's partial self-driving Autopilot system — is considered the main culprit in the accident, according to both the NTSB and Tesla. The 2014 Model S was in a residential zone with a 35-mph limit. 
 
 Instead, the decision to a launch an investigation centers on the fire that erupted after the battery-powered sedan hit the wall. 
 
 “NTSB has a long history of investigating emerging transportation technologies, such as lithium-ion battery fires in commercial aviation, as well as a fire involving the lithium-ion battery in a Chevrolet Volt in collaboration with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration,” NTSB Chairman Robert Sumwalt said in a statement. 
 
 "The goal of these investigations is to understand the impact of these emerging transportation technologies when they are part of a transportation accident," he said. 
 
 More: Elon Musk tweets new criticism of Wall Street's Tesla skeptics 
 
 More: Elon Musk’s style and Tesla's Model 3 mission could be on a 'collision course' 
 
 Tesla, based south of San Francisco in Palo Alto, Calif., did not respond to an immediate request for comment, but issued a statement to NBC 6 saying that it had so far not been able to retrieve a vehicle identification number which would allow the company to access the car's computer logs. 
 
 "However, had Autopilot been engaged it would have limited the vehicle’s speed to 35 mph or less on this street, which is inconsistent with eyewitness statements and the damage to the vehicle," Tesla's statement said. 
 
 This is the second time in recent months that a Tesla accident has drawn the attention of the NTSB, which is still investigating a March Model X crash in Mountain View, Calif., that killed its driver. That vehicle was in Autopilot mode when it hit a concrete barrier. 
 
 In this Friday March 23, 2018 photo provided by KTVU, emergency personnel work a the scene where a Tesla electric SUV crashed into a barrier on U.S. Highway 101 in Mountain View, Calif. The National Transportation Safety Board has sent two investigators to look into a fatal crash and fire Friday in California that involved a Tesla electric SUV. The agency says on Twitter that it's not clear whether the Tesla Model X was operating on its semi-autonomous control system called Autopilot at the time. Investigators will study the fire that broke out after the crash. (KTVU via AP) ORG XMIT: FX101 (Photo: AP) 
 
 Tesla said the driver ignored repeated warnings from the car to take back control. But in reporting details of the crash on its website, it raised the ire of the NTSB, which said the release of such information was premature. The NTSB subsequently removed Tesla as a party in its investigation; Tesla said it chose to withdraw to defend its position. 
 
 That fatal Model X crash also sparked a fire that took hours to put out, according to reports. 
 
 More: Elon Musk puts his money where his mouth is: buys $9.85M more shares of Tesla 
 
 More: Elon Musk dismisses talk of Tesla cash crunch: 'Boring questions are not cool' 
 
 Experts say that once ignited, lithium-ion batteries — the same kind found in laptops and cellphones, though in far smaller quantities than cars — have a tendency to ignite in a chain reaction and burn considerably hotter than the lead-acid batteries in conventional gasoline-powered vehicles. 
 
 The latest NTSB investigation into a Tesla crash is likely to cause more grief for a company trying to ramp up production of its mission-critical Model 3 entry-level electric sedan. But some industry observers wonder whether the spotlight is warranted. 
 
 "Based on annual statistics, about 500 gas-powered cars catch on fire, and around 100 people die on U.S. roads every day," Fred Lambert, founder of electric vehicle site Electrek, wrote Wednesday. "Those stories generally never go past local news outlets, but when a Tesla vehicle is involved, it suddenly makes national news." 
 
 Follow USA TODAY tech writer Marco della Cava on Twitter. 
 
 Read or Share this story: https://usat.ly/2I1CPnH ||||| CLOSE The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and Tesla Motors CEO Elon Musk are both taking a close look at the Model S after car fires reported from striking road debris. VPC 
 
 The electric car maker has sent through a software change to make its cars ride higher 
 
 In this Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2013 photo provided by the Tennessee Highway Patrol, emergency workers respond to a fire on a Tesla Model S electric car in Smyrna, Tenn. (Photo: AP) Story Highlights The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has opened a probe into Tesla's Model S 
 
 The probe of the electric car results from reports of battery fires 
 
 Tesla CEO Elon Musk says he stands behind the car, but has ordered changes 
 
 The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said today it has opened a formal investigation into the safety of the Tesla Model S electric car following two reports of battery fires after striking roadway debris. 
 
 The agency said its safety investigation was prompted by recent "undercarriage strikes" in Washington state and Tennessee. In both cases, fires resulted after the cars both ran over debris on the road that pierced the battery compartment. After news of the probe broke, Tesla shares fell to $116 in pre-market trading but climbed back once the market opened. They closed 3.7%, or $4.51, up for the day at $126.09 a share. 
 
 TESLA STOCK: Shares rise despite federal probe into fires 
 
 Early Tuesday before NHTSA's announcement, Tesla CEO Elon Musk announced that he taking three steps as a result of the fires, but added that he stands behind their safety. The steps were: 
 
 •Higher ground clearance to make them less likely to strike road debris that can potentially penetrate the battery pack and ignite a blaze. 
 
 •Asking federal safety regulators to "conduct a full investigation as soon as possible into the fires." Musk gave no hint that NHTSA was about to open an investigation. 
 
 •Amending the cars' warranty to cover damage due to fire. 
 
 A NHTSA probe can lead to recall, but earlier this month Musk says he has no plans to order one because he doesn't think it is warranted. 
 
 Musk announced the steps in a lengthy post on Tesla's blog. In it, he offers yet another strong defense of the car's safety, especially as it relates to protection from fire. "We believe the evidence is clear that there is no safer car on the road than the Model S," he writes. His company expects to produce more than 20,000 of the electric cars this year, which sell for about $70,000 and up. 
 
 He calls media reaction to the three fires a gross overreaction, especially given how thousands of conventional cars have been consumed by gasoline fires from ruptured tanks over the years. 
 
 He says his battery-powered car is actually safer than just about any gas-powered car on the road. 
 
 Elon Musk CEO of Tesla with a new Model S car outside the Tesla customer deliver area at the Tesla Fremont, Calif., factory (Photo: Jessica Brandi Lifland for USA TODAY) 
 
 "Since the Model S went into production mid last year, there have been over 400 deaths and 1,200 serious injuries in the United States alone due to gasoline car fires, compared to zero deaths and zero injuries due to Tesla fires anywhere in the world." 
 
 In the posting of its investigation, NHTSA noted that passengers in the Teslas that caught on fire were able to escape. "In each incident, the vehicle's battery monitoring system provided escalating visible and audible warnings, allowing the driver to execute a controlled stop and exit the vehicle before the battery emitted smoke and fire," NHTSA writes. 
 
 CLOSE Tesla stock fell after reports of the electric cars catching fire after striking road debris VPC 
 
 Two of the Tesla fires were caused when the vehicle struck road debris that pierced the battery compartment. The third happened in Mexico when a Model S crashed. In each case, the occupants escaped unharmed. Musk says it's proof of the car's safety. 
 
 But given the media outcry, Musk indicates he decided to act even though he already stands by the car. He says the plan to create more ground clearance under the cars has already been implemented. 
 
 Tesla has already sent a signal to the computers in all Model S cars to tell them to increase the vehicle's ground clearance at highway speeds. he says the goal is to reduce the chance of hitting objects on the road. Another software update in January is aimed at letting drivers set their preferred road height for themselves and passengers. 
 
 As for the NHTSA involvement in probing the three accidents that led to fires, Musk says that if regulators offers suggestions on how to improve fire safety in the Model S, he will immediately implement them. he has previously said he does not expect that the Model S will need to be recalled over the fires. 
 
 When it comes to extending the warranty on the sedan, Musk says his decision will apply to Tesla models and be applicable even if the driver is held to be a fault for the fire. 
 
 Read or Share this story: http://usat.ly/I0PQdJ
– 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.