A Tesla Cybertruck “exploded” in front of the Trump Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada. The police are investigating the cause of the incident.
The incident happened Wednesday morning in the valet area of the Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas.
A fire was first reported around before 9 AM.
Shortly after, the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department confirmed that the fire has been put out and they are investigating the situation:
We are investigating a vehicle fire at the entrance to Trump Towers. The fire is out. Please avoid the area.
At this time, it’s unclear if there were any injuries. Update: someone was reportedly inside the Cybertruck and has been confirmed dead. Several more people were injured.
Due to the location of the incident, many people on social media speculated that this could be an attack, but the police haven’t confirmed it yet. Officials did report that they are still considering the situation as “a potential act of terror.”
Eric Trump, executive vice-president of the Trump Organization, commented on the incident and referred to it as an “electric vehicle fire”:
Earlier today, a reported electric vehicle fire occurred in the porte cochère of Trump Las Vegas. The safety and well-being of our guests and staff remain our top priority. We extend our heartfelt gratitude to the Las Vegas Fire Department and local law enforcement for their swift response and professionalism.
Several witnesses described the incident as an “explosion.” Some said that the Cybertruck pulled up to the valet area, lowered itself (the Cybertruck is equipped with adaptive suspension), and then smoke quickly started to come out of the vehicle.
Within a few seconds, the Cybertruck exploded “like fireworks,” based on a surveillance video that was released (vis Gambling News):
Electric vehicle batteries can sometimes catch on fire, but statistically, they don’t catch on fire at a higher rate than fossil fuel-powered vehicles.
There have been a few other instances of Cybertrucks catching on fire in the last few months, but it was after crashes.
If this is indeed a Cybertruck catching on fire without foul play, it would be the first known instance without a crash.
We recently reported that Tesla is having an issue with the Cybertruck’s battery pack. Tesla has referred to the problem as “cell dent.” Tesla is having to replace battery packs in many Cybertrucks, but there’s no evidence that this issue is linked to fires or this explosion.
Update: Elon Musk commented on the situation:
The whole Tesla senior team is investigating this matter right now. Will post more information as soon as we learn anything. We’ve never seen anything like this.
Electrek’s Take
There’s a lot of speculation around the explosion right now, but it is better to let the experts figure it out.
Some are speculating that because it was an explosion rather than a fire, it points to an actual explosive device, but I think that’s too early to say.
It does look like there might have been something in the bed of the truck. Fireworks are not impossible, especially since fireworks are rampant around the first of January.
To be fair, I haven’t seen many EV fires result in explosions like that, but the Cybertruck is using unique battery cells built by Tesla. That might have been a factor, but again, it’s all guess work.
Regardless, we should wait for the investigation.