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A Tesla Cybertruck Reportedly Catches on Fire After the Battery Was Damaged Off-Roading – However, The Details Behind the Fire Are Suspicious

A video shows the first Tesla Cybertruck caught on fire, allegedly following an off-roading accident that damaged the battery pack. Smoke can clearly be seen coming out of the Cybertruck; however, people are questioning the legitimacy of the fire.
Tesla Cybertruck fire

A new video making the rounds online shows a Cybertruck catching fire after the truck’s battery was allegedly damaged while off-roading.

The Cybertruck at the center of this incident is owned by Stephen Sharer, a prominent YouTuber with a massive following of over 11 million subscribers. You might be familiar with his “Share The Love” tour.

Stephen shares a short video showing smoke coming out of his Cybertruck. Sharer titled the video “My Brother Crashed My Cybertruck, My Cybertruck Exploded!”

In the video, you can clearly see smoke coming out of Stephen Sharer’s half-pink-wrapped, half-stainless steel Cybertruck.

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Stephen further commented, “Guys, we went off-roading on the Cybertruck, and it started smoking. We rocked the battery on something. It’s smoking like crazy. The Cybertruck is smoking! This is not good, I repeat, this is not good!”

While uttering these words, Stephen appears distressed, breathing heavily and with a concerned tone.

The smoke comes mainly from the Cybertruck bed and the rear passenger compartment. Looking around at the surroundings, we can see that the Cybertruck is parked in an open area in the middle of the street.

The neighborhood appears to be residential. An orange cone can also be seen near the truck; however, no emergency responders are in sight during the short video.

If this incident is indeed true, it would mark the first recorded case of a Cybertruck catching fire in the wild. However, the online community is buzzing with skepticism and has questioned Stephen Sharer’s claims about his Cybertruck catching fire.

The top-rated comment under Stephen’s video even states, “Are you sure you didn’t leave a smoke machine in the back.”

Given the amount of attention Cybertruck attracts, it wouldn’t be hard to imagine an internet personality claiming that his Cybertruck falsely caught on fire to gain publicity.

People inclined to believe this was a simple publicity stunt point out that even in the 15-second video, you can clearly see the smoke quickly starting to disperse, giving credence to the idea that the smoke might have been artificially generated.

Since smoke is coming out of the Cybertruck’s bed, people are claiming that before the video begins, Stephen Sharer loaded a smoke machine into the Cybertuck bed, closed the Cybertruck vault, let the smoke accumulate, opened the tonneau cover, and started the video, claiming smoke was coming out of his Cybertruck.

Doubters of the Cybertruck smoke video also point out that except for Stephen Sharer, all other individuals captured in the video did not appear concerned or even seem to acknowledge that a vehicle was on fire in front of them.

Considering all this, evidence is starting to mount, suggesting this might be a simple publicity stunt; however, there is no definitive way to determine one way or the other short of Stephen Sharer admitting the video was staged.

However, let’s give Stephen the benefit of the doubt and entertain the possibility that this is indeed the first Cybertruck battery fire recorded in the wild.

If the vehicle’s battery compartment is damaged, Tesla has several safety features in place to mitigate the harm caused by a runaway cell fire.

Specifically, the Cybertruck’s 4680 structural battery pack is filled with a fire retardant additive that isolates battery cells from one another if a battery cell is damaged.

Tesla has chosen a fire-resistant adhesive to hold the 4680 cells together, impart structural rigidity, and prevent fires.

In addition to the fire retardant adhesive, Tesla has put a vent on the Cybertruck battery pack, which will open automatically if it detects gas buildup in the battery pack.

This should stop a few damaged cells from causing further harm to other cells, which could result in a runaway fire.

In case of cell damage, Tesla’s superior cell management software also notifies you with a chime and a pop-up notification on the center touch screen, informing you of the problem and instructing you to leave your vehicle immediately.

These are some fire mitigation steps Tesla takes to protect passengers if the battery pack is damaged.

However, Tesla also uses various structural mechanisms to prevent the cells from being damaged in the first place.

All Tesla vehicles are fitted with a hardened steel plate on the underside to stop intrusions into the battery compartment. For the Cybertruck, specifically, Tesla’s lead Cybertruck engineer has stated that for the off-roading enthusiast Cybertruck owners, Tesla will offer an optional skid plate that will add further protection to the underside of the truck.

Currently, there is no timeline for when Tesla will start offering the Cybertruck skid plate other than later in the year.

Overall, looking at an electric vehicle fire might be unnerving to some individuals and even put them off from buying an EV. However, something to remember is that electric vehicles are far less likely to catch on fire than internal combustion vehicles.

In Tesla’s case, the chances of the EV maker’s vehicles catching fire are one-tenth that of an average gas car. This means that even if Stephen Sharer’s Cybertruck fire is true, it’s good to remember that you are significantly safer in a Tesla than in any other vehicle when it comes to vehicle fires.

Currently, this is all the information we have regarding the first Cybertruck fire recorded in the wild. However, we’ll be sure to keep you posted as more information comes out regarding the details of the mishap.

Until then, visit our site, torquenews.com/Tesla, regularly for the latest updates.

So, what do you think? Are you surprised to see a Cybertruck catching on fire following an off-roading trip? Also, do you think the fire is legitimate, or was the smoke staged? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below by clicking the red “Add new comment” button.

Image: Screenshot from Stephen Sharer’s YouTube Video

For more information, check out: A Tesla Cybertruck Seen at a Gas Station Powering Several Gas Pumps Allowing ICE Vehicles to Fill Up – A Cybertruck Comes to the Rescue After a Power Grid Failure in Oil-Country Texas

Tinsae Aregay has been following Tesla and the evolution of the EV space daily for several years. He covers everything about Tesla, from the cars to Elon Musk, the energy business, and autonomy. Follow Tinsae on Twitter at @TinsaeAregay for daily Tesla news.

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