A Tesla Model 3 sedan exploded this week in a Chinese garage, local media reported.
The car exploded Tuesday evening in an underground garage in a Shanghai residential community, where Tesla opened a factory in late 2019, several Chinese media reported.
Tesla told reporters no one was injured in the crash, but flames from the blast destroyed the inside of the car and appeared to charred his body, according to photos posted at the scene.
The electric car maker told local media that the incident was likely caused by an impact to the bottom of the car that damaged the battery.
Apparently, the vehicle caught fire after its bottom hit a sewer cap as the driver entered the garage, Shanghai’s Xinmin Evening News reported, citing the resort’s property office.
Tesla said it is collaborating with the local fire department and helping the owner claim insurance, according to Yicai Global, a financial news medium.
It is unclear whether the Model 3 vehicle was manufactured at the Tesla plant in Shanghai or was imported from the US. The company did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Post on Thursday morning.
The blast came amid security concerns about Tesla vehicles in China, which is an increasingly important market for the Elon Musk-led car business.
The state-run Economic Information Daily published an article earlier this month criticizing Tesla’s driver assistance technology and the retractable door handles of its cars. This followed after Tesla recalled in October some 30,000 vehicles in China due to suspension issues, which according to the company was caused by “driver abuse” rather than a defect.
Tesla also sent a team to China in 2019 to investigate reports of the explosion of one of its Model S sedans.
Tesla shares rose about 0.6 percent in premarket trading on Thursday to $ 856 at 7:21 p.m.