this post was submitted on 11 Mar 2025
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Updated with video from reporters on-site at the bottom of the post! Late Sunday night, four Tesla Cybertrucks caught fire in a Seattle holding lot near 2nd Ave S & S Spokane St, just five minutes from the local Tesla dealership. Initially, reports indicated two burning Cybertrucks, but as the fire spread, the number grew to 4 Cybertrucks. Investigators have offered no details as to whether this was arson or another case of a Tesla Cybertruck bursting into flames spontaneously. See video from the scene in the full article.

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[–] caboose2006@lemm.ee 77 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Imagine making a car so bad that when 4 burn up you can't tell if it was arson or just them exploding cause they're bad.

[–] Phoenicianpirate@lemm.ee 23 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Can you also imagine seeing a Tesla burn, and since you are very anti-Musk the cops accuse you of Arson and your principle defense is, 'but your honor, my client did NOT burn the car. It just went up by itself!' and that is what gets you off.

[–] Neondragon25@lemm.ee 18 points 3 days ago

Your honor, in my clients defense, it be like that.

Fuck, you right. Case dismissed.

[–] jecxjo@midwest.social 126 points 4 days ago (1 children)

Maybe they became self aware and could no longer live with themselves knowing their family history.

[–] P00ptart@lemmy.world 34 points 4 days ago (3 children)

Daddy said he loves em, but is negligent.

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[–] GaMEChld@lemmy.world 78 points 3 days ago (1 children)

I love that the truck is so shitty we don't know if ppl blowing them up or they blowing themselves up.

[–] HikingVet@lemmy.ca 9 points 3 days ago

Designed so bad they commit seppuku.

[–] gravitas_deficiency@sh.itjust.works 90 points 4 days ago (3 children)

Definitely for sure a spontaneous battery fire. Couldn’t imagine why anyone would want to commit arson on some low-poly neofash shitboxes. No sir.

[–] MajorHavoc@programming.dev 40 points 4 days ago

And if anyone saw any evidence to the contrary... No we didn't.

[–] Lost_My_Mind@lemmy.world 14 points 4 days ago (2 children)

But wait.....what if......and hear me out here.....what if they caught fire as a result of people rebelling against a facist takeover of our government?

What if......

[–] jecxjo@midwest.social 15 points 4 days ago (3 children)

Far more likely that they set on fire because they are poorly designed an Musky boy is dismantling any and all safety regulations for his death traps.

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[–] vvilld@lemmy.world 34 points 3 days ago (17 children)

I'm asking for a fictional novel I'm writing. I'd like to describe my character in detail rigging a Cybertruck to burn but making it look like it was a spontaneous battery fire. I intend my character to believably get away with this crime.

Can anyone help me with detailed steps how this fictional character would fictionally accomplish this feat. Fictionally, of course.

[–] skuzz@discuss.tchncs.de 17 points 3 days ago

That character could use employee diagnostic access into the cars as they are always on the Internet. SSH into them, get into the battery controller and do myriad things. Set the thermal management into permanent heat mode. Disable thermal management 100% for the next time the car is driven so it can’t cool the batteries (good for getting rid of pesky rodents like muskrats that try to live in them.) Mess with the charge controller in general so it overcharges, undercharges. You name it. All sorts of fun things one could add to that book depending on your plot.

Make sure while your character is hacking the battery controller though, that they set the car stereo to play Dragula by Rob Zombie at full volume. For effect.

These idiots were dumb enough to design Teslas like computers rather than cars, so a whole lot of stuff was designed like a crappy cell phone rather than the proven design principles of automotive engineering.

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[–] pelespirit@sh.itjust.works 59 points 4 days ago (2 children)

This cracked me up so hard. The videographer knew what the were doing.

[–] TK420@lemmy.world 11 points 3 days ago (2 children)

I wish billboards were illegal. 1, they are distracting while driving and 2, this is a load of crap. There is not any evidence that god exists.

[–] teft@lemmy.world 10 points 3 days ago (1 children)

They’re illegal in Maine. I never saw one outside of television until i was fully an adult.

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Seriously. Billboards going away would restore so much beauty to the world.

[–] KayLeadfoot@fedia.io 13 points 4 days ago (1 children)

Pffft, you got a link to that video? That HAD to be intentional.

[–] pelespirit@sh.itjust.works 24 points 4 days ago (1 children)
[–] RichardDegenne@lemm.ee 16 points 3 days ago (1 children)

That makes the framing of this thumbnail even more legendary.

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[–] cupcakezealot@lemmy.blahaj.zone 12 points 3 days ago

it's a tesla so it should automatically be concluded that it was a spontaneous battery fire.

[–] Wilco@lemm.ee 15 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Batteries overheating or arson?

Option 3: Justice

[–] Simulation6@sopuli.xyz 4 points 3 days ago (1 children)
[–] Wilco@lemm.ee 3 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Oh, see, that is devious. Burn your inventory then try and blame "the libs".

[–] aeternum@lemmy.blahaj.zone 2 points 2 days ago

those dastardly liberals, always caring about others.

[–] randon31415@lemmy.world 10 points 3 days ago

Musk found out that the most recent batch had battery issues where they would spontaneously explode.

So he paid a bunch of arsonists to go out an torch a bunch of Cybertrucks so that he could have plausible deniability.

[–] undystains@lemm.ee 10 points 3 days ago

Teslas are going to be expensive to insure.

[–] some_guy@lemmy.sdf.org 14 points 3 days ago (3 children)

Haha, four "spontaneous" battery fires. Yes, that's what happened. Close the investigation.

[–] davidgro@lemmy.world 9 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Or one that spread to three more cars. Fire is known to do that kind of thing.

[–] KayLeadfoot@fedia.io 9 points 3 days ago

"Fire spreads?" - Elon with a look of visible confusion after ordering his lots be filled to capacity with rolling lithium dumpsters.

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[–] Zachariah@lemmy.world 29 points 4 days ago (3 children)

it’s probably from the Twitter cyber attack

[–] Lost_My_Mind@lemmy.world 20 points 4 days ago

CYBER attack, CYBER truck.

Yes. Yes I see.

[–] Darkcoffee@sh.itjust.works 16 points 4 days ago (1 children)

Ukraine is getting really good at this! /s

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[–] magnetosphere@fedia.io 28 points 4 days ago (1 children)

It’s funny either way. In case it’s arson, though, I hope whoever did it gets away clean.

[–] DokPsy@lemmy.world 26 points 4 days ago (1 children)

Whoever it was was with me all day

[–] MajorHavoc@programming.dev 14 points 4 days ago

Same. It was a great day, and their alibi is rock solid.

[–] dumbass@leminal.space 25 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago) (1 children)

Are your cars shit or do people really fucking hate you?... Or both. Imma go with both.

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[–] Hello_there@fedia.io 18 points 3 days ago

Don't name your car a Tesla and then be surprised when the battery arcs

[–] prole@lemmy.blahaj.zone 10 points 3 days ago (2 children)

I would not put it past Musk to have put a "self-destruct" function hidden in the code for these things, and is remotely killing them so they can blame it on protestors (also, take the insurance money).

[–] lonerangers1@lemmy.world 6 points 3 days ago

Just like the pager attack, or in silicon valley with the hooli phones. I figure musk could turn these things into self placing IEDs he can trigger remotely with a software patch. Maybe some discharge parameter change or something.

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[–] leadore@lemmy.world 7 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) (1 children)

Looking at the videos and reports, first the dumpsters I mean trucks were not actually that close to the fence where they could be reached through it or have something thrown through it to reach them. The fence is heavy duty dense chain link and wasn't tampered with. A witness who saw the fire start said no one was nearby, first it started sparking then burst into flames. So unless someone did it via software or some other clever way, I'm assuming this was a spontaneous battery combustion that spread to nearby vehicles.

[–] melpomenesclevage@lemmy.dbzer0.com 5 points 3 days ago (1 children)

if they could do it via software, why did only 4 go up?

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[–] SocialMediaRefugee@lemmy.world 7 points 3 days ago (2 children)

Well you aren't supposed to let them get wet.

[–] melpomenesclevage@lemmy.dbzer0.com 6 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago)

that's not true! you can moisten them with undiluted alcohol. you're actually supposed to when you get a fingerprint or something on them to prevent rust. maybe don't lie to make cybertrucks look worse. meanie.

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