Tesla investigating video 'Tesla self-ignites'

Parked Tesla S starting to emit smoke from its bonnet before exploding and bursting into flames.

Tesla Inc on Monday said it had sent a team to investigate a video on Chinese social media which showed a parked Tesla Model S car exploding. The video was widely shared on China's Twitter-like Weibo, with the hashtag "Tesla self-ignites" becoming one of the most-read topics on the platform, being viewed over five million times.

It showed a parked Tesla S starting to emit smoke from its bonnet before exploding and bursting into flames, damaging surrounding cars. A time stamp on the video showed that it occurred on Sunday evening. The origin of the video was not immediately verified, which Weibo users said was taken in Shanghai.

"After finding out about this incident in Shanghai, we immediately sent a team to the scene. We are currently contacting relevant departments to understand the situation. Based on current information, no one was hurt," Tesla said on its official Weibo account. The incident comes as Tesla has been trying to revive its sales in China which have been hit hard by Sino-U.S. trade tensions.

The company currently imports all the cars it sells in China, but it is in the process of building a factory in Shanghai that will manufacture Model 3 cars in the initial phase and help it minimise the impact of the trade war and tariffs. In March, Tesla also encountered a hiccup when Shanghai customs temporarily clearance for a batch of Tesla's Model 3 cars citing a labelling issue.

Analysts said the latest fire incident would likely increase attention on the safety of electric vehicles but was unlikely to have a significant impact on Tesla's sales or reputation in China while the cause was being investigated. "Tesla had fire incidents before, but they didn't have a big impact on its reputation in China," said analyst Alan Kang at LMC Automotive.

"Since its consumer base is not particularly conservative, and China is pushing the electric vehicle market, if this incident is just accidental, it will not have a big impact on Tesla," he said. "Tesla self-ignites" was one of the most popular hashtags on Weibo on Monday, racking up over 20 million clicks. Some users urged the automaker to quickly find the cause, whereas others speculated over the impact to the value of Tesla cars currently on the road. Still more found humour in the situation.

"One lesson I learnt from the Shanghai self-exploding Tesla: Don't park your car next to a Tesla," said one commentator.