Tesla Semi Fire Closes I-880 for 10 Hours — SkimNews
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- Tesla Semi caught fire at about 5:35 p.m. PT Tuesday in the southbound lanes of I-880 near Route 92 in Hayward; no crash was involved, the driver got out unhurt, and the truck’s lithium-ion battery burned.
- CHP Hayward closed I-880 in both directions over the potential risk of hazardous chemical smoke; northbound reopened Tuesday night, while southbound stayed closed about 10 hours and all lanes reopened around 3:30 a.m. Wednesday, shorter than CHP’s initial estimate of 15 to 18 hours for the battery to burn.
- Tesla had not commented, the operator was unidentified and the cause was under investigation; the driver told officers the truck caught fire and they did not know why.
- NTSB found that in August 2024 a Tesla-operated Semi left the road on an I-80 curve near Emigrant Gap, hit a delineator post and tree, and its battery ignited after impact; responders used 50,000 gallons of water and closures lasted up to 15 hours.
- Tesla began volume production of the Semi in Nevada this year after nearly a decade of delays; launch customer PepsiCo had up to about 86 trucks in 2024.
- WattEV ordered 370 Semis in May, mostly for drayage at the Port of Oakland; in September, Tesla was named lead supplier on a 2,500-truck ZET SCALE order.
- NFPA data showed 15,462 large-truck fires annually from 2018 through 2022, with mechanical failure a factor in 44% and collisions in about 2%; NFPA and DOT figures put the overall U.S. vehicle rate at one fire per 17 million miles, versus Tesla’s claimed one per 140 million.
Why it matters: With 2,500 trucks in the ZET SCALE order and 370 ordered by WattEV, the unanswered cause leaves operators and fire departments without the findings needed to distinguish a Tesla battery problem from a tire, brake or trailer fire. The source calls for an NTSB investigation and Tesla to publish results, while PepsiCo’s 2024 fleet was up to about 86 trucks.
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