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A Tesla Model 3 sedan exploded this week in a Chinese parking lot, according to local media.
The car exploded Tuesday night in an underground parking lot in a residential community in Shanghai, where Tesla opened a factory in late 2019, several Chinese media reported.
Tesla told reporters that no one was injured in the crash, but flames from the explosion emptied the interior of the car and appeared to be charring his body, according to published photos of the scene.
The electric car maker told local media that the incident was likely caused by an impact on the underside of the car which damaged the battery.
The vehicle apparently caught fire after its bottom hit a manhole cover as the driver pulled into the garage, Shanghai’s Xinmin Evening News reported, citing the resort’s real estate office.
Tesla said he was cooperating with local firefighters and helping the owner to claim insurance, according to Yicai Global, a financial news outlet.
It is not known whether the Model 3 vehicle was manufactured at the Tesla plant in Shanghai or imported from the United States. The company did not immediately respond to the Post’s request for comment on Thursday morning.
The explosion came amid safety concerns over Tesla’s vehicles in China, which is an increasingly important market for the business of the automaker led by Elon Musk.
The state newspaper Economic Information Daily ran an article earlier this month criticizing Tesla’s driver assistance technology and the retractable door handles on its cars. This follows Tesla’s October recall of around 30,000 vehicles in China over suspension issues, which the company said was caused by “driver abuse” rather than a defect.
Tesla also sent a team to China in 2019 to investigate reports of an explosion in one of its Model S sedans.
Tesla shares rose about 0.6% in pre-market trading Thursday to $ 856 at 7:21 am.
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