Tesla has donated a Model 3 that was destroyed in an accident last year to an organization for an electric vehicle (EV) fire safety investigation.
Dubbed “Testla” by the Australian safety group EV FireSafe, the destroyed Model 3 was recently pulled apart after it been totaled in a fiery accident in New South Wales (NSW), Australia, in September. The EV FireSafe team recently spent six hours pulling the damaged battery pack out of the Model 3, as part of a fire investigation conducted jointly with Tesla employees and the Victorian County Fire Authority.
While the team plans to release a more comprehensive timeline of Testla’s teardown, along with additional data from the process, the organization recently shared its initial findings with the NSW Association of Fire Investigators.
You can see some of the images from the accident and the investigation below. You can also learn about the initial results from the testing here, as shared in a 78-minute video presentation from EV FireSafe to the NSW Association of Fire Investigators.
Credit: Penrose Rural Fire Brigade
How the Model 3 looked following the fire. Credit: EV FireSafe
Point of impact on the battery pack. Credit: EV FireSafe
Credit: EV FireSafe
Credit: EV FireSafe
Notably, the team says the Model 3 ran over an 18 kg truck tail shaft that had fallen out of a nearby truck, severely damaging the battery pack and causing thermal runaway. The vehicle took the Penrose Rural Fire Brigade over half an hour to extinguish, and EV FireSafe notes that further investigation showed the battery pack had burned out, mitigating the likelihood of a secondary ignition.
Glenn Pröbstl, EV FireSafe’s Shipping and Automotive Lead, said during the initial presentation that the fire investigation was particularly fruitful.
He noted that a Tesla technician in charge of the Asia-Pacific region who had been a part of the investigation said that even senior technicians at Tesla in the U.S. who have been with the team since its inception had not been able to do what the six members of the Model 3 teardown team had done.
Pröbstl also offered a “massive thanks to Tesla for the assistance they gave.”
According to Electric Vehicle Council energy and infrastructure head Ross De Rango, EV battery-related fires still remain uncommon, with only six EV fires having been recorded in Australia since 2010 (via Perth Now).
“If we look at the annual reports from Fire Rescue NSW, they roll out to about 2,500 petrol and diesel vehicle fires every year,” De Rango said. “The relative rates of these vehicle fires are such that EVs catch fire about one-tenth to one-twentieth as often as petrol and diesel vehicles.”
Tesla owner posts stern service complaint after Model Y fire incident
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Tesla Model Y tops California vehicle sales despite Elon Musk backlash
Data from the California New Car Dealers Association (CNCDA) showed the Model Y outsold its nearest competitor by more than 50,000 units.
The Tesla Model Y was California’s best-selling new vehicle in 2025 for the fourth straight year, despite protests against CEO Elon Musk and a changeover to the Model Y’s updated variant that caused a pause in production and deliveries early in the year.
Data from the California New Car Dealers Association (CNCDA) showed the Model Y outsold its nearest competitor by more than 50,000 units, according to KRON4.
The Model Y recorded 110,120 registrations in California in 2025. The second-best-selling vehicle, the Toyota RAV4, posted 65,604 units, followed by the Toyota Camry at 62,324. The Tesla Model 3 ranked fourth with 53,989 sales, ahead of the Honda Civic at 53,085 units.
Despite leading the state, Model Y sales have trended downward year-over-year. Registrations fell from 132,636 in 2023 to 128,923 in 2024, and then to 110,120 in 2025. Overall Tesla sales in California also declined, dropping from 238,589 in 2023 to 202,865 in 2024 and 179,656 in 2025.
The slowdown comes as the federal $7,500 EV tax credit ended, removing a key incentive that had supported electric vehicle demand for years.
“Tesla has a few advantages. Tesla, as a brand, has a status, cache, so I think folks in certain parts of the Bay. Owning a Tesla is a thing. I think that’s breaking down over time, especially given the political controversies surrounding Mr. Musk,” CNCDA President Brian Maas said.
California saw multiple anti-Musk protests in 2025, along with notable reports of consumer-owned Teslas being vandalized and attacked by protesters and activists. The fact that the Model Y and Model 3 remained strong performers in California is then a testament to the quality and value of the two vehicles.
Tesla’s sales of the Model Y and Model 3 might see an increase this year, as the company has announced that it is sunsetting its two more expensive cars, the Model S and Model X. With the Model S and Model X retired, more consumers will likely go for the Model Y and Model 3.
“Maybe the Model S has outlived its usefulness in terms of attracting customers. It’s no surprise the ones they kept are the Model Y and Model 3,” Maas noted.
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Tesla Supercharger left offline as Swedish court backs union strike
The completed Supercharger has been stalled for nearly two years amid Tesla’s conflict with the IF Metall union in Sweden.
Tesla’s Supercharger station in Ljungby, Sweden will remain without power after a Swedish administrative court rejected the company’s appeal to force a grid connection to the site. The completed Supercharger has been stalled for nearly two years amid Tesla’s conflict with the IF Metall union in Sweden.
The court ruled that the ongoing union strike against Tesla Sweden is valid grounds for the Supercharger’s connection delay, as noted in an Allt Om Elbil report.
The Ljungby Supercharger was one of the first charging stations that were denied grid access after IF Metall launched its strike against Tesla Sweden in late 2023. Electricians at local grid operator Ljungby Energinät were pulled into a sympathy strike by the Seko union, preventing the site’s connection.
Tesla reported both Ljungby Energinät and Gävle Energi Elnät AB to the Swedish Energy Market Inspectorate, arguing that grid operators failed to meet their legal obligation to provide connection to the location within a reasonable time frame.
The regulator ruled that the strike represented a valid exception under Swedish law, however, citing constitutional protections for industrial actions.
Tesla responded by appealing to the Administrative Court in Linköping, claiming it had the right to connection within a reasonable period, generally no more than two years. Tesla Sweden also argued that the country’s Electricity Act conflicts with EU law. The court rejected those arguments.
“The Administrative Court today finds that granting the company’s request in practice applies to the same thing as the blockade and that it would mean that the blockade would be ineffective.
“Such a decision would contradict the principle that labor market conflicts should be resolved to the greatest extent possible by the labor market parties, not by the state. The industrial action is also constitutionally protected,” Chief Councilor Ronny Idstrand stated.
The court also concluded that the Electricity Act does not conflict with EU regulations and that special reasons justified the extended delay.
While the ruling was unanimous, Tesla Sweden may appeal the decision to a higher administrative court.
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Tesla China exports 50,644 vehicles in January, up sharply YoY
The figure also places Tesla China second among new energy vehicle exporters for the month, behind BYD.
Tesla China exported 50,644 vehicles in January, as per data released by the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA).
This marks a notable increase both year-on-year and month-on-month for the American EV maker’s Giga Shanghai-built Model 3 and Model Y. The figure also places Tesla China second among new energy vehicle exporters for the month, behind BYD.
The CPCA’s national passenger car market analysis report indicated that total New Energy Vehicle exports reached 286,000 units in January, up 103.6% from a year earlier. Battery electric vehicles accounted for 65% of those exports.
Within that total, Tesla China shipped 50,644 vehicles overseas. By comparison, exports of Giga Shanghai-built Model 3 and Model Y units totaled 29,535 units in January last year and just 3,328 units in December.
This suggests that Tesla China’s January 2026 exports were roughly 1.7 times higher than the same month a year ago and more than 15 times higher than December’s level, as noted in a TechWeb report.
BYD still led the January 2026 export rankings with 96,859 new energy passenger vehicles shipped overseas, though it should be noted that the automaker operates at least nine major production facilities in China, far outnumering Tesla. Overall, BYD’s factories in China have a domestic production capacity for up to 5.82 million units annually as of 2024.
Tesla China followed in second place, ahead of Geely, Chery, Leapmotor, SAIC Motor, and SAIC-GM-Wuling, each of which exported significant volumes during the month. Overall, new energy vehicles accounted for nearly half of China’s total passenger vehicle exports in January, hinting at strong overseas demand for electric cars produced in the country.
China remains one of Tesla China’s most important markets. Despite mostly competing with just two vehicles, both of which are premium priced, Tesla China is still proving quite competitive in the domestic electric vehicle market.
Tesla Model Y tops California vehicle sales despite Elon Musk backlash
Tesla Supercharger left offline as Swedish court backs union strike
