An accident occurred on 30/6 near an exit on the Shanghai - Chongqing highway. According to ifeng, a Tesla Model Y collided with the left guardrail after skidding on the slick road. Fire quickly erupted from the electric vehicle while the driver had not fully exited.

Video: Weibo

The video, recorded by a dashcam from a vehicle traveling in the same direction, shows the fire just as it started on the Tesla. The Tesla driver appeared to have escaped but collapsed right next to the door as the flames intensified.

The dashcam vehicle's driver stopped and rushed to rescue the Tesla driver, a woman, moving her to safety. The accident left the female driver with a broken leg and minor burns, but her injuries were not life-threatening.

Following the incident, Tesla's Model Y faced intense scrutiny, according to CarNewsChina. The fire completely destroyed the electric vehicle, despite firefighters later arriving to extinguish the blaze.

The Tesla burns near the median, with the female driver being rescued by another person in the foreground. Photo: Toutiao

This Tesla fire happened just one day before two new national standards were implemented in Trung Quoc on 1/7, requiring electric vehicles to have a physical power cut-off button and non-flammable batteries. The two new standards include: Safety requirements for electric vehicles (GB18384-2025) and Safety requirements for electric vehicle batteries (GB38031-2025), which control safety from the component level (battery) to the entire vehicle.

This move comes amid the booming growth of Trung Quoc's electric vehicle market. Data released by the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM) on 10/6 showed that electric vehicle production and sales in last May reached 1,554 million and 1,496 million units respectively. By the end of 2025, the total number of electric vehicles in circulation in the country had reached 43,97 million units.

My Anh