Actor Films Moment Tesla Catches Fire While Waiting In Traffic

Actor Mary McCormack has shared the terrifying moment her husband's Tesla car caught fire.

McCormack, who is married to British director Michael Morris, filmed the Tesla Model S with flames blasting out from underneath while waiting in traffic.

Uploading the clip to her Twitter account, McCormack tweeted the company to say: "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."

In a follow-up post the West Wing actor said the car wasn't in autopilot mode at the time.

Sheriff's Lieutenant William Nash confirmed to the Press Association that cops saw smoke and called through to fire-fighters, who arrived and quickly put out the flames.

He added that no injuries were reported.

Tesla has said it is investigating, calling it an 'extraordinary unusual occurrence'.

A spokesperson told ABC News: "We offer our support to local authorities and are glad our customer is safe. This is an extraordinarily unusual occurrence, and we are investigating the incident to find out what happened."

The company also maintains that its cars are at least 10 times less likely to catch fire than petrol cars and are designed in such a way that if there is a fire, it spreads less quickly than it would in a traditional car, giving drivers and passengers a chance to escape.

This isn't the first time the electric car company has hit headlines, after reports of crashes while on 'autopilot' mode.

PA

Tesla CEO Elon Musk has slammed the reporting of these incidents, however, taking to Twitter to say: "It's super messed up that a Tesla crash resulting in a broken ankle is front page news and the 40,000 people who died in US auto accidents alone in [the] past year get almost no coverage."

Referring to how one crash illustrated the safety capacity of Tesla cars, he added: "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."

Source: ABC News

Topics: tesla, elon musk, US News, Cars

Claire Reid

Claire is a journalist at LADbible who, after dossing around for a few years, went to Liverpool John Moores University. She graduated with a degree in Journalism and a whole load of debt. When not writing words in exchange for money she is usually at home watching serial killer documentaries surrounded by cats. You can contact Claire at [email protected]

@ClaireReid19